Cruïlla’s audience is as diverse as its line-up, that’s why we are committed to respond to all their needs and make it accessible to all kinds of realities.
Here we tell you about all the actions we carried out as a festival to make it a space that invites reflection, nourishes the critical spirit, is open to everyone and makes everyone who is part of it feel at home.
THE FIGHT FOR ACCESS TO WATER
Water is life, we make it flow and reach the Gaza Strip.
The water scarcity we are facing, here and globally, aggravated by the climate crisis is an issue of concern. One in four people do not have access to clean water, leading to disease, hunger, conflict over resources and forced displacement. We want to do our bit to remedy this situation together with Oxfam Intermón, in order to provide immediate and long-term solutions to bring water to where it is most needed.
As in the case of the Gaza Strip, where the shortage of drinking water has become an urgent problem that cannot be ignored. Oxfam Intermón has already reached 120,000 people with water and hygiene products, but many more are needed. Therefore, this year the donations collected from ticket sales and cashless wristbands will be used to contribute to the installation of solar-powered water desalination plants that provide clean, uncontaminated water.
Poverty has a solution and access to water is a crucial step to fight it. It is necessary. It is vital. More clear, water.
ESPAI TRANSFORMA’T
For the second consecutive year, the Espai Transforma’t, coordinated by the Agència Catalana de Cooperació al Desenvolupament of the Government of Catalonia, returns to the Festival Cruïlla. A space that aims to be a meeting point for different entities and NGOs that are committed to social change. It aims to be a place for reflection on the situation in the world, inequalities, injustices and the structural causes that provoke them, and to generate critical awareness in the festival audience, in a playful and positive way.
A CRUÏLLA FOR EVERYONE
We want to create a comfortable, safe, civic and respectful space for the attendees. And a space is not safe if half of the attendees do not feel safe.
To prevent and deal with any aggression or sexist behaviour, year after year we have a Violet Point present in a visible space inside the venue and also qualified itinerant professionals during the four days of the festival.
This year we are collaborating with ARANA Feminista, a collaborative feminist project made up of professionals specialized in gender, psychopedagogy and social intervention. The professionals work by distributing informative material, encouraging debate and critical thinking through participatory dynamics, and detecting and attending to situations of violence, providing psychological support and activating the relevant protocols. In addition, we are still added to Barcelona City Council’s No Callem protocol.
Nor will we tolerate any LGTBIQphobic, racist, ableist or any other attitude that threatens the safety, well-being and rights of those attending the festival.
This year we are collaborating with EnBucle to facilitate access to live music for people with different degrees of deafness. During the concerts of Malmö 040, Shinova and Selah Sue on Friday 12 July and Ginestà, Marala and Peter Fox on Saturday 13 July, all held at the Vueling Stage, 15 magnetic loops and 15 vibrating backpacks will be offered.
The magnetic loop allows sound to be delivered directly to the wearer’s cochlear implant or T-position hearing aid by eliminating ambient noise, while the vibrating backpacks connect to an audio transmission system and, as the name suggests, they vibrate to the rhythm of the music allowing the person to experience it in a more tangible and sensory way.
In addition, we will have plugs for hearing protection for all people who need it. They can be obtained at the ticket offices before access.
On the other hand, the festival venue also has areas adapted for people with reduced mobility on all stages, with good visibility over the artists, and a fast access lane so that they can access the festival comfortably.
This year we will collaborate again with Catering Social Mescladís, a non-profit organization that wants to contribute to a horizon of social cohesion in Barcelona, for an enriching coexistence between cultures, with guaranteed rights and opportunities for all and all. Thus, it promotes opportunities for people who find it difficult to access a job, many of them migrants who see their citizenship rights, such as the right to work, denied.
The organization will offer its catering services to festival workers during the days of its assembly and celebration. The catering will be based on a model of social and environmental sustainability.
We want music to reach everyone and be for everyone. For this reason, all Cruïlla projects are accessible to groups at risk of vulnerability and social exclusion with the collaboration of Apropa Cultura, and the Festival Cruïlla 2024 will not be an exception: this year we are offering up to 900 tickets to a reduced price for members of these groups.
Also we offer discounts for people with disabilities and for their companion if the certificate specifies it and for unemployed people, facilitating access to culture as an essential good and not as a luxury.
For us, social commitment is not just another branch of the festival: it is its root.
We believe that big events have to tend towards the Cruïlla model. A model of medium-sized festivals, aimed at local audiences, committed to the territory, citizens and the environment.