Can music festivals take a step towards becoming sustainable? A review sheds light

Music festivals may not seem very environmentally friendly thousands of people traveling to a location for just a few days, often leaving behind large amounts of waste. However, a new report shows that many are working to become greener.

The analysis – by A Greener Festival (AGF), which works with festivals to improve sustainability – covers more than 40 festivals in 11 countries, including the Great Britain, Spain, Sweden, Estonia and Argentina. It includes performances on various sustainability issues of the festivals with which AGF collaborates.

Significant areas were found improvementsuch as the ban on single-use plastic plates, cups and cutlery increasing from 54% in 2022 to 75% in 2023, which represents a reduction in the average amount of waste per person per day from 0.75 kg to 0.5 kg .

It’s good to see that event understanding, data and performance have improved.

Audience travel to locations is the largest source of climate pollution at festivals 41% of CO2 emissions. However, the number of visitors traveling to national festivals by car has fallen from 67% to 58%, while the number of visitors using public transport has increased from 16% to 19%.

Reduction of meat

Food and drink consumed at the festival is the second largest source of CO2 emissions at 32%. Festivals have fewer and fewer meat dishes offered by on-site catering companies; at 20%, at least half of their food retailers offer only non-meat options.

About 8% have disappeared completely vegan or vegetarian – The study found that events that were completely meat-free reduced their food-related emissions by more than 60% on average.

More and more festivals are switching from diesel to sustainable fuels such as vegetable oil to power portable generators, with 38% of festivals switching completely to this fuel source. However, these fuels still cause emissions and air pollution, the report said.

Reduction of overall fuel consumption and increasing the energy generated by hybrid, battery and grid systems is a key opportunity for decarbonization, the report said.

Climate adaptation

Claire O’Neill, CEO of A Greener Festival, said: “It’s good to see that understanding, data and performance of events have improved. There’s a huge opportunity for it cooperation with other sectors such as transport, energy, water and food, all of which have targets for net zero and protecting ecosystems.”

However, she added that festivals need to do more adapt to climate change. Water consumption increased last year at both urban and rural camping festivals. For the latter, the difference was significant, with an average of 26 liters per person per day, compared to 19 liters/pppd in 2022. The researchers think that last summer’s warm weather – the hottest on record – is a reason for this. .

Last year there were several festivals around the world canceled or cut briefly due to extreme weather, including the British Kaleidoscope (strong winds); the first day of the Spanish Primavera (rain showers); and an Elton John concert in New Zealand (extreme rain). Thousands were stranded at Burning Man in Nevada due to extreme rain and mud at the desert site.

News reference: https://www.agreenerfuture.com/resources