What about asking Money for a DG festival?

Many people may wonder how dare we organize a degrowth festival that costs so much money? We struggle with this question ourselves, and thus want to share some conversations we are having within the team.

Our dream was to make this festival free. We realized during the first editions that this was harder than expected because we have real life expenses and even though we applied for various funding pots, we did not receive enough money to cover the entire organization of the festival. Sadly, this is the financial reality we need to reckon with in our existing capitalist and patriarchal system. Simply because we dream about a solidarity and gift-based economy and imagine it together in Austria, does not mean that it is the world we operate in. Our shared reality in the team of either working or studying while also organizing the festival, makes it even harder to find time to look for more funding. As this year our umbrella theme is building alliances against any and all forms of oppression, we decided to give most of the money we received to the collectives and facilitators coming from various social and ecological justice movements. This makes possible a knowledge and skill exchange that we otherwise simply could not offer.

Some of us coming to the festival do have the financial resources to pay the festival ticket, enabling the co-created space, knowledge sharing and temporary community we offer during this week in July and August.

Some of us do not.

Thus we decided to offer some reduced tickets to accommodate accessibility needs through a sliding scale. This allows access for people with different financial resources to come to Alt Shift, acknowledging that financial resources should not dictate access or care. For the sliding scale to work, we rely on your honesty, responsibility and accountability. We trust you to be truthful and aware of your needs. Regardless we want to remind you that there’s limited amount of reduced tickets and choosing to take them even if you can afford the full price prevents others from coming.

If you struggle to find where you are on the scale, you can ask yourself: do I comfortably meet all my basic needs? Does debt prevent me from meeting my basic needs? Do I have financial savings? Can I afford annual vacation? Do I have access to regular health care?

You can then choose your ticket accordingly, as we also offer a solidarity price that enables others to come at a reduced price point. Please reach out to us if you would like a full or partial scholarship and we are more than happy to discuss the price reduction that meets your needs (we mean this! It’s hard to reach out about this, but please reach out to us!)

Another question that keeps crossing our minds in this discussion is why we would choose an expensive location to organize the festival rather than going somewhere that is free.

This was a tough one as well. When we look at the price distribution now, the accommodation seems to be a big chunk of what we pay, is it more than it should be? Probably! The last years we were in the same place because one of us from ShiftSlow has a direct contact to the brothers who built this place and are living there. We created a connection with them, the local community, the neighbouring CSA and the surrounding forest. We decided once again to remain at Kunst in der Natur, as knowing the place makes it logistically easier to plan the festival, and also because we didn’t have the capacities in the team to look for another place.

We also continue to ask ourselves what kind of space the Alt Shift Festival wants to create. Kunst in der Natur is in the middle of the forest close to Vienna, which is a beautiful and privileged space for relaxed and joyful gatherings in which we don’t risk being kicked out, evicted, disturbed or aggressed by the police for example. This allows us to give all our energy and time for playful creation around degrowth. At the same time, we pay the ‘land owners’ for this possibility, perpetuating some of the structures we want to dismantle.

If you would like to talk to us about it, or have a suggestion for another space to organize the festival in, or any other thought you’d like to share with the organizing team, please feel free to contact us here: altshift.festival@festival.com.

With love and solidarity,

The Alt Shift Organizing Team