Green Credential Tracking for Music Festival Vendors and Artists.

In an effort for music festivals to be more sustainable organisers are continually modifying their green objectives. Publishing their green and sustainability credentials is an essential part of the entity’s narrative and a key part of this process is tracking the green credentials of festival site vendors and the artists that are curated for each event.

Festival organisers are usually unable to control the green credentials of third parties, like vendors and artists. Currently these third parties use various forms of voluntary reporting on their green credentials, but organisers should be moving towards a more rigorous digital audit process. Initiatives like the 2024 ISO 20121 update and the Music Climate Pact mean that organisers now have to treat environmental impact data with the same scrutiny as their financial data. Organisers are now moving towards robust tracking and verification systems for vendors and artists who can have a considerable impact on an event’s overall green credential reporting.

Controlling Festival Site Green Credentials.
Festival site vendors and artists can have a significant adverse environmental impact on an event and can, to some extent, be directly influenced by organisers. Ticket buying festival-goers do have a considerable impact, particularly their carbon footprint resulting from their travel arrangements; however, organisers cannot control this directly. By contrast, organisers can exert some control over vendors and artists where compliance with green requirements can be inserted into contracts.

Vendor Selection Process.
All festival site vendors usually must complete an application to participate in a music festival, and this process allows organisers to specify and gather relevant certifications. Many organisers now look for ‘A Greener Future’ (AGF) supplier certification that proves a vendor’s internal operations related to energy consumption, waste management and logistics meet global standards. Other documents can include HVO fuel receipts and plastic-free certifications which can be included in their application. Organisers sometimes use an ‘Eco-Score’ ranking system to assess each vendor’s application. Once vendors have been selected by organisers each vendor’s green credential documentary evidence can be stored on an event management system like Festival Pro for future reference.

Artist Green Riders.
Many performance artists operate within the Music Climate Pact framework which initiated the ‘Green Rider’. A verified digital ‘Green Rider’ is a data sharing agreement that tracks travel arrangements where GPS verified logistics data is used to calculate carbon footprint. This is particularly relevant where an artist has multiple vehicles for equipment and crew, or where an artist intends to use flights, for example. Various software applications allow festival organisers to track the environmental impact of an artist and their crew whilst on site too. This can be relevant if an artist demands a performance set up that draws significant power for audio and visual shows, for example.

Monitoring Green Performance.
Emerging technology is enabling festival organisers to implement real-time monitoring of site vendors’ ‘green’ performance. Installation of smart meters can enable tracking of energy and water usage on every vendor's pitch and if preset limits (carbon budget) are exceeded, the vendors can receive a notification or warning. Vendors using smart POS systems can track ‘Food Miles’ or ‘Carbon Intensity’ based on dishes sold, for example. Waste management by vendors can be tightly monitored using AI-powered cameras at waste sorting stations with those having high recycling ratios receiving green credits.

Impact.
Accurate monitoring of vendors and artists’ green performance at a music festival enables organisers to produce immutable reporting on an event’s overall green credentials. Where appropriate vendors and artists can be issued with certifications that confirm their contribution to the event’s sustainability goals. For good preforming vendors, organisers can provide pitch fee reductions for future events and artists can be awarded a ‘green label’ on future line-up listings. With accurate monitoring and reporting it makes it possible for organisers to present transparent data about the overall environmental impact (or carbon footprint) of the event and how vendors and artists are helping them reach their ‘Net-Zero’ targets.

For festival organisers planning their next event using a software management platform like Festival Pro gives them all the functionality they need manage every aspect of their event logistics. The guys who are responsible for this software have been in the front line of event management for many years and the features are built from that experience and are performance artists themselves. The Festival Pro platform is easy to use and has comprehensive features with specific modules for managing artists, contractors, venues/stages, vendors, volunteers, sponsors, guestlists, ticketing, site planning, cashless payments and contactless ordering.

Image by Alexander Nadrilyanski via Pexels

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