Music festival ‘goes green’ to protect the Peaks

Y Not Festival has launched a sustainability campaign that aims to reduce waste and protect its idyllic Peak District setting.

The campaign, called ‘Keep The Peaks Green’, has been launched ahead of the 2019 festival which will take place from July 25th to July 28th in Pikehall, Derbyshire. Organisers say they recognise that running a festival on this site has a direct impact, ‘both positive and negative,’ on the natural environment.

The festival is introducing a ‘litter bond’ for ticket holders meaning every booking will have a compulsory £10 deposit. Festival-goers are then encouraged to hand in their rubbish at the end of the festival to be reimbursed.

All single-use plastics are banned on site and there will be a 10p cup scheme for every cup that is collected and handed it.

There will also be a Pitch Village for the first time in the festival’s history, where festival employees will provide people with a tent, put it up for them and take it down.

Every year hundreds of thousands of tents are left behind at festivals across the country.

Matt Wedge, director of Festival Waste Reclamation & Distribution, said there is a common misconception that leaving your tent is like making a donation to charity.

‘It’s simply not the case. We co-ordinate local volunteers and charity groups and take as much as we can for the homeless and refugees in Calais and Dunkirk but realistically, up to 90% gets left behind.’

Y Not Festival organisers said: ‘We are lucky enough to have the stunning setting of the Peak District as our site and so it’s integral that we protect it for years to come. The ‘Keep The Peaks Green’ scheme offers plenty of opportunity to do this in simple yet effective ways and we’re really looking forward to customers getting on board!’

Last year’s festival included The Libertines, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Jamiroquai, Kaiser Chiefs and the Manic Street Preachers.