Amongst the sense of community, exotic food, colourful camps, unique live shows and much more, there is something else that stands out clearer than most other things from the festival for thousands of guests: Edward Snowden’s talk about digital surveillance related to the festival’s focus on equality.

Focus on digital surveillance

The famous whistleblower’s talk – via satellite from Moscow – followed a much-debated prank conducted by the activist art group The Yes Men that involved them setting up fake signs stating that the festival would be collecting and indefinitely storing all text and phone conversations while on festival grounds.

Before the nature of the signs was revealed, many festival-goers showed both despair and anger. This was exactly what The Yes Men had hoped to achieve with the stunt: to put emphasis on digital surveillance as a topic that needs to be discussed on a much broader scale. 

The whole process has been documented by The Yes Men. Their 12 minute film about digital surveillance, the data stunt and Edward Snowden’s talk at Roskilde Festival 2016 is out now.

Roskilde Festival’s spokeswoman Christina Bilde says:

“We found the idea so exciting because it allowed the festival-goers to take an active stance. It’s inspiring to see these strong reactions, to see people care so much. More than 4,000 people attended Edward Snowden’s talk, and we hope this film will reach a lot of people as digital surveillance has become such a big part of our everyday lives.” 

“This kind of activist art suits us perfectly, and this project reflects how engaged the guests are at Roskilde Festival. It goes to show that we expect a lot from them, just like the festival-goers demand a lot from us. In my humble opinion, this is a very privileged position to be in, and it’s also a chance to thank everyone who took part in our data project.”

Stand Up for Your Rights

The Yes Men’s project with Edward Snowden is part of Roskilde Festival’s focus on equality and human rights, this year under the headline ‘Stand Up for Your Rights’.

Every year, Roskilde Festival will pay special attention to an issue deserving of particular attention. In 2016, it’s equality and human rights, effectively making the festival much more than music and community – focusing on issues like digital surveillance, the right to privacy, freedom of speech, gender equality and not least the refugee discourse.

Read more about the activities and the focus on equality here:

http://www.roskilde-festival.dk/more/press/in-english/press-material-2016

Roskilde Festival 2016 attracted 140,000 people and sold all tickets before the festival began. Festival-goers from 75 countries visited the festival, acts from more than 30 countries played the nine stages, and the profit of roughly 17 million DKK will be donated – in its entirety – to social and cultural charities.

Watch the film on YouTube (12 minutes long)

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