Words by Smiley Team
With glorious sunshine, music and dancing, what’s better than a festival to satisfy your need for summertime fun? Well, an eco-friendly festival might just be your answer.
Avoid the emissions from travelling abroad, and pick from some of the incredible UK festivals that combine brilliant lineups with renewable energy and zero-waste initiatives. Here are some top options for festivals pushing ahead to become as sustainable as possible.
Aside from its awesome lineup, Green Man Festival organisers have thought through the festival’s eco-impact from beginning to end. Attendees are encouraged to travel to the festival by bus or bicycle, with lockable bike storage and the offer of a guided bicycle tour to the site. The food stalls minimise their meat and dairy usage, and water stations discourage single-use plastic bottles. Upon leaving, festival-goers can donate unwanted camping equipment to charities supporting refugees.
18-21 August. Wales.
“A festival beyond hedonism,” is how The Green Gathering describes itself. This tagline draws on how the festival balances music and entertainment with eco-friendly initiatives. Attendees can enjoy all the pleasures of a usual festival free of eco-guilt thanks to everything being 100% powered by renewable energy.
4-7 August. Wales.
The world’s biggest vegan festival, Vegan Camp Out, is about much more than veganism. There’s music, talk, activism workshops and - most pertinently - it’s highly eco-friendly. Aside from the environmental benefits of only offering plant-based food, organisers ensure the festival sends none of its waste to landfill, they’ve made it 100% plastic-free and have signed up to Go Car Share to lower emissions from transport to the site.
15-18 July. Leicestershire.
True to its name, Wilderness Festival celebrates the great outdoors by cherishing the nature and wildlife of its stunning parkland site in Oxfordshire. Travel options to the festival include bicycles, car shares or buses. Throughout the festival, they minimise plastic usage, waste and energy consumption. These environmental efforts make it all the easier to enjoy the festival’s music, theatre and well-being events.
4-7 August. Oxfordshire.
