WINTER | COVER FEATURE
Burning Man a ‘self-imposed natural disaster’ – but we
try to spread our positivity. We’re the first non-profit
solar company in the US and we’ve installed hundreds
of solar systems for hospitals and schools across Nevada
and launched Burners Without Borders which travelled
around the world to disaster sites to help people with
housing,” he adds.
In April 2011, Larry Harvey announced that the
LLC was beginning a three-year process to transfer
ownership and control of the event over to a new non-
profit organisation called the ‘Burning Man Project’. The
move towards becoming a non-profit organisation was
the result of infighting between members of the board.
Mikel then, offers well-earned advice for wannabe
festival founders: “Find people you trust and give them
the responsibility to take responsibility. And don’t try
and get too big too fast. There was a time when we were
doubling in population every year.
“When dealing with all the bureaucracy, I often think:
‘why am I doing this?’, then at the event I stumble across
some beautiful creative thing, and I remember why. As
challenging as the world is today I think we can generally
make a difference.”
ESSENCE
Now the largest event celebrating African-American
culture and music in the United States, The Essence
Festival, known as "the party with a purpose", started
in 1995 as a one-time event to celebrate the 25th
anniversary of Essence, a magazine aimed primarily
towards African-American women.
Locally referred to as the Essence Fest, it has been held
in New Orleans, Louisiana since 1994 except for 2006,
when it was held in Houston, Texas due to Hurricane
Katrina's effect on New Orleans. Its attendance is around
480,000 people.
Access sat down with Essence’s executive director,
live events & experiential Candace Montgomery at
FestForums to discuss the event’s cultural impact.
“From the beginning we featured conversations about
what’s going in in our community, tackling how we
would talk aaddress the direction of our community, and
it’s really grown significantly,” she says.
“We’re always bringing our content pillars to life. We
"Staging and
production are
so important,
and so is
getting the
look and feel
right
are building extensions of what’s happening online and
in print, so it’s all 360. We’re going deeper into things,
pulling in new verticals and having great conversations
with new people. We extended it from the convention
centre and the Superdome, to ten additional venues,
there’s programming going on all over the place.”
Montgomery says internal discussions are always
ongoing around content: “We do a lot of research, the
editors have their ears very close to the community
and our development process is year round. Last year
we had a Global Black Economic Forum that brought in
leaders from the world, examining how we would bring
prosperity to the black community. We were asking,
‘what’s the plan?’.”
“Staging and production are so important, and so is
getting the look and feel right. Our creative director and
chief content director give stages their own identity.
Wellness House, for example also goes out on the road.
Everything in the festival works together but can also
stand alone.”
SHAMBALA
Shambala takes place across four days on the August
Bank Holiday Weekend at a stunning secret location in
the heart of the Northamptonshire countryside.
Cco-founder Chris Johnson says: “Shambala has reduced
its carbon footprint by over 90%, eliminated single-
use plastic, taken meat and fish off the menu, banned
disposable cups for hot drinks, and provides mostly
compost toilets. Awards include the European Green
Operations Award and 5 star certification from Julie's
Bicycle's Creative Industry Green.”
Johnson nods to some of the suppliers who made this
possible:
Greenbox Ltd are leaders in recycling at events. They
broker relationships with diverse waste processing
families and provide the infrastructure and staff with
experience to successfully separate waste onsite.
Compoost provide us with a fleet of compost toilets
that are well designed and functional. We always have
positive audience feedback. The waste is composted
and used on the land, with no chemicals involved in the
process.
Recup supply Shambala reusable cups and a washing
service. Resumable cups has been a huge success,
providing a better audience experience, reducing
environmental impacts.
Electric Wheels: Shambala has recently moved to
electric buggies onsite. They have proven reliable
Impression One have helped Shambala reduce fuel
consumption by over 50% over 10 years, despite growth
in capacity.
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