Strategies and best practices for greening festivals

Festivals can have multiple economic and social benefits for both communities and destinations. They can, however, also have serious negative environmental and social impacts and moving to make festivals more sustainable is important. Currently in Canada, although there have been many highlighted approaches to making meetings and events more environmentally conscious, there are no certifications or benchmarks for the greening of festivals. The purpose of this case study is, therefore, to highlight research undertaken for the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change in Ontario, Canada that sought to develop a best practice guide for greening festivals and understand the key elements required to ensure success. Reviewing festivals worldwide as well as benchmarking and assessing local festivals in Ontario, the guide developed outlines key sustainability practices that festivals have undertaken, as well as numerous resources which festival managers seek.