How can music festivals become more sustainable while preserving their unique magic? Sustafest is on a mission to find the answer. Last week, at the Inside The Circle conference, VITO unveiled this innovative platform designed to connect festival organizers with sustainability experts. The goal: to inspire and empower festival organizers with insights and practical examples to achieve their sustainability objectives.
Sustafest has partnered with seven pioneering ambassadors from the festival world: Boomtown, Paradise City, Pukkelpop, Rock voor Specials, Sfinks, STROOM, and Tomorrowland. Together, they are identifying the sector’s most pressing sustainability challenges and offering concrete actions to inspire other festival organizers. Visitors to the website www.sustafest.be, continuously updated until March 2025, will find a growing collection of insights and stories encouraging festivals to embrace sustainability.
At the Inside The Circle conference, project leader and sustainability expert Peter Decuypere moderated an engaging panel discussion with industry leaders, including Jan Beyne (AMS), Gilles De Decker (Paradise City), Debbie Van Dijck (Love Tomorrow – Tomorrowland), Tomas Raeymaeckers (Boomtown), and Myriam Buyl (VITO). The panel tackled practical topics such as reducing water usage, managing waste streams, and involving attendees in sustainability efforts without being overly didactic. These themes, among others, will be explored further on the Sustafest platform in the coming months.
Stay updated – Sign up for the Sustafest newsletter
Want to stay informed about the latest developments and inspiring stories? Subscribe to the Sustafest newsletter to receive tips, case studies, and new insights directly in your inbox. Know a festival organizer? Be sure to share this initiative with them! Together, we can create a more sustainable festival industry.
This initiative is led by VITO, commissioned by the Flemish Government.
Questions? Contact Peter Decuypere (Sustafest Project Leader) or Myriam Buyl (Partnerships & Event Officer, Project Lead at VITO).
