28, July 2026
Faith in Festivals
Our fave sustainably minded UK festivals
Being a conscious raver means considering the impact you have whilst attending a festival. Whether you’re travelling by coach, bringing reusable cups or packing zero-waste toiletries, it's reassuring to know the festival is just as committed to sustainability. We’ve rounded up some of the UK's leading festivals that are proving you don't have to compromise on incredible line-ups to embrace eco-friendly practices and low-impact operations.
Greenman
Set in Wales, Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, being green is at the core of everything for Greenman, of course. The festival are a founding supporter of Vision for Sustainable Events and have pledged to use the Green Events Code of Practice to guide our climate action and targets.
The Solar Stage is 100% solar powered, obviously and the Omni tent and Workshop Dome in Einstein’s Garden are powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. Across the site, power is generated by either hydrogen, solar or hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO - fossil-free alternative to diesel) in an effort to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Plus, as well as brilliant no water toilet solutions, they have implemented reduced the run time of the push-stop buttons on water points, so just enough is there when needed.
As it is now law in Wales, all the bins on site must be sorted and separated. Each campsite has plenty of bins in the hope guests adhere to the system to help increase recycling at the festival.
Green Gathering
A non-profit, 4-day festival that proudly claims to be ‘the original off-grid festival’, with the site powered by sun, wind, and community. The event as a whole is a showcase of what can be done with low impact alternatives to business-as-usual.
Across the festival, their motivated permaculture community demonstrates practical future-proofing and host workshops, hoping guests leave feel more in touch with the earth and inspired to change their habits and lifestyle.
Power used at the festival to be derived from renewable sources. We have undertaken a tree planting project on our festival site.
The festival has a fantastic Joys of Packing Less guide, which encourages guests to consider what they need to bring on site to begin with, which makes the travel onsite more enjoyable and minimizes the festival cleanup afterward.
https://www.greengathering.org.uk/
Shambala
Fiercely independent, radically sustainable and completely committed to being and earth respecting festival. Shambala takes place in Northamptonshire, but the exact location is kept secret until ticket purchase, adding an element of mystery to this popular event that consistently sells out year after year.
Shambala's guiding principles emphasise community, creativity, and environmental consciousness, creating a unique atmosphere that blends celebration with social and ecological awareness. The hope is to tackle the worlds challenges within their micro-society, with festival goers emerging after the event with new awarenesses and understanding.
Their green practices are inspiration to many live events, they’re powered by 100% renewable electricity, have eradicated single use plastics, provide eco-travel options, are meat & fish free and compost food waste!
https://www.shambalafestival.org/
Kendal Calling
Set on the border of the Lake District, we’ve been friends of the festival for a while and stepped up to help support the launch of their Leave Nothing But Memories campaign. The focus of the campaign is to have all tents and camping equipment brought onto site, taken home again and to leave no trace of the festival in the deer park. It sounds like a simple initiative, but it is a tough challenge to change a long-standing mindset of some festival go-ers that everyone should do their bit to help the clean up afterward. In 2024, they reached 98.34% and continue to reach for 100%.
Glastonbury
Reduce. Reuse. Respect. The OG festival, with sustainability and climate change activism at the heart. Early adopters of compostable serve ware and renewable energy, that set the fossil fuel-free standard implemented site-wide. Glastonbury has over 200,000 attendees, and asks for a mutual respect for the environment as well as for each other to be truly sustainable.
Some of the many pioneering decisions Glastonburys has made include; totally fossil fuel-free to run power on site, electric crew vehicles and bikes, banning single use plastic bottles on site, choosing suppliers with compostable packaging. Plus, they have their own on-site recycling plant!
https://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/
MyCause
Another positive impact way of attending could be to volunteer with MyCause, a not-for-profit organisation who deliver teams of crew to festivals and in exchange for the time of the volunteers, make a donation to one of their charity partners. MyCause work with Shambala, Boomtown, Forwards and many more UK festivals!
