I love summer for so many reasons, but most importantly because summer means festival season. A few years ago, there were only a handful of staple summer concerts across the country, but now anyone with true dedication (and a bottomless wallet) can go to one pretty much every weekend Memorial Day through Labor Day. I love seeing the growth of live music culture; with so few people, including myself, buying CDs or MP3s anymore, it’s good to know people are willing to pay for music in live form.However, I’m left to wonder about the impact these festivals have on their surrounding areas. No doubt, festival weekends bring in great business for local restaurants, hotels, and shops, but what about the environmental impacts? I recently attended Governor’s Ball in New York. Due to rainy weather on the first day, the grounds were completely destroyed and muddy for the rest of the weekend. It was so bad I gave up wearing socks Saturday and Sunday, instead choosing to wrap my feet in plastic bags inside my forever-soggy boots. Walking around Sunday, I saw water bottles, shoes, and even umbrellas stuck it the hardened mud—fossils documenting the soon to be over festival.
I wondered how long the festival grounds would talk to recover—and if severe damage can be expected every year, what kind of long-term effects can be expected? According to Crain’s Chicago Business, it cost promoters and the Chicago Park District $350,000 to repair the Grant Park after Lollapalooza in 2012. Seem like a lot? Apparently it cost over 1 million in 2011. Newer festivals are sometime exempt from paying clean up costs in their first few years as a way to keep from going under. However this poses the question, which is more important, the festival or festival grounds?
It’s something to consider this summer when attending any concert or festival. Obviously, there is no way to control the weather, but there are simply ways to make your festival experience better for yourself and those to come after you.1. Bring a water bottle- Most if not all allow visitors to bring empty water bottles into the festival and have free filling stations next to food and drink tents. Bringing a reusable bottle cuts down on trash and waste
2. Hold on to your trash- For some of us, it’s tempting to throw our trash down on the ground in the middle of a crowd instead of looking for trash receptacles. This is not only terrible for the grounds, but smashed trash is also a pain to stand on and takes volunteers longer to clean up
3. Know what you can and can’t bring- Before you go, make sure you know what is and isn’t allowed in the festival grounds. That way, you don’t have to throw out your stuff unnecessarily and create excess waste. -eb
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