Music festivals seek greener footprint amid climate crisis
How have music festivals been affected by the raging climate crisis, and what does that mean for concert-goers and the celebrities performing there?
![Festivalgoers dance as Ukranian DJ Daria Kolosova performs at The Temple stage at the end of the Glastonbury festival at Worthy Farm in the village of Pilton in Somerset, southwest England, on Monday.](https://media.tag24.de/951x634/m/0/m0f9bff30y6sbl1iulldh3ibyt0v5i6e.jpg)
Three planes, 270 tons of equipment, 800 square meters of stage – the figures from Madonna's massive free concert in Rio in May sounded like they came from another age.
These days, megastars are usually keener to claim a smaller footprint.
Coldplay, who just headlined Glastonbury Festival in Britain, recently announced they had cut carbon emissions on their world tour by 59% compared with their last tour in 2016-17.
They have taken innovative steps including solar panels and even a special dance floor that generates electricity from the movement of the audience.
Critics point out they are still flying around on planes, and there was particular outrage in 2022 when they announced a partnership with Finnish oil giant Neste.
Though Neste promised to help them use sustainable biofuels, the Transport and Environment campaign group said Coldplay was being used by the oil firm as "useful idiots for greenwashing".
Many big music festivals now have climate pledges
![ALLEYCVT performs at the DoLaB at the 2024 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival weekend 2 day 1 at Empire Polo Club on April 19, 2024 in Indio, California.](https://media.tag24.de/951x634/x/i/xicxpdiml2pcllng8zau2g9ng8bquerr.jpg)
Many big festivals now have climate pledges and initiatives, from composting and carpooling schemes at Coachella in California to renewable energy usage at Glastonbury.
One festival that has taken the lead is We Love Green in Paris, as the name suggests.
Some 110,000 festival-goers attended last month's event to see artists including Sza, who traveled with "almost no equipment" according to Marianne Hocquard, the festival's head of sustainable development.
She said that was down to the festival ensuring they have much of the equipment needed by its artists, and setting energy caps for performances.
Many events now encourage their attendees to take greener modes of transport, but there is a limit to how much can be done.
For example, when Taylor Swift played Paris in May, the city mayor's office said there was a surge in arrivals of private jets at local airports.
Cover photo: OLI SCARFF / AFP