Festivals - Coachella

After 2 consecutive years of being cancelled, Coachella, one of the most anticipated music festivals in the U.S., finally returns this year and will be held in April from the 15th to 17th and 22nd to 24th. With big names like Harry Styles, Doja Cat and Billie Eilish, tickets are confirmed to sell out. Recently, Coachella (along with other large-scale music festivals) have been getting criticism from environmentalists due to its massive pollutive effects. The Coachella organising committee is aware of this and has dedicated a page to sustainability covering a range of the efforts undertaken to ensure eco-friendliness and mitigate negative environmental consequences. There are also reminders for festival-goers to reduce carbon footprint by ride-sharing and to minimise waste whenever possible. According to a paper by Larasti (2019), some of these efforts have indeed been successful in mitigating the environmental impacts generated. However, the carbon footprint generated from travelling to and from Coachella Valley has been the most difficult to tackle. The study by Larasti assessed sustainability in terms of energy consumption and source of energy (whether it comes from renewable sources), the recycling of waste, and the amount of greenhouse gas generated from travelling and from other activities. To measure GHG emissions from travel, a few variables were recorded:

• The type of vehicles used for transport, given carbon emissions varies with the type and size of vehicle used,
• The number of vehicles, estimated according to the number of attendees; and
• The origin of attendees, which determines the miles travelled and the emission issued per mile. 

With that, a simpler equation was derived: 

Total emission (kg CO2e) = number of vehicles x distance (miles) x emission per miles (kg CO2e) 

The results of the research were as shown below:  

Source: Larasti, 2019.

The total GHG emissions were estimated to be equivalent to 251 average passenger vehicles driven for one year, or for 2 million miles (Larasti, 2019). This is a large amount of carbon dioxide emitted, considering this doesn't take into account travel by flight or train. Despite that, it is understandable that this is a factor outside of the committee's control. They do encourage carpooling, taking a shuttle or camping on-site on their sustainability page, but not much else can be done besides this. However, apart from carbon emissions, Coachella's efforts for maintaining environmental friendliness through other aspects have been more successful, including raising awareness for the sustainable consumption of energy as mentioned by the author. For example, the Energy SeeSaws in their Energy Playground allow people to charge their phones while exercising, which has been an initiative since as early as 2004 (Larasti, 2019). This saw many festival-goers participating in it as it was a fun way to earn an extra battery percentage for their devices. Their TRASHed initiative also allows artists to design recycling bins to raise public awareness on the importance of reducing and reusing. On top of that, this year, Coachella is eliminating the use of single-use plastic bottles and instead opting for aluminium packaging for beverages. Many more efforts are listed on their webpage. All in all, it looks like the festival's organising committee is aware of the event's ecological footprint and is attempting to mitigate it while raising awareness about it too, which is commendable. I was initially sceptical that a festival as large-scale as this would be able to control its environmental impacts, but after reading more into it, it appears that the attendees are also aware of their need to be environmentally conscious. 

A decorated recycling bin as part of Coachella's TRASHed efforts. 

Source: Coachella

References: 

Goldenvoice. (2022). For Our Planet. Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. https://www.coachella.com/sustainability 

Larasti, A. K. (2019). Environmental Impacts Management of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Gadjah Mada Journal Of Tourism Studies, 2(2), 56–72. https://doi.org/10.22146/gamajts.v2i2.56851