How to make festivals more sustainable

Last updated on Friday, 24/02/2023

Festivals – You love it, or you hate it. But the fact is that there are more and more music festivals around the world that attract hundreds of thousands of people. And a lot of people means a lot of waste production. People are travelling to the venues, using electricity, water, and other supplies on the site. So, the question is: How can we make festivals more sustainable without us having to forego them? The Flow Festival in Helsinki (Finland) can serve as a blueprint for other festivals.

According to the not-for-profit company A Greener Festival, the average waste generated by festival goers per day is almost 1 kilogram (even more if it is a festival with a campsite). This, although the majority of visitors do agree that waste at festivals has a negative impact on the environment.

 

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© A Greener Festival

 

 

The Flow Festival in Helsinki focuses on sustainability, diversity, and social justice. This is reflected in the line-up, the festival venue and the festival's own sustainability strategy.

 

Therefore, the responsibility does not only lie with the visitors, but also with the organisers who must pursue strategies on how to make their festivals greener. One festival in Europe that has its own strategy on how to make the festival more sustainable is the Flow Festival in Helsinki, Finland: “Sustainable Flow is Flow Festival’s own responsibility program, ensuring that the festival carries out its responsibilities related to the environment as well as the social aspects of sustainability.”

 

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© Leonie Kirstein, 2022

 

Thereby they set themselves different goals: First and foremost, the festival aims at a zero-carbon footprint. Through calculations and compensation programmes, emissions are to be reduced year by year. In this way, they managed to reduce emissions by 32% by 2019. Part of it is also due to the use of green energy, in this case, renewable diesel that can reduce up to 90% of greenhouse gas emissions. Sustainability is also at the forefront when it comes to food, since 100% of the materials used to serve food are reused or biodegradable. In addition, special effort is put into vegetarian and vegan dishes. With an extra bicycle parking area and extensive public transport, the Flow Festival aims to minimise individual travel and thus CO2 emissions. Kacper and I went on-site to see how this is all being implemented. What you could see in Helsinki was, that a lot of people used these opportunities: Full bicycle racks, many people using public transport, huge rubbish bins with the festival’s own recycling concept. So, you have the feeling of being part of the sustainability strategy in every area of the festival. For the coming year, the Flow Festival will go one step further. With an environmental research project, the organisers will examine the overall ecological effects of the festival.

The Flow Festival is one of the few festivals that pursues an entire sustainability strategy. Nevertheless, worldwide the topic is becoming more important, because it is becoming more and more obvious that new structures have to be created. This task has been taken on by Jacob Bilabel, for example. With his Green Music Initiative, Bilabel develops sustainable concepts for festivals.  In cooperation with renowned scientific institutes, stakeholders and well-known artists, strategies are implemented to reduce CO2 emissions and environmental impacts in all areas of music and entertainment events. For example, by publishing guides on the topic of sustainability. “Since the music industry has such a large and far-reaching influence, it is all the more important that it acts as a role model in climate protection”*, says Bilabel.

It is true that everybody has a responsibility when it comes to a sustainable way of living. But regarding big music festivals around the world, the responsibility cannot be shifted to the visitors alone. The festival organisers as well as politics and the economy must ensure structural changes. “Climate protection is privatised by saying that it has to be done by the individual. And it is true that everyone can do something. But one does not lose the right to demand clear regulations from politics and the economy”*, as Jacob Bilabel puts it. In fact, the music industry is not an insignificant part of it. And the Flow Festival is taking an important step in the right direction with its strategy and approach and should hence serve as a good practice model for many other festivals, since practice also shows that such concepts work.

    

*Source: https://www.sueddeutsche.de/panorama/festivals-abfall-muellproblem-1.4499862, loosely translated.

 

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Meet the author Leonie Kirstein and Kacper Król (Members of the pool of European young journalists – Edition 2022)

"I am now in the final stages of my master's degree program “European Culture and Economy” which hopefully will take me to work in a European context and to be in contact with people of various nations and cultures. Being a part of the European Pool of Young Journalists allows me to make my voice heard and work towards a better future because I really believe in the importance of spaces where participation of young people in Europe is encouraged. The causes close to my heart are animal welfare, feminism, and equality."

"My name is Kacper, I’m 23 years old and I’m a graduate of Journalism and Social Communication. For now, I’m studying Media productions and International and EU law in University of Maria Curie-Skłodowska in Lublin. During three years I have been working in the Radio Centrum newsroom, where I have been a reporter and publisher. I have also been running an authorial radio program about traveling for two years, as it has become my passion. I have visited several countries in various Erasmus+ projects. I believe that every trip has allowed me to cross my inner boundaries and broaden my horizons. Volunteering is very important in my life and my work at the Sempre a Frente Foundation has allowed me to help others and change the thinking of the local community.
My experience on a project as part of the European Solidarity Corps in North Macedonia would certainly make my work as a journalist for the European Youth Portal easier. Promoting trips within the framework of various EU programs and changing other people's perceptions of reality by showing them development opportunities is my passion. Remember to cross the borders not only of other countries, but also your own!"

 

This article and video reflect the views of the authors only. The European Commission cannot be held responsible for it.