Dark Season Blues is an environmentally certified event.
The Longyearbyen Blues Club has received environmental certification for the Dark Season Blues festival in accordance with guidelines from the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE). Dark Season Blues has been recertified annually as an environmentally certified event since the festival first received this certification in 2017.
We want Dark Season Blues to have as small an environmental footprint as possible, and we encourage everyone involved in the festival—partners, audience members, artists, and volunteers—to contribute to our environmental efforts.
Hotels/Accommodations.
Our partners are all committed to minimizing their environmental footprint. If you also want to be environmentally conscious in your choice of accommodation, we recommend our partners: Svalbard Hotel – The Vault, Svalbard Hotel – Polfareren, Funken Lodge, Basecamp Hotel Longyearbyen, and Radisson Blu.
Transportation.
Dark Season Blues takes place mainly in downtown Longyearbyen, and we recommend that everyone walk, bike, or use a kick scooter between events whenever possible.
To and from the airport, we recommend taking the airport shuttle. For the concert at Gruve 3, organized shared transportation will be provided to and from the venue. For Huset, a bus will be provided to the venue prior to the event.
If you need a taxi during the festival, we recommend our partner, Svalbard Buss og Taxi. We also encourage carpooling whenever practical.
Food.
The food selection from our partners is varied and offers many delicious culinary experiences. It’s okay to indulge a little extra at the festival, but we encourage everyone to help reduce food waste.
Several of our partners offer vegetarian options, and some also offer vegan options. Feel free to look for these if you’d like to make a more environmentally conscious choice.
Our recommended partners are Kroa, Svalbar Pub, Polfareren, Funktionærmessen, Gruvelageret, Stationen, and Restaurant Nansen.
Waste and Recycling
Waste must be sorted into the categories used in Longyearbyen. We are working to ensure that waste sorting is clearly marked and accessible at the festival venues for the audience, volunteers, artists, and crew alike.
We encourage everyone to use the marked waste stations and help ensure that as little waste as possible ends up in the general waste.
Energy Use
We aim to reduce unnecessary energy consumption during the festival. This applies to venues, backstage areas, offices, and accommodations.
Turn off the lights and turn down the heat when you leave your room or living space. The festival also encourages partners, artists, and volunteers to use energy consciously and to turn off technical equipment, lights, and heat when not in use.
Water
Drinking water in Longyearbyen should be filtered before consumption. All food and beverage outlets during the festival have filtered tap water available, and we encourage the audience, artists, crew, and volunteers to use their own water bottles whenever possible.
Filtered water can also be picked up in larger quantities at the Svalbard Store. Remember to bring your own jugs or containers.
We want to reduce the use of disposable bottles as much as possible. DSB water bottles are available for purchase at our festival office.
Printed Materials
All printed materials for Dark Season Blues are produced by Lundblad AS in Tromsø, which is Nordic Swan-labeled and certified as an Eco-Lighthouse.
We continuously assess how much needs to be printed and use digital channels where appropriate.
Textiles
Dark Season Blues apparel, such as T-shirts and hoodies, is produced by New Wave Mode, which is certified by or a member of OEKO-TEX, BSCI, Textile Exchange, Kemikaliegruppen, and the Clean Shipping Index.
We want our promotional products to be of high quality and have a long lifespan.
See and Do
It’s not all about music when you’re in Longyearbyen during the festival. You can also enjoy activities such as boat tours, hikes, dog-sled rides, and guided bus tours.
Our recommended partners with strong environmental credentials are Svalbard Adventures, Hurtigruten Svalbard, and Basecamp Explorer. For guided bus tours in Longyearbyen and the surrounding area, we recommend Svalbard Buss og Taxi.
The environmentally certified Svalbard Museum is a natural and cultural history museum dedicated to Svalbard and the Arctic, and we recommend that everyone stop by the museum to learn more about Svalbard.
Svalbard as a Travel Destination
Svalbard is a vulnerable Arctic destination. Before visiting Longyearbyen, you should familiarize yourself with weather conditions, safety regulations, and general rules for travel so that you can behave responsibly in the Arctic wilderness.
Feel free to stop by Visit Svalbard, the tourist information office in Longyearbyen, where you can get information and helpful advice.
Information and Communication
We aim to make our environmental efforts visible and easy to follow. Information about environmental initiatives, transportation, recycling, water stations, and other practical measures is communicated to the public, volunteers, artists, and partners before and during the festival.
Feedback
If you notice anything we can do better to make the festival even more environmentally friendly, please let us know. This is how we can improve our environmental efforts year after year.
