At the ADE Green conference on Friday 21 October in Amsterdam, 23 European festivals have joined Green Deal Circular Festivals, the European partnership of frontrunners for a sustainable festival sector. By signing up, the number of participating parties has more than doubled to 43 festivals from 14 countries in one fell swoop. Also new at ADE Green is the collaboration between festivals and cities: they share knowledge and experience in regard to sustainability and together make impact.
Green Deal Circular Festivals
The Green Deal Circular Festivals (GDCF) stimulates sustainable innovation and collaboration in the European festival world. Participating Dutch and European organizations are working together in this Green Deal to be circular and climate neutral by 2025. The parties focus on five themes: energy, food and drinks, travel and transportation, resource efficiency and water. The GDCF is supported by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management.
Festivals and cities make an impact together
In the fight against the climate crisis, sustainability is a worldwide necessity. A great impact can be made in cities, where more than 70 percent of the world's population lives. With their large number of visitors, defined duration and space, festivals offer the perfect place to test sustainability innovations and to inspire people and sectors. At ADE Green, festivals from the GDCF, the municipality of Amsterdam and other European cities and regions come together to share knowledge and experiences and discuss how the collaboration can best take form. As innovators and living labs, festivals are a prelude to tangible innovations in cities.
Camping equipment becomes art
The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management received an art object from Lowlands festival camping material at the ADE Green conference. The art object was created during a pilot that UPPACT conducted with Innofest and Lowlands within the Green Deal Circular Festivals project. The pilot aims to reuse camping materials from festivals in a high-quality manner during future editions. Lowlands director Eric van Eerdenburg: “You see that waste no longer exists. Everything we use is a raw material that can be reused. What is happening at Lowlands now will soon be common practice at European festivals because of the collaboration in the GDCF.” State Secretary Vivianne Heijnen also emphasizes the importance of circularity: “This is a good example of circular economy in practice. It is nice to see the innovative strength of the sector. The collaboration with festivals is a good example for other sectors.”
ADE Green
Since its first edition in 1996, the Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) has grown into one of the leading platforms for the electronic music industry. The five-day event connects festival, club, and conference and forms an annual meeting place for the international creative industry around electronic music. This year, ADE takes place from Friday 21 to Sunday 23 October. On Friday 21 October the ADE Green is held: the conference for sustainability, innovation and social change in the music and events industry.
Participating festivals
The 23 new parties are Amsterdam Dance Event, Awakenings Festival, Awakenings Summer Festival, Boom Festival, Castle Fest, Department Festival, EXIT Festival, Georgie's, Komm schon Alter, Lago Lago, Le Guess Who?, Meadows in the Mountains, Mysteryland, NorthSide , Orange Blossom, Øyafestivalen, Paradise City Festival, Pohoda Festival, Sziget Festival, Welcome to the Village, Wild Paths Festival and Wonderfeel. The festivals Amsterdam Open Air, Best Kept Secret Festival, Boardmasters, Body & Soul, Boomtown, DGTL Amsterdam, Down The Rabbit Hole, Eurosonic Noorderslag, Into The Great Wide Open, Lowlands, Mañana Mañana, Milkshake Festival, North Sea Jazz, Pukkelpop, Roskilde Festival, Shambala, Superbloom, Vierdaagsefeesten, We Love Green and Zwarte Cross already were participants of the GDCF.