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February 25, 2025

‘Is Everybody Happy?’ to Sound at Climate-Neutral Festivals and Concerts from 2030

‘Mercy, Mercy Me’ by Marvin Gaye, ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ by Joni Mitchell, ‘Wake Up America’ by Miley Cyrus, ‘Earth Song’ by Michael Jackson… These are just a few examples of songs by artists who have artistically questioned the depletion and warming of our planet. “Reality is a bit more stubborn,” smiles Kees Lamers, who has been the sustainability manager at MOJO Concerts, AFAS Live, and Ziggo Dome for three years. “We are one of the major players in the Dutch music industry. At the festivals and concerts we organize at outdoor locations, football stadiums, and in AFAS Live and Ziggo Dome, we welcome three to four million visitors annually. Since I started as a sustainability manager, the number of questions we have received about sustainability has been limited. They mainly concern small things, such as what material the return token is made of.”

“We are aware of our responsibility as a festival and concert organizer and recognize that we can make a difference”
The fact that Lamers doesn’t spend much time answering sustainability questions from concert and festival visitors could also be seen as a positive sign. “I think many people resonate with our ambitious sustainability strategy. We are aware of our responsibility as a festival and concert organizer and recognize that we can make a difference by significantly reducing energy consumption, CO₂ emissions, and waste production. We can also involve our suppliers in that process. Our motivation to organize festivals and concerts with as little negative impact as possible on nature, animals, and people is intrinsic, but it is also driven by governments, permit providers, artists, visitors, and potential employees.”

“Reducing energy consumption is the biggest challenge for festivals and large outdoor concerts”
The sustainability policy is based on five key pillars: (1) Energy, (2) Resources & Materials, (3) Mobility & Transport, (4) Water, and (5) Food & Drinks, with the first and third being the most relevant in terms of the energy transition. “Cooling machines are major energy consumers, which is why all air treatment units have been modified so that air cooling is now done with district cooling instead of a traditional cooling machine.” This is done in collaboration with Vattenfall, which will cool AFAS Live with water from the Ouderkerkplas.

“Our goal is not to trade on the imbalance market but to remain among the best concert venues in the world”
The electricity used by Ziggo Dome and AFAS Live is 100% renewable and sourced from the Netherlands. Additionally, all conventional lighting in both venues has gradually been replaced with LED over the past few years. Lamers: “With OM Nieuwe Energie, Ziggo Dome has an energy supplier that provides 100% Dutch solar and wind energy. Moreover, our goal is not to trade on the imbalance market, but to remain among the best concert venues in the world.”

“A pilot developed in collaboration with HvA encouraged concertgoers to use organized bus transport”
“This pilot was conducted for concerts at AFAS Live and Ziggo Dome, where visitors were encouraged to use organized bus transport. The good news is that there was certainly demand for it, but the pilot also raised many questions that we will try to answer in the coming period.” According to Lamers, Ziggo Dome, AFAS Live, and MOJO have been working with the ridesharing widget Slinger for several years now. “This is our way of increasing the occupancy rate of cars. Visitors can offer their car rides and respond to available ones. We see that more and more concert venues and festivals are now adopting this system.”

Read the full article here. Want to learn more about how we will implement this, our sustainability policy, or read the factsheet? Visit this page.

Text: Cees de Geus
Image: MOJO Concerts, Ziggo Dome, and AFAS Live