A new peer-reviewed paper argues that mega music festivals cannot continue expanding while reducing their carbon footprint. It calls for audience capacity to become a central consideration in environmental planning.
The paper, Have Mega Festivals Become Too Big to Be Environmentally Sustainable?, describes a structural problem it calls “Festival Gigantism”, in which event growth outpaces improvements in environmental efficiency.
Its authors are Adrian Bossey, an independent researcher; Dr. Mike Duignan of the Centre for Events & Festivals; and Dr. Teresa Moore of A Greener Future.
Growth and environmental efficiency
The researchers cite the continuing expansion of the UK’s Download and Glastonbury festivals as examples of scale overtaking efficiency gains. Comparable US events include Coachella and Bonnaroo.
Bonnaroo is taking 2027 off so its festival grounds in Manchester, Tennessee, can “rest and recover” after two consecutive years of damage caused by severe weather and heavy rainstorms.
Major festivals have promoted sustainability initiatives for years, including compostable cups and solar-powered side stages. The study questions whether improvements within festival sites can offset the effects of rising attendance capacity.
Capacity as a planning consideration
The authors call for explicit governance that makes capacity a sustainability consideration for festival organisers, local policymakers and licensing authorities, rather than treating it as a fixed commercial assumption.
Where practical environmental measures prove insufficient, they argue that reducing total audience capacity, an approach known as “degrowth”, should be considered.
“Whilst this will be contentious, we believe that the sector must choose: value over volume, or business as usual in the face of a climate emergency,” stated co-author Adrian Bossey.
The economics of audience limits
Audience limits would restrict ticket sales while touring costs remain volatile and promoter profit margins depend heavily on operating at scale. Those financial pressures complicate efforts to reduce festival capacity for environmental reasons.
