Christopher BarrettBoomtown has increased its focus on hydrogen with the launch this year of a 20,000-capacity main stage arena run entirely on green hydrogen.
The festival’s co-founder and creative director Luke Mitchell said the introduction of the Hydro XL stage at the 12-16 August event will build on the success of last year’s hydrogen powered stage that had an audience capacity of 8,000.
The Hydro XL stage is being created in partnership with GeoPura, which produces green hydrogen through electrolysis from renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, and provides it via self-charging HPU battery systems.
Among the acts set to perform on the Hydro XL stage this year, which will be located in the festival’s Downtown zone in the former Origins footprint, will be Skrillex, Four Tet, Floating Points, Groove Armada and Marlon Hoffstadt.
The introduction of the new stage is part of the event’s 2026 theme of ‘radical redesign’ and comes on the back of the Hampshire festival’s licensed capacity having been expanded from 65,999 to 76,999, and the event;s organisers being granted five-year planning permission. Mitchell said that as part of that agreement, ecological commitments to the festival’s Matterley Estate site in the South Downs National Park include:
- 4.2 acres of new wildflower meadows.
- Over a mile of hedgerow enhancement.
- 18.5 acres of woodland improvement.
- 42 skylark plots and 88.2 habitat units purchased locally.
- Strict, year-round Wildlife Protection Zones.
On the introduction of the new stage and working with GeoPura, Mitchell said, “Seeing the smaller Hydro stage in action last year at Boomtown was incredible. I spent a lot of time behind the stage as it was fascinating to see. Where you would normally hear diesel generators, there was just silence, with nothing but water vapour as the by-product, and the water was so pure you could drink it. It inspired us to take the leap and develop the idea into one of our main stages this year.
“We really value this partnership with GeoPura, it’s a significant investment to pull this off and a real journey this year to prove it works on this scale. GeoPura’s ability to produce truly green hydrogen using renewable energy is another important factor, not just for Boomtown, but for the wider events industry who we hope to see adopting this technology too. It’s crucial that others with resources in our industry invest in this new green technology, so we reach a point where it’s achievable for all to use.”