Since about a year now, I am quite active on Instagram, besides this blog and my Youtube-channel. I make a reel every week. And so far, I have shared a few sustainable holiday options already. In some of these reels, I share more about the festivals I’ve been to in The Netherlands. My goal is to show how much fun it is to stay in my own country (in this case the Netherlands) and celebrate festivals there, instead of flying to a far destination to enjoy a long weekend away there. But it got me thinking. Are festivals a sustainable holiday alternative? Or am I fooling myself?
The biggest negative impact of a holiday
Right now, the destination of a holiday basically determines whether it can be a sustainable option or not. If the train, bus or car is not an option anymore, because you chose a destination that is too far away, the holiday is not sustainable. That’s because you have to fly there. Flying is one of the most harmful things we can do in this climate crisis. So, the most negative impact of a holiday can be prevented by not flying.
Of course you don’t have to stay in your own country to avoid stepping on a plane. But it is a very sustainable option, because in this case you have to travel very little by train, bus or car as well. The less kilometers, the better. That’s where I think the festivals come in. They are an attractive option to stay in your own country. So, that’s an important note here: when I am talking about festivals as an sustainable alternative to holidays, I am speaking about festivals in your own country.
Accommodation, diet and consumption at a festival
I’ve recently been to Down the Rabbit Hole in The Netherlands, a great festival. It’s located near Nijmegen, so we stayed in The Netherlands. Check. But there’s more negative impact on a conventional holiday. Today I want to highlight three of the biggest ones. The first one is accommodation. On a festival in The Netherlands, it’s very common to stay in a tent for about 4/5 days. A tent is the most sustainable accommodation, because it uses no energy. It’s even better when you have a lended or secondhand tent. No worries, there are toilets and showers on a festival (luckily haha), but you tend to live quite frugal.
Next up is your diet. Dutch people tend to eat even more meat on their holidays then they do at home. Meat is in most cases the most harmful product you can eat. The alternative is to eat plant-based. And this is very well possible on festivals, because they’re quite modern and progressive. I have never had any problems eating entirely vegan at a festival. And last but not least: consumption. In my opinion festival don’t seduce too much for material consumption. The merchandise of artists is the biggest risk. Make sure to avoid this, as fast fashion and new stuff have a huge environmental impact.
What festivals represent
If I’m honest, I also love the idea of festivals because the main act is not consumption or money. It’s about having fun, enjoying music, enjoying each other’s company, dancing, singing, enjoying good food together, etc. All non-materialistic things. That’s the world I want to live in. One where we don’t care much about materialistic things but focus on making beautiful memories together. So in that way, I love what festivals represent.
The problem: the artists
But there’s one massive problem when it comes to festivals: the artists. The artists are usually on a tour around the world and 99% of the time they travel by plane. I just told you that flying is very harmful. Why would you go to festivals that artists fly to? This is exactly the thing that makes me doubt: are festivals a sustainable holiday alternative, truly? I honestly don’t know, but let me tell you my thoughts on this.
This might be me tricking myself, but I like to think that the impact from the artists is not your personal impact. This blog is about personal impact. The things you can do yourself. You can stay in your own country, choose plant-based, stay in a tent and choose not to buy anything. But you can’t really choose what other people do. I’d say this is up to artists and festivals to change.
The responsibility of festivals and artists
Festivals should invite only artists who tour sustainably and artists should choose to travel to sustainably. Right now, festivals just choose whatever artists are most popular. I’d say festivals can have a big influence on the impact. If festivals make one of their criteria that they only accept artists who travel sustainably, the artists can adapt to this as well.
Festivals might be a bit more expensive in the beginning, but that’s only because the real price is not included in flying (yet). In the future traveling sustainably will be cheaper, when the capitalistic system works better. If an artist goes on tour, they can make the route very efficiently so that they only have to travel a small distance each time. This way you’d be able to go from Europe all the way to Asia and to the America’s. There are some artists already stepping up to cut their emissions from traveling, like Coldplay. Another solution is to mostly invite local artists (within a 500 kilometer range or something, that’s doable very well without flying).
Taking personal responsibility?
Usually I am not at all saying that change is up to anybody else than yourself. But like I said, in the case of festivals I’d say it’s a systemic change we need, to which you as a person alone can contribute very little. But maybe I am denying my own impact here. If we don’t go to festivals, then these artists don’t fly all the way here. That would be the same logic I use for anything else. It’s the reason I don’t buy fast fashion, animal products and other non-ethical things. I don’t want to support those supply chains. So why would I support this one?
Choosing green festivals?
I’d like to think there’s always something you can do. I thought of choosing local festivals with local artists. But then you’d have to go through the whole line-up of a festival to see who’s on it and where they’re from. That’s not doable. There are some certifications in the field, but I couldn’t find clearly what they entail. And most popular festivals in The Netherlands don’t say anything at all about their sustainability practices. And if they do, the information is very shallow. I’d say that it’s not do-able to choose a ‘green festival’.
And if it was doable, I’d still say that it’s hard. Because most people go to a festival for some of their favorite artists. I don’t think a local festival with local artists can be a good enough alternative for most people.
I have not made my mind up entirely. Are festivals a sustainable holiday alternative? On a personal level, yes. When you look at the bigger picture, maybe not. I think it’s up to the industry to change this.
Yours sincerely,
Romee