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32 green festivals recognised for their efforts

Greener Festival Awards 2010

Tuesday 7th September 2010


Thirty two festivals from the UK, Europe, and Australia have been announced as recipients of this year's Greener Festival Award for their efforts in promoting environmentally friendly music festivals.

The team behind AGreenerFestival.com are responsible for the award, which was unveiled in 2007 and in keeping with the website's ethos aims to promote greener practices and sustainability for the festival circuit.

Fourteen UK festivals, nine European and nine Australian events are the first recipients of the coveted 2010 Greener Festival Award, acknowledging the events' efforts to reduce their environmental impact.

The festivals are (in alphabetical order):

The Big Session
Bluesfest (Australia)
Blues n Roots (Australia)
Bristol Harbour Festival
City of London Festival
Croissant Neuf Summer Party
Fairbridge (Australia)
Falls Festival (on two sites) (Australia)
Glastonbury Festival
Grassroots (Jersey)
Hadra Trance Festival (France)
Island Vibe (Australia)
Isle of Wight Festival
Lounge on The Farm
Malmo Festivalen (Sweden)
Open Air Festival (Czech Republic)
Open Air St Gallen (Switzerland)
The Oya Festival (Norway)
Peats Ridge (Australia)
Rock For People (Czech Republic)
Rototom Reggae Sunsplash (Spain)
Sonisphere at Knebworth
SOS 4.8 (Spain)
Southbound (Australia)
Splendour
Standon Calling
Summer Sundae Weekender
Sunrise Celebration
Wireless Festival
WomAdelaide (Australia)
Wood

All of the festivals have signed up to support environmentally good practices wherever possible and work with their audiences to reduce the festival's carbon footprint, particularly from audience travel which often constitutes in excess of 70% of greenhouse gas emissions from rural sites. Festival organisers also have to complete a fifty three question assessment covering travel policies, CO2 emissions, waste and recycling policies, water use, noise pollution, environmental impact and green office policies. Festivals also have to undergo an independent environmental audit by an assessor sent by A Greener Festival.

A Greener Festival co-founder Ben Challis said, "We have had a record number of entries in 2010 and we are on track to make a record breaking 50 plus Awards this year (up from 37 festivals in 2009, 32 festivals in 2008 and 16 festivals in 2007 when the Awards scheme began). This is particularly impressive, not least because of the economic downturn but also because year on year we have raised the bar and made our Awards scheme more and more focussed on a meaningful and practical responses to climate change and pollution".

He added, "We are also delighted that we have had more European and Australian festivals entering, new entrants in the UK and growing interest in the USA, and also that a number of festivals are entering into other schemes such as the 10:10 campaign as well as using established and proven tools from Julies Bicycle to measure and then reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

The final list of the 2010 Greener Festival Awards, which will include additional UK and US festivals which have taken place in August and September, will be made at the beginning of October.

This festival award actually has some meaning. Unlike other festival awards, its based on a fair comparison by the assessors who have actually attended the festivals and carry out an independent environmental audit, and isn't based on marketing through emails begging for votes, and a self interested short-list of festivals, or people voting for or against festivals they have never attended - through all these things other awards are made completely meaningless.