Food
Festivals are often billed as “temporary” escapism. But there’s nothing temporary about the damage left behind by the industry’s model of diesel generators powering stages, crowds flying in to attend, and meat-heavy catering feeding everyone.
Thankfully, sustainability isn’t negotiable anymore. Artists, audiences, and local communities are demanding better.
With the help of Grid Faeries and Ecotricity, the list of festivals embracing a new, greener chapter is growing. From Glastonbury to WOMAD, and now, LIDO Festival, the live music industry is proving that cutting its impact doesn’t mean compromising on experience.
How LIDO helped rewrite the festival playbook
Alongside Massive Attack, Charli XCX, AIR and many more, LIDO quite literally brought a new kind of energy to Victoria Park.
Without a hitch, we installed our big 1 MW battery on-site, connected it to the grid, topped it up with renewables, and let it roar for the 35,000 attendees. In doing so, we saved nearly 50 tonnes of CO₂e and gave the crowd clean air and a properly green festival undisturbed by the chugging of dirty diesel generators.
Yes, there were logistics: battery recharges, grid coordination, switching to HVO biodiesel and green hydrogen for backup generators. It’s complex. But complexity isn’t an excuse—it’s a challenge (and one that we met).
Energy was just the start of the plan. LIDO banned single-use plastics, used compostable serveware, put eco-labels on food stalls, offered meat-free menus on headline nights, and ensured zero waste to landfill with a 60% recycling target. We treated Victoria Park like the valuable green space it is—opened up free days for locals, planned traffic and noise levels in line with community concerns, and left the place cleaner than we found it.
The result was a festival that gave people the chance to experience live events done differently. That’s key. Real change doesn’t come from preaching; it comes from showing. And if festivals can ditch diesel, then every other sector can too. Imagine what we can power with sunshine, wind, and ambition next.
Here’s to AEG, Ecotricity, Grid Faeries, A Greener Future, the artists, the stallholders, and the behind-the-scenes crews who brought the vision of LIDO to life.
