Is it possible for festivals to ever be environmentally sustainable?
Or rather, how can festivals minimise their impact on the environment?
Welcome to the 16th edition of my monthly newsletter, all about arts festivals. A very warm hello to my new subscribers and to all my existing subscribers.
Firstly, I’m not an expert in environmental sustainability; but I do have experience of working on a major event with a goal to be Carbon Net Zero, or Carbon Neutral – which means balancing the amount of carbon emissions produced with the amount removed from the atmosphere. More about that project later. So, I know what it takes to achieve such a goal. It requires a holistic approach, full team commitment, leadership, advance planning, specialist expertise, training, research, a bespoke evaluation framework, ongoing measurement, internal and external communications, honesty and transparency, the list goes on… It's therefore understandable that for many festivals, especially those that are operating hand to mouth, it can seem like this is not an immediate priority.
We’re seeing governments around the world roll back on climate commitments, international fossil fuel lobbyists infiltrating and influencing decision-making at the global COP summits, and even some global leaders denying that scientifically proven climate change even exists.1 I know from personal experience that in English county councils that are now led by the Reform party, there are new instructions to staff to change their language around Carbon Net Zero in line with the party’s policies to scrap Net Zero and related subsidies.2
In England and Scotland, arts organisations, including many festivals, in receipt of multi-year national portfolio funding from national arts development bodies (Arts Council England and Creative Scotland respectively) are required to submit environmental information using bespoke evaluation frameworks. This process is managed by partner agencies (Julie’s Bicycle in England and Culture for Climate Scotland) to track arts organisations’ impact on the climate.
Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) is the first UK charity to achieve the British Standards Institution’s (BSI) Net Zero Pathway verification. EIF has a commitment to reach Net Zero by 2045 in all its activity. This Pathway relies on actual emissions reductions, rather than offsetting.3 The festival has invested in an Environmental Sustainability Manager, and recently hosted a Sustainability in Practice event, exploring how the arts industry is adapting to meet sustainability targets. As a result EIF has pledged to help facilitate collaboration amongst arts organisations.
A few years ago, Norfolk and Norwich Festival joined Vision:2025 with an aim to reduce its Festival greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2025.4 It’s also one of many cultural organisations to register with Culture Declares Emergency - a network sharing knowledge and practical support to seek justice, work towards regenerative change and provide care through heritage and the arts.
The Light up the North network of 15 light festivals across Northern England are working towards a more sustainable future. For example, Blackpool Illuminations has seen an 88% drop in energy costs over ten years due to using longer lasting LED lights. But it’s not just about energy use, the team has a waste reduction and recycling programme, including recycling materials and the development of reusable lamps. Another example is an artwork by Ben Everard, Cry for Help, commissioned by Quays Culture and RHS Bridgewater and presented at Lightwaves Salford and Glow to raise awareness of insect population decline. The work was created using recycled glass, plywood, plastic and aluminium.
Last year Vision:2025 and Julie’s Bicycle launched a pilot in collaboration with 10 local authorities including Manchester, Bristol and Reading, and over 60 events to test how the Green Events Code of Practice could be used to embed sustainability within local authority processes. The outcome is a free toolkit resource to upskill event organisers and local authority teams of all sizes and experience, across the UK, enabling them to improve practices and encourage re-use of materials and reduce waste. Julie’s Bicycle, with Attitude is Everything and A Greener Future have also produced the No Climate Action Without Us Toolkit to make disabled people’s access to live events environmentally sustainable.
The British Council is supporting 33 festivals in Latin America and the Caribbean (LATAC) that champion sustainability in its Circular Culture 2025 programme, providing financial and training resources to promote artistic exchange between LATAC and the UK.
Great strides are being taken in the live music events industry towards reducing carbon emissions, and in some cases, driven by the bands themselves. Earlier this year, Massive Attack’s first homecoming gig in five years broke the world record for producing the lowest ever carbon emissions, according to scientists from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. This was achieved by using 100% battery power, a fleet of electric vehicles and selling 100% vegan food. This year’s Boomtown music festival near Winchester will have a new stage powered entirely by hydrogen.
However, it's not just about organisations committing to reduce their environmental impact, audiences are worried about the climate crisis and are expecting the arts industry to play its part.
Audience research agency Indigo run annual sustainability research with cultural audiences in the UK, including festival audiences. The Act Green 2024 Report generated 17,450 responses from 112 cultural organisations. Highlights of the findings include:
86% of cultural audiences are worried about the climate crisis
93% have made changes to their lifestyle
72% think cultural organisations have a responsibility to influence society about the climate emergency
16% think cultural organisations place great importance on the role they play in the climate emergency
62% said availability of public transport is the key consideration when thinking about how to travel to an organisation
70% would act more sustainably either to support an organisation or if it was made easy for them.
We also need to remember that communication with our audiences is crucial to help them to make sustainable choices. For example, car travel to festivals is often one of the biggest carbon emissions factors. So, let’s help audiences to choose public transport to attend festivals and events, where possible, to understand what materials can be recycled, and use the correct recycling bins!
The event I worked on with the goal to be Carbon Net Zero was Green Space Dark Skies produced by Walk the Plank, which I’ve mentioned previously in this newsletter. Walk the Plank is an outdoor arts organisation with an embedded approach to sustainability. Here’s the Sustainability Impact Report from Green Space Dark Skies, packed with really useful insights and recommendations for the sector.
UK News
Controversy at the Cambridge Shakespeare Festival as Equity had threatened to stage a protest over a pay dispute with actors. The protest has now been called off following negotiations with the festival after agreeing to pay its performers.
More controversy as the band Brown Wimpenny pulled out of this year’s Manchester International Festival because ‘MIF sponsors Aviva insure UAV, part of murder-drone makers Elbit’, according to the band’s Instagram post. Note, Aviva is the named sponsor of Aviva Studios, the venue run by Factory International who stage Manchester International Festival.
Mansfield District Council has condemned “hurtful”, “divisive” and “frankly unacceptable language” in social media posts from some local residents criticising the cancellation of a veterans’ celebration, while the Mansfield Carnival went ahead. Note, the Armed Forces Day event was funded by Mansfield BID, and Mansfield Carnival is primarily grant funded by Arts Council England.
Report launches and new articles/books
Spirit of 2012 launches the findings of a Feasibility Study into creating a UK Capital of Sport, based on the UK City of Culture model, conducted by Counsel and the University of Loughborough.
It’s also worth having a look through Spirit of 2012’s extensive Knowledge Bank of reports.
Gurvinder Sandher, Artistic Director at Cohesion Plus in Kent shares his experience of managing outdoor arts events in times of unrest, and the power of diverse-led outdoor festivals in bringing communities together, in Arts Professional.
This book, due out next month, caught my eye – Fiesta by Daniel Stables – a journey through human festivity.
Research
Two new Surveys from the Centre for Events & Festivals that you can contribute to:
How is Artificial Intelligence (AI) transforming events and festivals and the industry-at-large?
How can we objectively define what is a small, medium, large, major, and mega-event?
I must give a shout out to Dr. Louise Platt at Manchester Metropolitan University for her excellent research mapping historic and current processions and parades in Greater Manchester and Lancashire.
Opportunities and new appointments
Longborough Festival Opera is looking for a Head of Audiences and Communications.
Buxton International Festival is recruiting for a Marketing Manager.
John Savournin has been appointed as the Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Waterperry Opera Festival in Oxford.
Lorna Fulton is the new Executive Director at Freedom Festival Arts in Hull.
Isla Rosser-Owen joins Wigtown Festival Company as its new Chief Executive Officer.
Call outs and artist commissions
Bradford’s youth festival - 29% Festival – co-curated and programmed by my client Common/Wealth and their Youth Board, have opened applications and commission opportunities for creatives under 21 years old.
The British Council’s Biennials Connect Grants are offering grants of up to £9,500 to UK and international biennials/festivals in eligible countries.
Edinburgh Festivals
If, like me, you’re pondering what to see at this year’s numerous Edinburgh Festivals, here are some guides (though they’re mostly for EdFringe) from the British Council, The Guardian, The Stage, Exeunt Magazine, and The Crush Bar, to name a few. Or you could try a new AI-powered EdFringe planner.
The Chief Executives of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, Edinburgh International Festival and Edinburgh International Book Festival have all spoken out about the difficulty in securing corporate sponsorship, describing it as a ‘minefield’.
A recent report commissioned by Creative Scotland and conducted by BOP Consulting into the impact of the Edinburgh Festivals Platforms for Creative Excellence programme (PlaCE), states that progress made in expanding community work and increasing community participants could be at risk without future funding.
The campaign group, Arts Workers for Palestine Scotland has criticised Edinburgh International Festival for ‘political hypocrisy’ in contrast to its public solidarity with Ukraine, ‘a deep failure of moral leadership’ and ‘silence on Palestine’.
The Stage’s Lyn Gardner shadowed the outgoing Director of the Edinburgh International Children’s Festival, Noel Jordan for a day during this year’s festival in May. The new Director, Adjjima Na Patalung is a Thai theatre, director, curator and producer of performing arts for young audiences, who founded the Bangkok International Children’s Festival.
FMP, the producers behind former Edinburgh Festival Fringe shows adapted into award-winning television shows, Fleabag and Baby Reindeer, have launched Shedinburgh, a new venue at this year’s Fringe.
And the funniest joke award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe has been scrapped.
Programme announcements and awards
Following doubt about the future of Notting Hill Carnival, this year’s event will go ahead after securing £1m funding from City Hall, and the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea and City of Westminster councils.
Barnet Council has received a £250,000 grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to support its year of culture in 2026.
Greater Manchester’s Festival of Libraries has been named as the second most inclusive kids’ book festival in the UK, behind the Hay Festival at number one, according to Inclusive Books for Children.
Kendal Calling pledges £100,000 to Lake District eco projects, including the Save Windermere campaign.
Scotland and Wales will return to next year’s Venice Biennale after a long break, as official collateral events, rather than as pavilions. Artists Bugarin + Castle will represent Scotland, and artist Manon Awst and critic Dylan Huw will collaborate on a presentation for Wales.
New festivals
London Design Studio Acrylicize talks to Creative Boom about last month’s inaugural Joy Festival for creatives.
Matt Healy, The 1975 frontman, has added his backing to a new free live music festival launching in September – Seed Sounds Weekender - that aims to support grassroots venues.
Cancelled or postponed festivals
The longstanding Winchester Hat Fair has paused its 2026 festival to review its business model to ensure long-term financial viability, after struggling with reductions in funding over the last few years.
Devizes International Street Festival has been cancelled again this year, due to loss of funding from Arts Council England.
International News
The location for Tasmania’s Dark Mofo annual winter solstice festival in Hobart could be at risk. Tasmania’s football team has finally been accepted by the Australian Football League, but only on condition that a stadium be built at Macquarie Point – the current location of Dark Mofo. This location is also the proposed site of a truth and reconciliation art park to address the genocide committed by British colonialists against the Indigenous population.
Richard Jordan in The Stage commends the Festival of International Theatre Sibiu in Romania for its creative risk-taking and commitment to young people, where selected student shows share stages with headline productions.
Personnel changes
New York’s Under the Radar Festival has announced a new leadership model. ‘Co-Creative Directors Meropi Peponides and Kaneza Schaal join Founder and Artistic Director Mark Russell to form the first of what will be rotating cohorts of festival curators, ensuring that the festival’s programming is ever-evolving and of-the-moment’.
Opportunities and call outs
The next round of the European Festivals Fund for Emerging Artists opens on 1 September this year, offering three paid residency opportunities.
The Music Biennale Zagreb has a call for individual artists and artistic duos from South East and Central Europe working in sound and music to join its MBZ Lab. Deadline 1 September.
Open call for The Shane Akeroyd Associate Curator opportunity at Venice Biennale British Pavilion 2026, where Lubaina Himid will represent the UK with a solo exhibition.
Biennals
After all the recent controversy, Australia has reinstated artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino as its artistic team for the 2026 Venice Biennale, following an independent external review. Creative Australia has also apologised for the hurt and pain caused by their original decision.
The controversy around America’s potential Pavilion at next year’s Venice Biennale continues as artist Andres Serrano proposes a multi-media portrait of Donald Trump, offered as a mausoleum. Another potential proposal from far-right blogger and computer engineer Curtis Yarvin is a space for ‘dissident-right art hos’. However, it is still unclear whether America will take part in the event.
Angela Harutyunyan and Paula Nascimento have been selected as the curatorial team for the 17th Sharjah Biennial in 2027.
European Capital of Culture
At the start of July representatives from nine European Capitals of Culture (2024-2029) met Japanese artists in Tokyo as part of ‘Meet up ECoC’ organised by EU Japan Fest to encourage new Japan-Europe collaborations.
European Festivals Association (EFA)
Athens hosted the EFA Denis de Rougemont Forum last week as part of ‘Fearless Festivals’, a collaboration between the Athens Epidaurus Festivals and EFA. The Forum aims to bridge the gap between the East and West in festivals’ international relations.
The EFA has joined a growing number of people and organisations in endorsing the Bratislava Declaration, a call for unified European action to protect artistic freedom and counter government interference in culture.
The EFA shares highlights of its Perform Europe touring programme at the end of its first year with 42 projects in 41 countries, with more to come. The programme tests innovative, inclusive, and eco-conscious touring models.
Awards
The second International Light Festivals Organisation Award will be presented at this year’s Annual General Meeting in Graz, Austria celebrating a selected artwork.
I’ve decided to change up the listings section as there are just so many festivals, it’s become a huge challenge to pull together and probably for you to read too. So, from now on, I’ll be selecting a smaller number of festivals that represent different artforms and locations and selecting a programme highlight or two.
UK upcoming highlights
As well as all the long-established festivals taking place in Edinburgh next month, a relative newcomer is the Edinburgh Deaf Festival, produced by Deaf Action, to ‘celebrate, promote and raise the visibility of deaf culture’. You can expect exhibitions, comedy, cabaret, debate, books, films, theatre, workshops, tours, and youth and family events.
A two-day festival of music. Day one is curated by Dialled In music promoters who are dedicated to uplifting the new South Asian underground. The headline act is Asha Puthli, plus ganayva’s soulful sounds, Jawani Nights, and Dhol Academy. Day two is curated by promoters Serious, with headliners Nitin Sawhney, Poppy Ajudha and Joshua Idehen.
Nestled in the foothills of Eryri (Snowdonia) in North Wales, the market town of Machynlleth hosts a week-long festival of Welsh and international music, culture and heritage. The festival launches with Cymanfa Ganu, a festival of sacred hymns sung by the audience in a four-part harmony.
Stockton International Riverside Festival
The North East’s biggest free outdoor arts and street theatre festival. French performers Compagnie Lézards Bleues kick off the weekend with Life Lines - parkour dancers exploring Stockton’s architecture. Later that evening, Múcab Dans Company’s show Correllums is a celebration of a modern day ‘ball de diables’ – ‘Devils’ Dance’, originating in Catalonia.
Lake District Summer Music Festival
Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, local hero Jess Gillam launches the festivities with ‘an eclectic mix of everything from Bach to Bowie’. Northern Chamber Orchestra will lead the finale with a chorus of 100 voices for Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
Oldham’s Festival of Happiness returns with outdoor performances, banging dhol beats, family friendly workshops, live music and co-commissions. Head to Oldham Library for the first day of the festival, highlights include Suitcases, Saris and Spices. On the second day at Northern Roots, look out for Mughal Miniatures from Sonia Sabri Company. Full disclosure, Oldham Coliseum Theatre and Northern Roots are both clients of mine.
Free, family-friendly festival in Manchester with activities ranging from stage and street performances, film screenings to creative workshops, storytelling, live music and dance. Highlights include A Sweep of Swallows - Walkabout Puppetry, Mythical Beasts of Manchester, and Family Circus Skills workshops.
Celebrating artists and craftspeople from Warwickshire and the Midlands, Royal Leamington Spa’s free festival takes place in Jephson and Mill Gardens. Highlights include dance acrobatics from Motionhouse in Gravity, live painting, demonstrations, opportunities to buy from over 200 artists, and live music across three music stages.
Ireland’s biggest community arts festival is on now and runs till 10 August. Established in 1988 as a direct response to the conflict in Northern Ireland. The festival now includes hundreds of events including live music, traditional music, a Trad Trail, shows in the Irish language, tours and walks, discussion and debate, literature and poetry, film and theatre, nature and the environment, sport and health, visual arts, comedy, and food and drink celebrating all cultures.
Greenwich + Docklands International Festival
Celebrating its 30th anniversary. Look out for the all-female circus company, Cie des Chaussons Rouges in Epiphytes creating images of arboreal growth in Greenwich Park, and The Weight of Water from Panama Pictures, with six performers struggling for survival on a floating stage on Birchmere Lake, in a modern parable of global warming.
International upcoming highlights
Art Festival BEGEHUNGEN, Chemnitz European Capital of Culture
This contemporary art festival is running until 17 August in the decommissioned Chemnitz-Nord lignite-fired power plant. Under the title EVERYTHING IS INTERACTION, the festival aims to make the complexity of the issues of resource consumption, species loss and the climate crisis visible.
BIEN Textile Art Biennial, Nova Gorcia Gorizia European Capital of Culture
Running until 18 August, the central theme of this edition of the Biennial is ‘air’. The festival features new contemporary expressions of textile art and design, and the effects of textile creation, with exhibitions by international and Slovenian artists.
Melbourne’s festival of new dimensions, and an exploration of potential futures. I love the sound of Ostro x Einder - a flowing textile dances with light and sound in the Town Hall, evoking a storm unfolding in real time by Dutch artist and composer Boris Acket. Down below cookbook author Julia Busuttil Nishimura creates a menu of dishes in a shared dining experience as an ode to the fleeting impermanence of nature.
New York’s longest running free outdoor public dance festival. There’s a mix of New York and international companies performing across the week-long event, with one day devoted to Indian dance, and plenty of opportunities to try out new dance styles in the accompanying workshop programme.
Phest International Festival of Photography and Art
The 10th edition in Monopoli, Italy features work from filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos, artist Francisco Goya and photographer Martin Parr, to name a few. Five artists were selected for awards from over 800 participants in this year’s Pop-up Open Call which invited artists to investigate our relationship with time, memory and the future.
Celebrating the 21st international performing arts festival in Tallinn, Estonia. Bush Hartshorn’s 1-on-1 performance Tell Daddy invites you to sit down with the artist to tell him things you’d like to say to your father, but for some reason can’t. Meet on the beach for Asphodel Meadows, Sinna Virtanen’s site-specific performance about hidden sorrow that has not been grieved. In The Teenage Songbook of Love and Sex by Ásrún Magnúsdóttir and Alexander Roberts, young people perform narratives about their youth, singing songs based on their own romantic and sexual experiences.
Ruhrtrienniale Festival of the Arts
As a proud Mancunian (born in Manchester, UK), I had to select this world premiere show as a highlight, Oracle by Łukasz Twarkowski, Anka Herbut and Dailes Theatre Latvia - a theatrical multimedia exploration into Alan Turing, AI, and the dark soul of technology.5 Other highlights include Guernica Guernica by theatre collective FC Bergman - a wordless multimedia stage production about the impossibility of representing war, inspired by Picasso’s famous painting.
Ireland’s Biennial of Contemporary Art takes place across Limerick and launches at the end of the month. Artist Eimear Walshe will restage their acclaimed installation, ROMANTIC IRELAND: A National Tour in Fragments from the 60th Venice Biennale where they represented Ireland, alongside newly commissioned works and events in Limerick, Roscommon, Belfast and Dublin.
Though this takes place in Sweden, parts of the programme are live-streamed on YouTube and Facebook, including traditional herd calling, folk concerts and lectures. The festival aims to strengthen and spread knowledge of the unique Nordic Song treasure spanning romances, songs, folk songs, opera, choral works and jazz, all with its roots in Nordic tonality and languages.
Noorderzen Festival of Performing Arts and Society
I love that they have an extensive section of the festival named ‘Programme for non-Dutchies’, featuring Plagiary, a performance that blurs the lines between originality and imitation, What’s the Taste of Our Clothes?, a sensory journey through the global world of textiles, and more experimental theatre, live music, readings, talks and workshops.
A note on THE HERDS
A groundbreaking public art and climate initiative designed to inspire action and renew our bond with the natural world. From April to August 2025, life-size puppet animals are sweeping through city centres on a 20,000km journey from the Congo Basin to the Arctic Circle, fleeing climate disaster.
Events and performances by world-class artists are responding as the herds move, bringing together the worlds of arts and science in an urgent call for climate action. THE HERDS is brought to life by the international team behind Little Amal created by The Walk Productions and led by Artistic Director Amir Nizar Zuabi, and brings together leading artists and arts and educational institutions across Africa and Europe.
Manchester International Festival partnered with Manchester Camerata and THE HERDS to create and perform their opening event with over 70 life-size puppets operated by local participants and volunteers.
P.S. If you liked this post and you’re reading this as a Substack subscriber, please click on the heart at the bottom or top of this post. It helps others to discover PalmerSquared on Festivals and I’ll be very thankful.
See you next month for more festival news, stories, and insights.
Conference of Parties meeting organised under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Offsetting is compensating for an organisation’s carbon dioxide emissions by participating in schemes designed to make equivalent reductions of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Vision:2025 supports the Live Event industry to take action on the climate crisis.
Alan Turing moved to Manchester in 1948.
It's very interesting Helen. I thought what Massive Attack did was great and I loved the whole approach by Walk the Plank to Dark Skies.
I guess festivals, like living, is never going to be carbon neutral is it? But if they all work towards getting emissions down then that can only be a good thing. I do think there are so many now and a lot of it is just lip service. It's good to see some real examples.
And politically arts orgs that fall into Reform's LAs and receive funding from ACE and have conflicting reporting/evaluation - it must be a nightmare.
Thanks for a very interesting read. Have fun in Edinburgh.