Features
Roskilde Festival Team Awarded For Lifetime Achievement
The team behind Roskilde Festival will be awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award the 12th edition of the European Festival Awards set to take place Jan. 18 in Groningen, The Netherlands.
The full team, including the many volunteers who are the heart and soul of this long-standing Danish festival, will receive their award in person.
In 2022 Roskilde Festival celebrated its 50th anniversary. Since 1971, the Danish non- profit festival has brought together generations of young people around music, art and community. Roskilde Festival is organised by the Roskilde Festival Charity Society and is created by approximately 30,000 volunteers.
The festival’s CEO and Impact International honoree Signe Lopdrup told Pollstar, that it was “difficult to describe how significant it was to finally be together at the festival after three long years and two cancellations. The youth got their free space back; it was such a festive and loving experience. Live music, arts and performances. It was healing.”
Impact International: UK/Euro Honoree Signe Lopdrup
Every year, about 130,000 participants, which includes volunteers, guests, partners, and media, join the ‘Orange Feeling’ at the eight-day long festival, which is built around the pillars of “love, non-profit values and sustainability,” in the festival team’s own words.
All profits from the festival are donated to humanitarian, non-profit and cultural work for the benefit of children and young people especially. Over the years, Roskilde Festival, by its own admission, has generated approximately €55 million ($59 million) for charity.
“We are very honored to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award! It particularly pleases us that the jury with this award – that usually goes to individuals – has chosen to highlight the strong community behind Roskilde Festival. Throughout the years, that community has not only created a fantastic and outstanding festival. They have done it to make a difference in the world. This award sees and honours that ambition, and for that we are both proud and grateful,” commented Lopdrup.
Past winners of the European Festival Lifetime Achievement Award include; Holger Hubner and Thomas Jensen of Wacken Open Air Germany, the late Daniel Panaitescu, a Sziget Festival icon, Jean-Louis Brossard and Béatrice Macé from Les Trans Musicales, Herman Schueremans, founder of Rock Werchter, and Pollstar Impact International honoree Melvin Benn, director of Festival Republic.
The European Festival Awards traditionally kick off ESNS, which returns in its pre-lockdown format, Jan. 18-21.