Festival Wristbands: A Small Souvenir – With a Big Footprint

In Denmark, we love our festivals. Every year, thousands of people gather for music, community, and that special summer feeling.
And with every ticket comes a wristband.
It’s estimated that around 1 to 1.2 million festival wristbands are distributed each year in Denmark alone.
That might not sound like much – especially when a single wristband only weighs between 0.5 and 0.8 grams.
But stack them all together, and you’re looking at up to 1.2 tons of waste.
Image credit: O Days 2022 - Chris Milne

The Kind of Waste You Don’t Think About

Most people don’t give it a second thought. The wristband is just there – on your wrist – a ticket, a souvenir, a badge of honor.
But behind it lies a production chain of raw materials like plastic and textile fibers, energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions.
Once the festival ends, it’s tossed in the trash. And the cycle starts all over again next year.

A Visible Symbol of Throwaway Culture

Festival wristbands can’t be reused?
They’re designed to be worn once – and then discarded.
They’ve become a clear symbol of the single-use mindset that many festivals are now trying to move away from.

Festivals Want to Change – But...

Many festivals have already taken big steps to reduce waste: reusable cups, deposit systems, better sorting of trash.
But the wristbands? They’re still hanging on.
Because they serve a key purpose: access control, safety, and visibility.
That’s why they remain one of the last single-use items that haven’t yet been replaced – but maybe it’s time to change that.

O Days x VAER

VAER set out with one mission: to reduce textile waste at festivals. Initially, the focus was elsewhere – until the conversations with O Days began.
That’s when things shifted.
O Days revealed they had a stash of unused wristbands from previous years – just sitting there, waiting for a purpose.
Instead of letting them go to waste, these wristbands were given a new life. Reimagined for a smaller segment of the festival crowd.

But This Is Just the Beginning

The real idea starts after the music stops.
In 2025, we’ll be collecting as many wristbands as possible from O Days guests.
The goal? To clean them, restitch them – and bring them back in a new design for O Days 2026.
As you leave the festival grounds, you’ll see drop-off boxes.
That’s your moment. Return your wristband, and become part of something circular.
These flags are made from last year’s unused wristbands – stitched together to show what’s possible when we rethink what we already have.

Give yours a chance to be part of something new.
Return it before you leave.
Christoffer is the person behind the wristbands and web-doc. When you return your wristbands, he will be pleased to transform them into new ones for next year.

Tell us your perspective, suggest improvements, or share your own upcycling project.