Five Fabulous Green Festivals
Last week, we introduced you to A Greener Festival, an amazing organization that helps promote sustainability at music festivals around the globe. In 2011, 46 festivals were honored with the coveted Greener Festival Award. With such a great variety to choose from, you’re bound to find one that’s just your style. But in case you need a little help, here are five fabulous festivals we’re dying to attend.
1. Oya Festival: If you’re going to get out your passport for one festival, let it be Oya. It takes place every August in Oslo, Norway. The lineup is always legendary (this year they’ve got power players like Björk, Bon Iver, and Florence and the Machine) and the venue is gorgeous. In 2004, they released the first edition of the Environmental Handbook, which is a guideline for festivals on how to make their events greener. According to A Greener Festival, Oya is one of the most eco-friendly fests in the world.
2. Bonnaroo: Held on a 700-acre in Manchester, Tennessee, Bonnaroo is one of the premier music festivals in the U.S. The event features a lineup that will please just about anyone, but its claim to fame doesn’t stop with the music. Year by year, the event increases its efforts to go green. Bonnaroo has successfully decreased its overall carbon footprint by buying local, creating an extensive composting and recycling program, implementing infrastructure changes to decrease energy use, and selling reusable water bottles.
3. Lollapalooza: A festival located in the heart of Chicago, Illinois, Lollapalooza has a distinctly metropolitan feel and attracts some of the best artists in the world. But this doesn’t mean it forgets the earth. This past year, the festival upped its trash prevention efforts by installing recycling and composting bins, only providing water packaged in an easily recyclable paper bottle and creating an initiative that rewards fans who turn in recyclables. In addition, fans have the option to purchase a ‘BeGreen’ fan tag that helps offset their festival travel.
4. The Falls Festival: Held in several locations throughout Australia, this massive festival—celebrated in January—is about more than just music. It’s a smorgasbord of visual arts, film, and more. “It’s not that easy being green but it’s okay, cause it’s our favourite colour and it makes the world a better place,” proclaims the fest. But with a Green Team of volunteers on hand to help promote recycling, a water-saver program that cleans and reuses all water on site, and composting toilets, The Falls does a pretty good job.
5. Lightning in a Bottle: Tucked away in nature at a ranch in Silverado, California, its not hard for festival-goers at Lightning in a Bottle to feel connected to the earth while surrounded by world-class music and live art. The event itself is based on a deep commitment to sustainability, featuring workshops and speakers, providing free filtered water for fans and even creating stages from renewable and reused materials like bamboo and trash. A leader in the green festival movement, Lightning in a Bottle hires only green vendors, follows a comprehensive waste program and uses renewable energy to help power concerts.
Which one do you consider the best of the fests?