A total of 35 festivals and events across 14 countries were awarded the prestigious Greener Festival Award, showing a commitment to sustainability.
I first spoke about the fantastic A Greener Festival organisation when I was lucky enough to interview it’s founder – Claire O’Neill. They’re a wonderful not-for-profit who are dedicated to reducing the environmental impact of festivals and events. The AGF Awards have been running since 2007, and have hugely impacted the industry, moving it towards a better future.
In 2018, this prestigious accolade is awarded to those events and festivals that have demonstrated conscientiousness with regards to sustainability and a reduction in environmental impacts in 11 areas including transport, waste, power, water, and local area impacts. Applicants undergo a rigorous assessment, site visit and post-event analysis of their events’ sustainability actions.
The awards themselves are made entirely of reused materials that include salvaged tents by I Dress Myself and reclaimed wood turned by Steve O’Neill. Don’t they look great?
So here they are! The winners of the 2018 A Greener Festival Award are:
OUTSTANDING
Boom Festival (PT)
Cambridge Folk Festival (UK)
DGTL Festival (NL)
Green Gathering (UK)
Øya Festival (NO)
We Love Green (FR)
Wood Festival (UK)
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Body & Soul (IE)
Dubcamp Festival (FR)
Greenbelt Festival (UK)
Paradise City (BE)
Rainbow Serpent (AU)
Roskilde Festival (DK)
COMMENDED
Boomtown Fair (UK)
Das Fest (DE)
Fire In The Mountain (UK)
Hadra Trance Festival (FR)
Kew the Music (UK)
Mandala Festival (NL)
Metal Days (SI)
Pete the Monkey (FR)
Pohoda Festival (SK)
Primavera Sound (ES)
Spring Utrecht (NL)
“The Outstanding Award is a crown on many years of hard work. With this prize, we demonstrate that it is possible to implement circular systems without having to compromise on quality or experience. We believe that this is the best way to introduce the world to a new economic paradigm, in which we distance ourselves from our current linear (take-make-waste) behaviour.”
Xander Kotvis, Revolution Manager of DGTL Festival Amsterdam, one of seven events to receive an Outstanding Award – Greener Festival Awards’ highest accolade.
“We are delighted that we obtained the Commended Award from AGF. That highlights the positive action we are taking. It’s a great start to our mission to ensure that we significantly reduce the environmental impact of the event, as well as raise awareness on just how vital it is that we all pull together to protect the planet for future generations.”
Emily Ford, Boomtown Fair‘s Sustainability Manager. Boomtown applied for the award assessment and feedback for the first time in 2018.
“This year has seen unprecedented action and an awareness of the urgency to make our industries and our lives more harmonious with nature. The festivals and events that we have had the honour to assess and award are helping to shape this transition, which has positive repercussions not only within the events’ operations but also through the message and example they put out into the world.”
Claire O’Neill, A Greener Festival Co-Founder
The next batch of winners, which will include events that take place in the southern hemisphere, along with winter events in the northern hemisphere, will be announced at the annual Green Events & Innovations Conference, which takes place in London, 6th March, alongside the International Live Music Conference (ILMC).
Read about the GEI Conference in my earlier blog post!
I’ll be covering the event live and can’t wait!
