A female singer performing on stage with a band, surrounded by vibrant stage lighting and colorful flowers, with musicians playing violin, guitar, and keyboards.

Tips on Behaviour: Anti-racism & Diversity

In recent years, music festivals have evolved into vibrant spaces where people from all walks of life come together to celebrate the universal language of music. However, amid the beats and atmospheres, there exists a pressing need to address issues of racism, discrimination, and lack of diversity that persist within these environments.

While music festivals offer opportunities for joy and connection, they also reflect broader societal dynamics, including systemic biases and inequalities. People of Colour (PoC) often encounter obstacles and microaggressions that impact their festival experience negatively, ranging from subtle forms of exclusion to outright acts of racism. Recognizing and addressing these challenges is essential for fostering environments where everyone feels safe, respected, and valued.

In this section, we will delve into various strategies and actions that organisers, attendees, and performers can undertake to create more diverse festival environments. From promoting diverse line-ups and implementing anti-discrimination policies to challenging stereotypes and amplifying marginalised voices, each individual has a role to play in cultivating a culture of acceptance and belonging.


Checklist for festival organisers: 

  1. Diverse Line-up: Ensure that the festival line-up represents a wide range of musical genres, cultures, and backgrounds, reflecting the diversity of the audience.
  2. Anti-Discrimination Policy: Clearly articulate and prominently display a zero-tolerance policy against discrimination, harassment, and hate speech. Provide information on how attendees can report incidents.
  3. Diverse Staffing: Recruit and train a diverse team of staff and volunteers, including people from marginalised communities, to ensure a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere. A diverse booking team, for example, ensures different perspectives on artists and thus has the chance to provide a more diverse artist selection. 
  4. Advisory Board: If you are not able to recruit a more diverse team and staff at this point, it is also possible to create a diverse team of people, forming an advisory board. This can help to bring in different perspectives and identify where your festival might not be great for marginalised groups yet. 
  5. Cultural Sensitivity Training: Provide training for staff and volunteers on cultural sensitivity, cultural appropriation, unconscious bias, and how to effectively respond to instances of discrimination or harassment.
  6. Inclusive Vendor Selection: Prioritise vendors, food vendors, and merchandise sellers from diverse backgrounds, including minority-owned businesses and those representing different cultural traditions.
  7. Safer Spaces: Designate safer spaces within the festival grounds where attendees can seek support, report concerns, or take a break from overwhelming environments.
  8. Inclusive Marketing: Use inclusive language and imagery in all promotional materials to ensure that people from diverse backgrounds feel welcomed and represented. E.g., do not only promote the festival with Caucasian, good-looking, 20-something individuals, but show a wide range of your visitor and artist spectrum. If possible, also make your communication beforehand and on-site available in different languages.
  9. Community Engagement: Engage with local community organisations and advocacy groups representing marginalised communities to gather feedback, build partnerships, and ensure their voices are heard in the planning process.
  10. Age-friendly Policies: Implement policies and amenities to accommodate attendees of all ages, including family-friendly areas, designated alcohol-free zones, and discounted tickets for youth and seniors.
  11. Religious Accommodations: Respect religious diversity by offering quiet spaces for prayer or meditation, accommodating dietary restrictions, and scheduling performances and activities that do not conflict with religious observances.
  12. Gender-inclusive Facilities: Read more in our text “Tips on Behaviour: Gender & Sexual Equity.”
  13. Sustainability and Accessibility: Prioritise sustainability initiatives such as waste reduction and eco-friendly practices, while also ensuring that these efforts are accessible to all attendees, regardless of socioeconomic status.
  14. Financial Accessibility: Offer sliding-scale ticket pricing, discounted rates for low-income individuals, and payment plans to make the festival accessible to attendees from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.
  15. Empowerment Spaces: Create spaces within the festival where attendees from marginalised communities can share their stories, showcase their talents, and engage in dialogue about issues affecting their communities.
  16. Intersectional Approach: Recognize and address the intersecting identities and experiences of marginalised individuals, considering factors such as ethnicity, gender, sexuality, disability, and socioeconomic status in all aspects of festival planning and programming.
  17. Allyship Training: Offer workshops and resources for festival attendees on how to be effective allies to marginalised communities, including bystander intervention training and resources on how to recognize and challenge discrimination.
  18. Feedback Mechanisms: Establish channels for attendees to provide feedback on their festival experience, including opportunities to report instances of discrimination or suggest improvements for future events.
  19. Continuous Improvement: Commit to ongoing evaluation and improvement of diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, with regular assessments of festival policies, practices, and outcomes to ensure that they remain responsive to the evolving needs of attendees.

For more detailed action, see the Diversity Roadmap by PETZI (the Swiss live music association), in collaboration with the Swiss music associations Helvetiarockt, Flirt Don’t Hurt, Sensability and We Can Dance It – or read our text about it here.

By implementing measures such as diverse line-ups, accessible facilities, and anti-discrimination policies, festival organisers create a safer and more inclusive environment for marginalised groups. This inclusivity not only enhances the overall festival experience but also serves as a powerful marketing tool. When marginalised communities feel welcomed and respected, they are more likely to purchase tickets and spread word-of-mouth recommendations about their experience, expanding the festival’s reach and attracting a more diverse audience. This not only reinforces the festival’s reputation as a socially responsible event but also translates into increased ticket sales and revenue, solidifying its position as a premier destination for music and cultural celebration.