Nothing is lost and everything is transformed, even the urine of festival-goers. In 2015, Roskilde, the biggest festival in Denmark, had the somewhat crazy idea of collecting the pee of its 100,000 festival-goers to fertilize the barley fields. Thousands of liters of urine which had made it possible to make beer, served the following year to these same festival-goers. After the Rock en Seine, Solidays and Mythos festivals, the Trans Musicales de Rennes are also launching into urine collection. “This will be done on part of the festival toilets at Parc-Expo,” explains Erwan Gouadec, deputy director of Trans Musicales, which will be held from December 6 to 10.
The delicious beverage recovered will then be delivered to the Gironde start-up Toopi Organics which uses human urine to make fertilizer for farmers. Through this action, the Rennes festival intends to reduce its environmental impact. An ecological approach initiated several years ago. As early as 2008, reusable cups appeared at Les Trans, where red meat has since been banned from the dishes served.
A prize pool to offset the carbon footprint
Last year, an environmental fund was also created to offset the carbon emissions generated by the festival, mainly linked to the transport of artists and festival-goers. “This represented 603 tonnes of CO2 in 2022, or a carbon footprint of 49,000 euros,” explains Erwan Gouadec. In total, 17,700 euros were collected, including 7,700 euros from the public, then donated to associations working for ecological and social transition. “We are of course renewing the operation this year in the hope of increasing and even doubling the public’s contribution,” underlines the deputy director of Trans.
For its 45th edition, the Trans Musicales will not change its recipe, always offering innovative, cosmopolitan and offbeat programming. Seventy-seven groups from the four corners of the globe will be on the bill this year, including the electro-folk of Portuguese artist Ana Lua Caiano, the afro-wave of Bantu Spaceship, a group from Zimbabwe, and the American soul diva Brittany Davies who will make her first date on European soil. At the same time as the programming, unveiled this Thursday morning, ticketing for the 2023 edition des Trans is also open.