Flow Festival made further progress in its pioneering environmental work in 2025 by becoming the first festival in Finland to budget its consumption of natural resources and its emissions. Sustainability was also strengthened within the festival’s food program: all fish and seafood served at the festival were domestically sourced, and only vegan food was offered in staff and artist catering. Flow continues to reduce its ecological debt through a donation to the Finnish Natural Heritage Foundation.

In 2025, Flow Festival took its first steps towards budgeting the consumption of natural resources and emissions as the first festival in Finland. The budgeting process involved the production team, which compiled consumption and emissions forecasts in spring 2025 based on known implementations and orders. The process was supported by a budgeting and calculation tool developed in 2022 in collaboration with the expert company D-mat, which Flow also uses annually to calculate its material and carbon footprints.

As predicted, Flow Festival’s consumption of natural resources and emissions increased compared to 2024. The growth in footprints was driven by necessary long-term investments such as the Balloon 360° venue sphere, new Flow letter signage at the main gate, the new Front Yard venue, groundworks required in the Hanasaari power plant area, as well as increased air travel by artists.

However, consumption and emissions were mitigated through production-related solutions. No red meat or poultry was served, and the fish and seafood served in restaurants were domestically sourced. All hot meals in staff and artist catering were vegan. In addition, material handling and use across the festival were optimised, resulting in a nearly 30% reduction in waste. The total amount of waste generated was the lowest in the past ten years, despite the festival welcoming more than 20,000 additional visitors during the same period.

Furthermore, the material and carbon footprints of partner productions were reduced by approximately 17%, even though the number of partners remained the same as in 2024. Water consumption was successfully optimised, with 60,000 litres less used than the previous year. Energy consumption also decreased, as less renewable fuel oil and grid electricity were required for powering the festival area and stages. In line with a decision made in 2024, no new festival merchandise was produced. The goal for 2026 is to make even more precise use of the material and carbon footprint tool in budgeting consumption and emissions, enabling both to be reduced more effectively.

Flow’s material and carbon footprints for 2025

For production, the footprints were as follows:
Material footprint: 2,796 tonnes (2024: 2,531.90 tonnes)
Carbon footprint: 1,312 t CO₂e (2024: 975 t CO₂e)

Per day visit, the footprints were:
Material footprint: 30.2 kg (2024: 27.5 kg)
Carbon footprint: 14.3 kg CO₂e (2024: 10.7 kg CO₂e)

Flow Festival’s material footprint corresponds to the annual consumption of approximately 69 average Finns, and its carbon footprint to the annual emissions of around 137 average Finns. When assessed per single-day visit, Flow’s material footprint equals roughly one-quarter of an average Finn’s daily consumption, while its carbon footprint is slightly below half of an average Finn’s daily emissions. A single-day visit to Flow corresponds to approximately 80 kilometres of driving in a standard petrol-powered passenger car.

Protecting old-growth forests

Events inevitably consume natural resources and generate emissions. For this reason, Flow Festival has been reducing its ecological debt by making annual donations to the Finnish Natural Heritage Foundation since 2022. Thanks to the donations made so far, areas such as the richly wooded Pukki Forest in Joutsa, located in the bird‑rich landscapes around Lake Suontee, have been protected. Protecting Finnish old-growth forests helps combat both the climate crisis and biodiversity loss.

In the coming years, Flow aims to deepen its cooperation with the Finnish Natural Heritage Foundation. The festival is committed to a long-term collaboration with the foundation, with the objective of protecting an area as continuous as possible of old-growth forest in Flow’s name. The larger the protected contiguous forest area, the more impactful the conservation work becomes.

Flow continues to reduce its ecological debt through a donation based on the footprint calculations carried out for the 2025 festival. As a result of this donation, an estimated 5.5 additional hectares of old-growth forest can be protected.

Read more about Flow’s sustainability work here.