Festival Diaries: Creative Ways to Approach Sustainability

As a small independent musician who relies on a steady stream of festival slots each summer, the question of sustainability is complicated.

I’m keen to reduce my carbon footprint and minimise waste as a performing artist, but it often feels like the more sustainable options are either too expensive or impractical.

I used the tail end of my summer tour this year to talk to artists, contributors and organisers about creative ways to approach sustainability at festivals.

Environmental sustainability

I live in the West Midlands, and while local gigs and festivals are some of the most rewarding performances for me to do, it’s always exciting to venture into new cities and play for new audiences. This year the furthest I played was Purbeck Valley Folk Festival, all the way down on the Jurassic Coast.

It’s been encouraging to notice the changes that festivals have been adopting, even over the last five years or so. Many now ask artists to limit the number of vehicles they’re using, set up group for attendees to organise car-sharing, and are introducing options like regular shuttle buses to and from festival sites, to make public transport a more viable option.

Recycling seems like a bigger beast to tackle. Even when recycling is available, the public don’t always make use of it.

Purbeck Valley Folk Festival used to try and separate recyclables at the festival, but they always ended up with recycling bins with bits of rubbish or food waste in. They now take all their mixed waste to be separated at a recycling plant. It ends up being more expensive, but it’s a foolproof way of making sure the litter and recyclables are sent in the right direction.

This seems like one of many financial sacrifices that festivals must make to play their part to protect the environment. But artists have just as much responsibility; how we engage with venues, promoters, and audiences shapes the choices festivals make in the long term.

Greener riders

I’ve become used to using a green artist rider, which I now send to organisers even if they haven’t specifically asked me for one. It covers small things like no single-use plastics, straws or plastic cups/bottles, and bigger things like using sustainably sourced food and encouraging visitors and crew to minimise water wastage.

It’s sparked some interesting conversations, and I still get mixed responses. The festivals that end up ignoring the rider are usually the smaller, newer ones that don’t have the budget, resources or capacity to think about where food is getting sourced, and what kind of snacks they’re putting in the artist area – they’re just happy they have an artist area at all.

But pushing the rider, regardless of how people respond, has taught me how to be more assertive and really start to own my voice as an artist.

As an emerging artist, I sometimes worry about asking too much from bookers and venues and promoters, because I want to be seen as ‘easy to work with’ and not jeopardise future opportunities. What I’m slowly realising is that starting conversations around the issues that are truly important to you is a huge part of career development, just as much as networking and finding new gigs. It builds confidence, sparks ideas, and is a gentle reminder that this industry is a lot more fluid than we sometimes think.

Cutting down travel time

“We’re always thinking about how we can do things better,” says Beth Porter, a well-known cellist on the UK folk and acoustic music circuit.

She is one half of The Bookshop Band, who avoid the high carbon footprint from travelling long distances between gigs by touring mainly in bookshops. This year they played in just under fifty bookshops across the UK.

“Mostly it was quite easy to get a gig in one town and then one not too far away, so we ended up cutting down our travelling time by quite a bit.”

It’s a refreshing reminder that there are creative ways to approach longstanding issues, and new ones are getting made all the time.

Making use of existing facilities

For festivals however, it can be hard to offset the environmental impact of power usage and water production, especially if it’s held over a long period of time.

Sun and Moon Festival is a family-friendly wellbeing festival that takes place over a whole week, but always uses buildings with existing facilities to avoid transporting deliveries and services. This year it was held on the grounds of Woolverstone Hall in Suffolk, a building that already doubles as both a school and a wedding venue.

“Making use of existing facilities gives you more ecological power,” says Scott Doane, who has been running the festival for nine years.

“Think about using venues that already have facilities and electrical supplies, like schools or colleges” is his advice to grassroots festival organisers.

Deer Shed Festival also makes use of private school grounds, adding a surprising element to both the artist and visitor experience. The green rooms and changing rooms are big empty classrooms, artists get served food in the cafeteria, and the existing bathrooms means there’s no need to transport separate toilet facilities.

Social and economic sustainability

Clothing in festival culture is also something that’s experiencing a shift.

The Honesty Jar Swap Shop has been running pop-up clothing swap shops for fifteen years. They attend roughly twelve festivals each year, and have experienced how both festival attendees and artists are starting to adapt to the idea of slow fashion.

“Disposable culture is over in people’s psyche, and people are a bit more open to mending things,” says one of the owners of Honesty Jar. “Even if something has a button or two missing, or needs a bit of a refresh, people are less quick to throw it away.”

“A lot of artists get their stage clothes from the swap shop too, because they’re looking for something unique or affordable.”

Stage outfits can be such a big part of an artist’s visual identity, especially at a festival when you’re trying to stand out from other acts, but also want to stay true to your own style. Swap shops are a hidden treasure trove of one-of-a-kind items and accessories (the more you look the more you find!), and often a chance to be a bit more experimental with your aesthetic.

The Honesty Jar Swap Shop also has a lot of clothes for children – an audience for whom festivals play an incredibly important role to educate them about their relationship with the environment.

Whether it’s creative arts and crafts (Deer Shed Festival’s ‘Make Your Own Pet Log’ workshop was a huge success) or nature-based activities like forest walks, family-friendly festivals are using their events to introduce the next generation to the idea of sustainable living; to help them cultivate an attitude of responsibility and care for the natural world.

Having conversations about out-of-the-box solutions

It can be incredibly difficult to feel like you’re making a difference, but it’s true that everyone has a part to play in the climate crisis.

“In general, people’s attitudes have changed … and a big part of it is seeing what other artists do and having conversations about out-of-the-box solutions” says Beth Porter.

Whether it’s staying consistent with your regular practices, trying out a new idea, or encouraging someone else to think about what they can change, there’s always something you can do to help drive the music industry forward. The power of your platform depends on how you use it and when you speak about what matters to you, there is always someone listening.