Joe GallopFollowing the 15th edition of Boomtown Fair (cap. 66,000), organisers have hailed the introduction of ‘Eco Bonds’ which led to four times more people returning their waste at the end of the festival.
The event, which took place from 11-14 August, saw 3,000 people sign up to be an ‘Agent of Change’ as they pledged to make an extra effort to use the correct bins and take tents home. Attendees took full bin bags back to the festival’s new Eco Bond hub to reclaim a £20 deposit. The Eco Bonds were added at the point of purchase for customers and were fully refunded on-site via wristbands.
Organisers had to find a replacement for Sunday headliners The Prodigy who pulled out on the festival’s second day due to singer Maxim suffering from a back injury. Chase and Status filled in to close out the festival on the Grand Central stage. Also performing across the weekend were Loyle Carner, Hedex, Cypress Hill, Confidence Man and Sister Sledge.
For this year’s edition of the Boomtown storyline, titled Chapter Two: The Twin Trail, attendees were able to affect the final outcome by voting on the Woov app. Over the weekend the different districts of the festival were searching for Elen, the main character of the story. Every app user was sent a notification to vote for Elen as ‘Friend or Foe’. The winning vote was that Elen is a friend, which was reflected in the closing show, and she will now remain as the main character.
Boomtown will return next year from 7-11 August.