It’s official! betternotstop is branching out into the world of music festivals!
We are delighted to announce that we are working alongside Cumbrian-based music festival Kendal Calling to deliver their brand new Sustainability Impact Strategy for 2022.
Why did we form this partnership?
As life-long festival go-ers, you can imagine we were delighted (like, fall of your chair delighted!) when Kendal Calling asked for our help with creating and implementing a bespoke impact strategy.
The 35,000 capacity festival is already supporting numerous charities, both local and national, and having a huge impact in the community. They are also committed to a range of sustainability measures including banning single use plastic bottles on site and converting all lights to LEDs.
However, they needed the betternotstop’s expertise to help create an overarching strategy and develop an effective campsite and waste management action plan.
betternotstop has over two decades worth of experience in the music industry so of course we were keen to help!
What are we working on?
More will be revealed over the coming weeks but so far team betternotstop has been working on the following:
- Launching the Leave Nothing But Memories Campaign which is the overarching set of initiatives helping to increase Kendal Calling’s positive social impact
- Releasing the inaugural More Than Music Report, written in collaboration with Kendal Calling, which surveys 100 UK Music Festivals assessing their social and environmental impact
- Recruiting a Campsite Crew team dedicated to raising awareness of litter picking initiatives in the campsites and collecting data about audience behaviours
- Developing a bunch of ways people and organisations can demonstrate their commitment to reducing their environmental impact before, during and after the festival
- Empowering Traders, Suppliers, Artists and the Audience to take more responsible, sustainable decisions and commit to the Trader Pledge to reduce their environmental impact
Industry change makers
The industry needs to step up and fast!
We recently authored a research paper which surveyed 100 UK music festivals and found that only a quarter are publicly committed to these three actions:
- Having a publicly available sustainability policy - this explains what actions they are taking to reduce their overall footprint and increase social impact
- Delivering social impact - this includes charitable donations, to social outreach, to improving representation in the industry
- Taking action to offset their carbon production - for example supporting organisations like Ecolibrium who offset travel-related carbon emissions
Kendal Calling is at the forefront of sustainable impact and this year is focused on reducing the total tonnage of tent and campsite waste left over after the festival. The Team will also work on gathering valuable data to help inform future initiatives in the coming years.
Hannah Cox, betternotstop Founder, commented:
“We have loved working alongside the Kendal Calling team to create, embed and deliver a full range of positive impact initiatives, some behind the scenes and others visible right across the festival site!
Our team has over two decades experience working in live events. We are really excited about all the positive impact Kendal Calling and the Love the Park, Protect the Festival campaign will have.”
Kendal Calling Director Andy Smith said: “It’s been a great opportunity to work alongside betternotstop and develop an action-driven plan about how to improve our social and environmental impact at the Festival.
We are really excited to welcome our Kendal Callers back to the stunning surroundings of Lowther Deer Park for the first time in three years. We are certain that the initiatives betternotstop are helping us to deliver will create a lasting legacy for the Festival.”
How can you find out more?
You can read more about the It’s More Than Music report by downloading your copy here.
And keep up to date with all our Kendal Calling progress by following the Kendal Calling social media pages:
You can also sign up to our newsletter here and follow us on LinkedIn to keep up to date with the latest news and information about our upcoming events.
