Diversity & Inclusion: Provinssi & Sideways Festivals Case Studies (FI)

• Name: Provinssi | Sideways Festival
• City & country: Seinäjoki | Helsinki, Finland 
• Daily capacity: 32,000 | 10,000
• Site: Törnävänsaari (recreational park) | Nordis (Helsinki Ice Hall)
• Number of days: 3 | 3
• Established in: 1979 | 2015
• Keywords: Safer space, accessibility, (gender) equality, diverse staff, inclusion of disadvantaged people, inclusion of elderly, inclusion of children 

Helsinki-based Fullsteam Agency, founded in 2003, is the main concert promoter and booking agency in Finland for both alternative music and global superstars. Part of its portfolio are Provinssi and Sideways Festivals. Fullsteam has applied a number of measures to make its festivals and the agency itself more inclusive, diverse and equal, tells us Peppi Arrimo, production manager at Provinissi.  

“Provinssi stands for equality and works hard to also provide equal opportunities. Since we reach hundreds of thousands of people every year, we believe it is our duty to use our voice responsibly to try and make sustainable societal change. We are vocal about what we stand for: antiracism, equality and equal opportunities, diversity, inclusion, peace, fighting climate change and respecting the environment – making a change for the better,” she explains.

Measures at both festivals and all Fullsteam events: 

Safety

• A safer space policy is widely communicated, and guidelines are distributed to all visitors, artists, partners, volunteers and crew members. All staff are briefed. Everyone who works for Fullsteam events must sign up to the same principles. 
• A harassment liaison is present at both events (and before and after). If any customer, artist, employee or anyone attending the festival experiences any kind of harassment, abuse or discrimination, they can contact the harassment liaison anonymously by phone, email or contact form.

(Gender) Equality

• Both festivals are represented in an internal Equality Working Group. The group meets regularly and actively seeks to make both Fullsteam and the events it organises more inclusive. 
• They try to make the programmes and line-ups of events as equal as possible, monitoring the gender distribution and other diversity factors. In 2023, only about 41% of the programme of Sideways was all male, at Provinssi, the split was 50/50. 
• Effort to de-gender some roles in the festivals and events. For example, they hire women as stage managers and men as backstage hosts.
• They avoid gendered expressions like “firemen” and “hostess” in their communication. 
• Employees are encouraged to indicate their pronouns (e.g. in their email signature).
• Provinssi and Sideways have signed six theses (only available in Finnish) to promote equality in the music industry. 
• All toilets are gender-neutral.

Accessibility

• A dedicated employee coordinates, improves and promotes accessibility at the festivals.
• The events have accessible toilets, free access for assistants, accessible podiums, accessible entry lines and parking.
• All kinds of people, including people with disabilities, are welcome to volunteer.
• The events accept different accessibility cards such as Kaikukortti (free tickets to cultural events for people with low income). 
• The festival accepts ‘toilet cards.’
• Plenty of seated areas.
• Fullsteam has a website in plain language. 

Inclusion of disadvantaged people

• Guest list members pay a mandatory accreditation fee of €10, which is directed into charity, the promotion of equality and solidarity, and social development projects. Donations went to organisations such as UN Women, Music Saves UA, Seta, and Girls Rock! Finland.
• Dozens of free festival tickets for people with low income.
• Guests from children’s and youth homes, retirement homes, care homes for the disabled are invited. 

Communication

• Visual communication at events (signs, screens, maps) uses pictures and visual signs whenever possible. English only.
• Value-based communication happens year-round. 
• Accessibility is a frequent topic in social media, on the website and festival sites.

Staffing

• Staff is recruited anonymously (except for volunteers). 
• Efforts to build as diverse a work community as possible, on all levels. 
• Employee’s health system covers mental health / work psychologists. 
• Anonymous feedback facility for everyone is in development. 

Provinssi:

• Part of the ‘Everyone’s Festival’ (Kaikkien festari) project, which helped the festival diversify its programme.
• Currently developing a sustainability program in Elma.live. It contains all 17 of the UN’s Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs), including gender equality and reducing inequalities. 
• All ages festival: 70+ year olds can come for free typically on the first day of the festival. Children’s tickets are discounted. 
• Provinssi calls itself the “Festival of the People”. It is communicated clearly that everyone can come as they are. 
• In addition to the toilets, the showers in the camping area are also gender-neutral, (private showers available).
• Left-over food and goods from the festival are donated. 
• Provinssi welcomes local and national organisations such as Greenpeace, Amnesty, Seta (LGBT+ rights in Finland), KRIS (peer support association for those released from prison; website in Finnish). 
• Provinssi works with local social initiatives fighting unemployment and social exclusion (Tolkkupaja, KTT, Preppaamo).
• Provinssi supports a local children’s event, ‘Little Provinssi’, which is held on the same site every spring. 

 Sideways: 

• Art projects by people with disabilities are presented at the festival each year.
• An ‘accessibility guide’ is offered to all people with reduced mobility or other disabilities at the entrance.