Joe GallopLive Nation Entertainment-owned Festival Republic has partnered with environmental pressure group Music Declares Emergency to fund a renewable power research project that will aim to drive grid connections to UK festivals.
Festival Republic, which promotes festivals such as Reading (cap. 90,000) and Leeds (80,000), Latitude (40,000) and Wireless (49,000), said it will support the project closely with the aim of presenting fully renewably powered, grid-connected stages at three of its events for the 2023 festival season.
Music Declares Emergency, which will be onsite at Festival Republic events this summer under its ‘No Music On A Dead Planet’ banner, said the grant marks a key moment in the transformation of the UK outdoor live music portfolio.
Youth Climate Justice Coalition, made up of Climate Live, Fridays for Future, Teach the Future and XR Youth, will also bring their campaign bus to Reading and Leeds. There will be speeches and workshops held at the bus, and the Youth Climate Justice Coalition will also be performing on the Alternative Stage as well as other continued sustainability initiatives.
In addition, Festival Republic has added more than 40 new artists to its Reading and Leeds 2022 line-up, including Ashnikko, Cassyette, Barns Courtney, Luude, and HO99O9. They join the previously announced headliners playing the dual Main Stages at the 26-28 August event, including Dave, Arctic Monkeys, Rage Against The Machine, Megan Thee Stallion, Bring Me The Horizon and Halsey.
Festival Republic MD Melvin Benn said, “This project will be a game changer for outdoor live events. Generating our own temporary power is the highest contributor of on-site Greenhouse Gas emissions at a festival, and by plugging into the grid we will reduce this significantly. By doing this, and sharing our knowledge with others, festival goers can have an amazing time at festivals safe in the knowledge that we are doing everything we can as event organisers to create events that have positive rather than negative impacts.”
Music Declares Emergency co-founder Lewis Jamieson said, “Festival Republic and Melvin personally have been at the forefront of action on climate and environmental issues within the music industry for years. In partnering with MDE to make renewable event power a reality, they are not just continuing FR’s transition towards a greener future but offering the entire live sector an invaluable pathway that will benefit the whole live music community.”