In April, we were excited about the upcoming summer of high-energy festivals, with young people around the world hungry more than ever for a chance to let loose and get back into this otherworldly collective. experience. Now at the end of the summer can see a clear trend that exploded into the mainstream activation of the festival and culture this year is the ‘greener festival.’ There is no party without it being a sustainable thought party! We are no strangers to this at THINKHOUSE – in 2019 our innocent activation of goodstock at the All Together Now festival is a sustainable leadership immersive space where everything used is rented, recycled, recovered or recharged (and powered in solar!). More and more festivals are taking steps in this direction today as partying and greener festival planning take center stage. Summer’s top events serve attendees more than epic musical experiences – social and environmental experiences that inspire even happier revelers. For this week’s 52INSIGHTS, we look at the stories and transformative work shaping the future of festivals.
The New Festival Mainstream Green
“I personally feel uncomfortable being at a festival or any music event if they don’t contribute to positive action. Ownership is in brands and places to provide the right things for people who are able to behave responsibly and do their best – like having water filling stations for those who use them. bottle. I want to party the same way I travel and live – in green places and try to leave as little a trace as possible. The more big brand events and companies promote sustainable messaging the more familiar people will get with it – then it will be surprising if it doesn’t happen. Aimee, 30.
It was a summer of festival fun but things have changed. Sustainability initiatives such as refill stations and eco-information areas at festivals make sense – as endorsed by TikTok. Where in the past a sustainability focus was expected at smaller ‘hippy’ events or iconic counter-culture festivals (such as Burning Man), today more and more festivals are putting sustainability center stage and include immersive experiences highlighting the climate crisis. For example, Glastonbury brought to light issues such as the importance of protecting bees through a multi-sensory installation and this year saw the celebrated return of The Greenpeace Field in partnership with Greenpeace. At the center of the space is the famous Giant Rave Tree, a gathering place for the party. More and more people are reevaluating meat consumption in response to the climate crisis, meaning that festivals now have to offer more plant-based options – this year Coachella is offering more plant-based food than ever before to meet this demand. At Primavera Sound, the vegan food brand Heüra served festival-goers from a stand equipped with a Co2 emission saving meter.
Fans Demand Respect
After a period of re-evaluation away from festivals, people expect more respect from brands and festival experiences in general. For festival and music fans, it goes without saying that expectations around safety and operations are higher than ever. Netflix’s latest documentary hit ‘Trainwreck: Woodstock 99’ highlights just how dangerous taking anything can be when it comes to big music events. What is important in these great events is the focus on nurturing a culture of respect and empathy – for each other and for the environment people temporarily occupy. A very positive festival energy and experience cannot be ignored.
Community and connectedness are at the heart of a positive experience and the creation of greener festival productions increases activity, bringing fans closer to the music: “For festival goers a more green activation creates a new experience. Even looking at the fashion aesthetics of festivals and how they are influenced by sustainability translates the production. The stages are getting smaller, the artists are getting closer to the audience, and there is a a greater sense of community. It’s less them and us – it’s more inclusive. – Dave McCabe, production manager at THINKHOUSE
Exciting and Challenging Road Ahead
“We believe that festivals offer a unique platform to make positive changes nationally and globally. With plans to become carbon-neutral by 2027, Body and Soul provides sustainable goals, guided by the principles of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The circular economy model is our inspiration and supports us to be accountable and bring our audience with us as change makers and collaborators. It begins to spread around the world and is an exciting time to pioneer new perspectives and practices within the festival scene. Avril Stanley, founder, Body and Soul
Unsurprisingly, rising costs due to inflation have affected the festival industry. This, coupled with the rebuilding of infrastructure after COVID, creates space for reinvention and innovation. Coldplay is committed to having the most sustainable tour around the world (powered by renewable energy, creating the first mobile, rechargeable battery on display from recycled BMW batteries). It’s a big undertaking that doesn’t solve all the impact challenges that come with a global tour, but it’s a significant change from business as usual. Fernando Zabala Alfonso, founder of Sold Out, and one of the most experienced festival promoters in Spain, knows the challenges ahead but reinforces the message that it is important to start somewhere. “This means hiring low consumption equipment, using recyclable materials throughout the venue, reusing audience glasses and collecting different types of waste. Maybe it’s not enough and little by little we have to improve, but now this is what we’re doing. The Shambala Festival, one of the most pioneering European festivals in the world of sustainability and circularity, has a site-wide ban on single-use plastics – it’s a BYO-Refillable Bottle and Cup kinda affair.
To make these changes sustainable for many festivals as they become more mainstream, festival organizers are calling for support in the production of greener products. The Vision:2025 report outlines what needs to be done – Across Europe there are initiatives, such as the European Festival Association YOUROPE Future-Fit Festivals project and Circular Festivals, which bring together organizers, offer resource, and creates a space for collaboration and best practice sharing. The Irish festival Body & Soul is part of the Circular Festival program, and has achieved an average of 17.5% reduction in their use of fossil fuels every year since 2017, using bio-fuels and renewable energy sources. The goal of the Roskilde festival in Denmark is also circular, offering tent rentals to reduce single-use waste. For the next generation, they created a youth-led innovation lab, using the festival as a testing laboratory to explore new green solutions.
Brand Takeouts
Measure Your Impact – As with all communications around sustainability and creating impactful experiences, brands can be ambitious with goals, but they need to be measurable. Invest in setting your benchmarks and tracking so you can tell a compelling and credible sustainability story that shows the real impact you’ve made.
Supporting the ‘Brew a Better World’ global sustainability initiative, Heineken Ireland announced their The Greener Bar at this year’s Electric Picnic festival. The Greener Bar, which THINKHOUSE is proud to work with Heineken Ireland to bring to life, is created with circular thinking, reuse design values and powered by sustainable production innovation, meaning a low production of emission (without compromising the class of world lighting and sound). The approach found Heineken aims to save an estimated 23,646kg of Co2 emissions by reducing waste and energy use – equivalent to the annual electricity of 4,600 homes or the equivalent carbon savings taken from over 390,000 trees planted in 10 years.
“We want our return to the festival to be ambitious and show who we have become as a company. As part of ‘Brew a Better World’ we are working to make our beer here in Ireland emission-free by 2030. The activations at the festival like The Heineken Greener Bar shows how our sustainability commitments are delivered with impact through our brand activities. It takes a lot of unlearning and reworking how we do things – the effort has been great and now that we are ready for the festival; we can’t wait to welcome revelers to the Heineken Greener Bar where they can experience our great beer (including Heineken® 0.0); our passion for sustainability and the stellar line up we have planned for the weekend.” Ronan McCormack, marketing manager, Heineken Ireland
“Heineken has been the official beer of Electric Picnic for many years, a long-term partner that brings a great experience to Electric Picnic every year. We work hard to provide the most lasting experience to the attendees of festival and we’re excited to see how Heineken innovates and creates a unique experience for this year’s festival. Melvin Benn, MD, Festival Republic
Collaborate At Every Opportunity – Partnerships and collaborations that facilitate knowledge exchanges can be key to moving the dial forward with sustainable products. For brands looking to be active in the festival area, this is an amazing opportunity to grow while connecting with a large audience in a physical space by collaborating with festival organizers.
