Green Guardians: Water & Sanitation
The Green Guardians Guide, spearheaded by the Green Events and Innovations Conference (GEI) and IQ Magazine, is a new yearly initiative boosting the profiles of those working at the forefront of sustainability, in the hope that it might also inspire others.
The 2021 list, which originally ran in IQ 103, includes 40 entries across eight categories, highlighting some of the organisations and individuals who are working so tirelessly to reduce the carbon footprint of the live entertainment business.
This year’s winners have been chosen by a judging panel that includes experts from A Greener Festival, Greener Events, Julie’s Bicycle, the Sustainability in Production Alliance, the Sustainable Event Council and the Tour Production Group.
IQ will publish entries across all categories over the coming weeks. Catch up on the previous instalment of the Green Guardians Guide which looks at power.
Frank Water
Frank Water CIC is a social enterprise that raises funds for the charity’s safe water projects overseas and helps inspire the UK (and beyond) to adopt a more sustainable approach to water.
The organisation has a diverse portfolio of services and products that help support the charity financially, whilst promoting its ethos of sustainability. For example, its festival refill service enables festivals to substantially reduce levels of plastic waste. During 2020, this service was obviously impacted by Covid-19, but Frank is back on the festival circuit in 2021, at the likes of Green Man, End of the Road, TankFest and Beautiful Days.
As well as supporting the charity’s emergency response to Covid-19 in India and Nepal, the organisation spent time during the pandemic developing its UK education programme and designing a new look for its range of glass-bottled spring water, because while it stresses that tap water is always best, Frank wants to give consumers an ethical, sustainable choice.
Looking to the future and further developing its work around global water stewardship, Frank Water has also created a tech platform, WASH Connect, which consists of a suite of digital tools and applications to support brands and companies to develop and deliver their water stewardship programmes and manage the risks to water security in their supply chain.
ECOZ Mobile has already been spotted at Belgian festivals such as Paradise City and Dranouter
Hello Water
In recent years, it has become clear that the tipping point for climate change is approaching, especially when it comes to water. Water is not a single-use commodity and shouldn’t be treated like one.
With this in mind, I-QUA started ECOZ Mobile, its pilot project for mobile water treatment at events, offering local water sanitation and striving to make water treatment systems circular. Wastewater goes in, clear water comes out. It’s that easy. Say goodbye to brown gunk and hello to clear water!
ECOZ Mobile has already been spotted at Belgian festivals such as Paradise City and Dranouter – ideal opportunities to test how the project copes in challenging conditions. With 2020 being low on festivals, ECOZ founder Wouter Igodt used the opportunity to launch a new startup – Hello Water – whose aim is to help get the idea of environmentally friendly local water treatment out in the open, beyond festivals. The organisation’s motto is: “Where water flows, life grows.”
Not only are Nature Event’s composting toilets better for the environment but they provide a more pleasant experience
Natural Event
Having launched in 2000 with an alternative solution toilet, Natural Event Composting Toilet Systems is changing the world literally from the bottom up.
The company has designed and operates one of the most effective, practical, pleasant-to-use toilet systems for festivals, events and gatherings.
Natural Event was created after the organisers of The Festival of Folk, Rhythm and Life, Victoria, Australia, realised that the toilet system they had created to cater for their own three-day festival could easily be deployed nationally and internationally.
The company’s aim is to provide festivals and events with planet-friendly water usage systems that consume much less energy than the previous systems that involved transporting massive quantities of waste.
Not only are Nature Event’s composting toilets better for the environment but they provide a substantially more pleasant user experience, producing no smell, even in the blistering Australian sun, five days into a huge camping festival. All hail the pong-less bog.
Ideal for large crowds with multiuser safe access, O’land’s stainless-steel stations are beautiful and ecological
O’land fill & wash stations
Since losing all event contracts in March 2020, management of The Green Stop decided to rebrand the company changing its name to O’land, and made their fill-and-wash stations safer in terms of hygiene and safe distancing.
The organisation has maintained its mission of eliminating waste from single-use plastics, by improving its bottle refill solutions and providing hand-wash and sink facilities.
Ideal for large crowds with multiuser safe access, O’land’s 360-degree-designed stainless-steel stations are both beautiful and ecological – making them attractive for sponsorship and branding opportunities.
In addition, O’land’s near-real-time antennas record daily water usage so that analysts can easily document the number of bottles refilled and plastic waste saved.
Osheaga Play allows festivalgoers to trade in plastic water bottles and see them get recycled into special-edition T-shirts
Osheaga
Over the years, Osheaga has implemented multiple sustainability initiatives to ensure that its operations are responsible. Beyond the artistic and cultural experience, the festival wants to minimise the negative impact it has on the environment and maximise the positive influence it has on society and the economy.
Its Water for Everyone programme in partnership with National Bank has helped provide Osheaga with more than 31,500 litres of drinking water, 14 additional water-refill stations, and 9,000 reusable water bottles. Additionally, Osheaga Play (powered by National Bank) allows festivalgoers to trade in plastic water bottles and see them get recycled into special-edition Osheaga T-shirts.
In 2018, Osheaga enacted a ban on plastic straws, it has been using reusable eco-cups in onsite concessions for over five years, and in 2019, the festival’s Perrier tent implemented more environmentally friendly paper cups.
The event continually examines its practices with water and waste to ensure it is doing everything it can to improve its sustainability credentials.
In recognition of those efforts, Osheaga has achieved level 2 of the Standard BNQ (Bureau de normalisation du Québec) 9700-253 for responsible event management, delivered by Modus Operandi Logistiques.
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Ticketmaster signs Evenko parent Groupe CH
Ticketmaster has announced an exclusive ticketing partnership with Montreal-based Groupe CH, one of the largest entertainment and sports businesses in North America.
Live Nation-owned Ticketmaster will serve as the official primary and resale ticketing partner for the Montreal Canadiens, a leading ice-hockey team; Montreal’s 21,288-seat Bell Centre; the 10,000-seat Place Bell in Laval, Quebec; MTelus, a 2,300-cap. performing-arts venue in Montreal; and the Corona Theatre (753-cap.), also in Montreal, as well as several high-profile festivals, including Osheaga, Heavy Montreal and Ile Soniq.
All Groupe CH’s teams, venues and festivals will use Ticketmaster’s Presence platform to offer fans mobile tickets and a personalised event experience, including venue ingress and in-venue offerings.
“Groupe CH has experienced tremendous growth over recent years, and we’re excited to partner with a global leader like Ticketmaster who will not only provide the technology and scale to power the ticketing of our teams, venues and events, but also help us amplify our digital marketing capabilities,” says France Margaret Bélanger, the Montreal Canadiens’ EVP of commercial and corporate affairs.
“We know that Ticketmaster’s scale, coupled with our state-of-the-art products and services, will support Groupe CH’s phenomenal number of events”
“Ticketmaster’s digital entry experience will be of particular interest to our fans based on its success in dramatically reducing fraudulent tickets while also delivering creative fan engagement opportunities.”
Groupe CH’s concert promotion arm, Evenko, was the 16th largest promoter in the world – and the biggest in Canada – in 2018, selling nearly 1.3 million tickets, according to Pollstar.
“We could not be more excited to expand our partnership with Groupe CH, a global leader in sports and entertainment, and to deliver the best experience possible to their millions of fans,” comments Patti-Anne Tarlton, chairman of Ticketmaster Canada. “We know that Ticketmaster’s scale, coupled with our state-of-the-art products and services, will support Groupe CH’s phenomenal number of events while providing fans with a seamless ticketing experience. We’re looking forward to working together as we enter this new era of ticketing.”
Ticketmaster employs over 600 people in Canada, including a 240-strong workforce in its Montreal and Quebec City offices.
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Festival Focus: Lollapalooza, Arroyo Seco, Sziget
With the 2017 festival season fast approaching and many events close to finalising this year’s line-ups, we’ve introduced a new, slimmed-down Festival Focus for 2017 to ensure we cover as much news as possible – keeping you abreast of all the latest developments in the festival world with the minimum of waffle.
Read on for all the latest festival announcements (headliners are in bold), or click here for the previous FF. And if we’ve missed something, or you’d like to see your event featured in a future Festival Focus, feel free to drop news editor Jon Chapple a line at [email protected].
Demon Dayz Festival, UK (Goldenvoice/X-ray Touring, 10 June 2017)
Gorillaz (Gorillaz photo by Adrian Pua)
Arroyo Seco Weekend, US (Goldenvoice, 24–25 June 2017)
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Mumford & Sons, Alabama Shakes, Weezer, The Shins, Andrew Bird, etc.
Global Citizen Festival Hamburg, Germany (Global Poverty Project/Live Nation, 6 July 2017)
Herbert Grönemeyer, Coldplay, The Chainsmokers, Ellie Goulding
Trnsmt, UK (DF Concerts, 7–9 July 2017)
Stormzy, The View, Cabbage
Festival Internacional de Benicàssim, Spain (Maraworld, 13–16 July 2017)
Deadmau5, Stormzy, Crystal Fighters, Pete Doherty, Courteeners, Dua Lipa, Mura Masa, Kaytranada, etc. (Deadmau5 photo by Hyunji Choi)
Glastonbury Festival, UK (Glastonbury Festivals Ltd, 21–25 June 2017)
Ed Sheeran, Foo Fighters
FYF Fest, US (Goldenvoice, 21–23 July 2017)
Missy Elliot, Björk, Frank Ocean, Nine Inch Nails, A Tribe Called Quest, Erykah Badu, Solange, Iggy Pop, Run the Jewels, Flying Lotus, Anderson .Paak, MGMT, etc.
Karoondinha Music & Arts Festival, US (Hawk Eye Presents, 21–23 July 2017)
John Legend, Odesza, The Roots, Chromeo, Alessia Cara, X Ambassadors, Needtobreathe, St Lucia, Alunageorge, etc.
Lollapalooza, US (C3 Presents, 3–6 August 2017)
Chance the Rapper, The Killers, Muse, Arcade Fire, The xx, Lorde, Blink-182, DJ Snake, Justice, Alt-J, Run the Jewels, Cage the Elephant, Wiz Khalifa, etc.
Osheaga, Canada (Evenko, 4–6 August 2017)
The Weeknd, Muse, Lorde, Major Lazer, Alabama Shakes, Justice, Solange, Vance Joy, Cage the Elephant, MGMT, Foster the People, Father John Misty, Die Antwoord, Liam Gallagher, etc.
Sziget, Hungary (Sziget Cultural Management, 9–16 August 2017)
Pink, Wiz Khalifa, Rita Ora, Paul Van Dyk, Alex Clare, Dimension, The Courteeners, The Vaccines, Her (Rita Ora photo by Craig Sjodin for Disney-ABC Television Group)
V Festival, UK (Metropolis Music/SJM Concerts, 19–20 August 2017)
Pink, Jay Z, Rudimental, Craig David, Pete Tong, Ellie Goulding, Jess Glynne, Stormzy, George Ezra, Madness, Jason Derulo, Sean Paul, Dizzee Rascal, James Arthur, etc.
Glasgow Summer Sessions, UK (DF Concerts, 24 August 2017)
Eminem, Run the Jewels, Danny Brown, Russ (Eminem photo by paniko.cl)
Reading Festival/Leeds Festival,UK (Festival Republic, 25–27 August 2017)
Eminem, Haim, Migos, Giggs, You Me at Six, Blossoms, Frank Carter, The Pretty Reckless, Billy Talent, Everything Everything, Cabbage, Milky Change, Lethal Bizzle, Black Lips, etc.
Rock en Seine, France (Nous Productions, 25–27 August 2017)
At the Drive-In, PJ Harvey, The xx, Flume, The Kills, Franz Ferdinand, Cypress Hill, Frank Carter, The Pretty Reckless, Ty Segall, Mø, etc.
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