Flow Festival environmental budgeting marks a significant shift in how major cultural events in Finland measure, manage, and take responsibility for their environmental impact.
In 2025, Flow Festival became the first festival in Finland to formally budget its consumption of natural resources and its emissions. This move placed environmental impact on the same planning level as finances, logistics, and production, turning sustainability from an ambition into a measurable operational framework.
Environmental budgeting moves from principle to practice
Flow Festival took its first concrete steps toward environmental budgeting during spring 2025. The budgeting process involved the festival production team compiling detailed forecasts of material use and emissions based on confirmed designs, infrastructure needs, supplier orders, and artist logistics.
This work was supported by a budgeting and calculation tool developed in 2022 together with sustainability specialist company D-mat. The same tool is used annually by Flow to calculate its material footprint and carbon footprint, allowing long-term comparisons and informed decision-making.
By introducing environmental budgeting, Flow effectively treated natural resources and emissions as finite assets rather than unavoidable byproducts of large-scale events.
Growth-driven emissions, balanced by operational restraint
As forecast, Flow Festival’s overall consumption of natural resources and emissions increased compared to 2024. The rise was largely driven by necessary long-term investments rather than short-term excess.
Key contributors included the Balloon 360 degree venue sphere, new Flow letter signage at the main gate, the Front Yard venue expansion, groundworks in the Hanasaari power plant area, and increased air travel required for artist bookings.
Despite these pressures, mitigation measures across production helped soften the overall impact.
Food, materials, and waste reduction strategies
Sustainability measures within the food program were further strengthened in 2025.
- No red meat or poultry was served anywhere on the festival site
- All fish and seafood offered in restaurants were domestically sourced
- All hot meals served in staff and artist catering were fully vegan
Material handling and usage across the festival were also optimized. These efforts led to nearly a 30 percent reduction in waste compared to previous years. Notably, the total amount of waste generated was the lowest in the past ten years, even though the festival welcomed more than 20,000 additional visitors during the same period.
Partner productions and resource efficiency gains
Environmental improvements extended beyond Flow’s core production.
The material and carbon footprints of partner productions were reduced by approximately 17 percent, even though the number of partners remained unchanged from 2024.
Water consumption was significantly optimized, with 60,000 litres less used than the previous year. Energy consumption also decreased, requiring less renewable fuel oil and grid electricity to power stages and the festival area.
In line with a decision made in 2024, no new festival merchandise was produced in 2025, eliminating an entire category of material impact.
Flow Festival material and carbon footprints for 2025
For production, the footprints were:
- Material footprint: 2,796 tonnes (2024: 2,531.9 tonnes)
- Carbon footprint: 1,312 tonnes CO2e (2024: 975 tonnes CO2e)
Per single-day visit, the footprints were:
- Material footprint: 30.2 kg (2024: 27.5 kg)
- Carbon footprint: 14.3 kg CO2e (2024: 10.7 kg)
Flow Festival’s total material footprint corresponds to the annual consumption of approximately 69 average Finns. Its carbon footprint equals the annual emissions of around 137 average Finns.
When assessed per single-day visit, Flow’s material footprint represents roughly one-quarter of an average Finn’s daily consumption. Its carbon footprint is slightly below half of an average Finn’s daily emissions. One day at Flow is equivalent to approximately 80 kilometres of driving in a standard petrol-powered passenger car.
Protecting old-growth forests to reduce ecological debt
Large-scale events inevitably consume natural resources and generate emissions. To address this, Flow Festival has reduced its ecological debt through annual donations to the Finnish Natural Heritage Foundation since 2022.
These donations have already helped protect areas such as the densely wooded Pukki Forest in Joutsa, located within the bird-rich landscapes surrounding Lake Suontee. Protecting Finnish old-growth forests contributes directly to climate mitigation and biodiversity preservation.
Looking ahead, Flow aims to deepen its collaboration with the foundation through a long-term commitment focused on protecting a single, continuous area of old-growth forest in Flow’s name. Larger contiguous forest areas significantly increase conservation impact.
Based on the 2025 footprint calculations, Flow’s latest donation is expected to protect an additional 5.5 hectares of old-growth forest.
The goal for 2026 is to use the material and carbon footprint tool with greater precision during the budgeting phase. By refining forecasts and linking them more closely to production decisions, Flow aims to further reduce consumption and emissions while continuing to evolve the festival experience.
Read more about Flow’s sustainability work here.
