Awareness & diversity

Safe, welcome and part of the festival

tohoop Festival should be a place where different people come together to experience music and culture, celebrate, try things out and have a good time. It matters to us that as many people as possible feel welcome and at ease, and that discrimination, boundary violations and abusive behaviour have no place here.

For us, that doesn't start only when something happens. A safe and discrimination-aware festival site begins at the planning stage: with our booking, the design of the grounds, our communication and, above all, the question of who is visible at tohoop and who feels addressed by it.

What does awareness mean at tohoop Festival?

Our awareness team is there for you whenever you feel uncomfortable, unsafe or overwhelmed. Whether something has just happened, you have experienced a discriminatory or boundary-crossing situation, something is on your mind or you simply need a quiet moment.

Need to step away, looking for support or just want to talk to someone?

Come to us.
We are there for you.

You don't have to tell us what happened. You decide what you want to share and what kind of support you need.

Awareness is confidential

We treat everything you tell us confidentially. We only pass on information if you agree to it.

As a rule, we never act against your will. You decide what support you want and which steps we take together.

If there is an acute danger to you or others, however, it may be necessary to call in further help.

What awareness is not

Not mediation: We can listen, offer you a place to retreat to and help you sort out your thoughts. But we are not mediators and don't automatically try to negotiate between parties in a conflict.
Not therapy: Awareness is not therapy or professional psychological counselling. Our awareness team is made up of trained people, but not therapists. If you need support beyond that, we are happy to point you to suitable counselling services.
Not trip-sitting: Our awareness team is not professional psy-care. So look after each other and consume consciously. If you or someone else feels physically unwell or there is a medical emergency, please get medical help. You can approach our team at any time and ask us to call the emergency services.

Awareness team

Where to find the awareness team

You can recognise our awareness team by their vests.

During festival hours the team is out and about on the grounds and can be approached at any time. If you can't find anyone from the awareness team, you can also turn to any other crew member. They will fetch the awareness team for you.

You don't need to know whether something is “bad enough” before you talk to us. If you feel uncomfortable, need support or simply have a strange feeling, come to us.

Making different people and perspectives visible

For us, a safe festival site also means that different people and perspectives are visible here. That applies to our audience as much as to artists, volunteers, organisers and everyone else who helps shape tohoop Festival.

What do we mean by diversity?

Our society is diverse. People differ in gender, sexual orientation, origin, skin colour, disability, age, religion and many other characteristics. This diversity should be reflected at tohoop Festival too.

A festival line-up consisting exclusively of white cis men, for example, does not represent that social diversity. At the same time we know that various groups in our society are structurally disadvantaged and therefore also underrepresented in the music and cultural landscape.

Organising in a diversity-sensitive way means, for us, planning and running the festival so that people in all their diversity feel welcome, addressed and at ease.

We don't want to start only from our own experiences and perspectives. What is a given for us is by no means a given for everyone else.

Diversity as a shared process

We know that a diverse and discrimination-aware festival isn't finished with a single concept. We want to keep questioning our structures, take feedback seriously and learn from it. That includes looking at who is on our stages, who works in the team, who visits our festival and who we might not be reaching yet.

tohoop Festival should be a place where different people don't just exist side by side, but celebrate, experience culture and get involved together. We want to create a space where people are visible who often get less visibility elsewhere, where different perspectives come together and where as many people as possible feel safe, welcome and part of the festival.

tohoop should be a festival for everyone – and we want to take responsibility for that ourselves.

Back to the home page