New Delhi: When the Bacardi NH7 Weekender kicks off this December on the lush green lawns of Pune, there will be the usual song and dance, and three days of partying. One new thing festival-goers will encounter: a lot of gentle nudging to save the planet.
“Sustainability isn’t something that’s nice to have; it’s a mandate. And it’s the right thing to communicate to our audience so that they start thinking about it as well,” says festival director Tej Brar.
NH7 is not alone. Most major events in the country are embracing sustainable practices and amplifying the messaging around it. Homegrown music festival Echoes of Earth claims 100% of the waste generated at their event is reused, whereas at Ziro in Arunachal Pradesh, less than 1% of the trash was reject waste this year. At the latest editions of Lollapalooza India and NH7, organisers say around 85% of the waste was diverted from landfills. After taking care of the basics, like eschewing single-use plastic and implementing measures for waste segregation and management, festival organisers say they are now actively looking for new ways to reduce their carbon footprint.
While three-time Grammy winner Ricky Kej’s Mumbai concert in March was powered by solar energy, Echoes of Earth is experimenting with using biodiesel as a fuel.
Kej, who’s also a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador, says his entire band travels with their own water bottles, while he personally tries to amplify the message on social media and otherwise. To assess the long-term impact of his efforts, Kej has hired a bunch of PhD students who travel with the band for some of their concerts.
‘Zero-waste Policy’ | page 7
“We track the social media of select attendees – who consent to it – to see whether their mindset/narratives have changed. That tells us whether the concept had any impact on their lives and based on that, we course-correct,” says the environmentalist.
Echoes of Earth, which plants a tree for each ticket it sells, “hardly produces any waste”, says its founder and festival director Roshan Netalkar. “That means our cutlery, crockery, glassware… everything is biodegradable. The zero-waste policy also applies to our vendors who put up food or other stalls.”
At the inaugural edition of Asia’s biggest festival Lollapalooza India earlier this year, produced by BookMyShow Live, there were electric vehicles and battery-operated golf carts to transport guests and crew within festival premises. “We also joined hands with CityFlo to help attendees use public transport to reach the venue. The #TakeTheTrainToLolla campaign was one of the highlights,” says Owen Roncon, chief of business-live entertainment, BookMyShow.
Green Cost
Is going sustainable expensive?
Sometimes yes, say industry executives, especially when resources are simply not available in the festival area. But “one can always choose partners who can help offset the costs,” feels Ritnika Nayan, owner of music consultancy firm Music Gets Me High. “For example, if you tie up with a solar power company as a sponsor/partner, they can give you their panels for usage.” The events industry is hard enough as it is, says Brar of NH7. “In general it takes festivals in India 3-5 years to even become profitable. But even then sustainability has been baked into a lot of new festivals that have started.”
The location of the festival has a lot to do with how sustainable it can be. Divya Ravichandran, founder of Skrap that provides zero-waste solutions, says recycling waste is usually a lot easier in big cities compared to many tier-II cities or small towns.
