SEPTEMBER | FEATURE
Claire O’Neill
Chris Johnson
Steve Heap
“While the Covid situation
will be behind us sooner
or later, what won’t be
behind us is the fact the
planet is being wrecked,”
Ben Robinson
Fiona Stewart
exercise ¬– it is beneficial, more than
a hundred tonnes of waste comes out
of Kendal Calling at a huge cost to the
event.
In an effort to reduce waste at
Kendal Calling, Robinson’s team
is engaging with attendees to
encourage them to bring less with
them to the site. It is also trying
to persuade them to take their
possessions home.
One such measure being
considered is a scheme to reduce the
number of tents abandoned at the
end of the festival. The proposed tent
deposit scheme would see attendees
pay a deposit before the event. The
tent is then scanned in and out
of the festival, and if the process
is completed fully the deposit is
returned.
“We are looking at that now, as we
have the headroom to develop and
roll it out next year,” says Robinson.
As well looking to eradicate the use
of single-use items at the company’s
events, Robinson says power supply
is another priority: “Power efficiency
across generators reduces fuel bills,
while smart design can reduce
cabling,” he says.
Green Man festival owner Fiona
Stewart is another organiser intent
on making environmental progress
next year: “The festival is big on that
but I want to make it greener. This
period really makes you realise how
precious the environment is and we
really need to do more to protect it.
All of these things are an extra cost
and we will have to look at that but
like most independent events we
don’t just do things for money.”
The Vision: 2025 survey findings
are no surprise to Association
of Festival Organisers (AFO)
general secretary Steve Heap. The
organisation has more than 250
event organiser members, and Heap
has found no decline in enthusiasm
among them when it comes to
environmental sustainability.
“The impact of Covid-19 on the
festival scene this year has been
devastating but we are encouraging
our members to spend the downtime
to seriously consider what they
are doing environmentally at their
events. While the Covid situation will
be behind us sooner or later, what
won’t be behind us is the fact the
planet is being wrecked,” he says.
AFO actively encourages its
members to sign up with Vision:
2025 and Julie’s Bicycle, and Heap
says the dedicated double-session
on sustainability at AFO’s annual
conference is always packed.
He says, “The environmental
message is really beginning to
bite and we are seeing some real
improvements.”
In lieu of visiting and assessing
more than 50 festivals globally for
the Greener Festival Award, AGF
co-founder and director Claire
O’Neill says the organisation has
been holding bi-weekly online video
meetings with event operators from
around the world, providing them a
platform to share and discuss ways
in which to make lasting changes to
event sustainability.
O’Neill says, “At the moment the
industry is dusting itself off from a
major blow. There is the opportunity
for a new way of seeing things but
what is needed urgently is support
from Government to allow festivals
and live events to be able to do that.
Festivals are such an important
connection with people, the
experience can be very inspiring – a
very motivating force when it comes
to encouraging people to care for the
environment.”
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