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WORDS. STORIES. MOMENTUM.

ID&T – Gemeentepils

How do you make festival crowds trust tap water? Brand it like the beer they already order. We turned Dutch slang for tap water into Gemeentepils, refillable bottles and a festival idea that kept returning.

In recent years dance festival organizer ID&T has been moving towards a greener agenda. They wanted their visitors to regain trust in tap water and push reusable bottles. We decided to use the same language as the most common drink at a festival – and created a new brand of ‘beer’: ‘Gemeentepils’. Roughly translated, ‘Council beer’ (Dutch slang for ‘tap water’). The logo was printed on refillable water bottles and dispensed from the tap at selected stands, just like beer.

The initiative was planned together with LiveBuild, an organisation that provides tap water in places with no existing infrastructure, such as selected areas in Cameroon. The Gemeentepils idea was first tested at the 20,000 attendee Welcome To The Future Festival with great success. Then it was rolled out at the 60,000 attendee festival Mysteryland. Entering its 3rd season next year, it has become ID&T’s household brand for tap water.

Art Direction: Marco Antonio Morales Pickering
Design: Unc Inc