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Parklife: Manchester festival must leave positive impact, director says

Anthony Mooney Fans at Parklife in 2022Anthony Mooney
Parklife said it had taken "bold steps... over the past few years" to improve its sustainability

Parklife must play its role in "leaving a positive impact upon the environment", the music festival's director has said.

The two-day event, which takes place in Manchester in June, has announced a series of measures to reduce its impact "both locally and wider".

Its "green pledge" includes using biofuel in generators, banning single-use plastics and using "clean glitter".

Director Jon Drape said Parklife wanted to be "as sustainable as possible".

The festival, which has been held at Heaton Park for a decade, has faced issues with litter previously, with a huge clean-up operation being needed to deal with thousands of empty bottles, cans and other discarded items.

Jody Hartley Parklife in 2022Jody Hartley
The festival has welcomed thousands to its site in Heaton Park for more than a decade

A Parklife representative said it had taken "bold steps... over the past few years" to ensure that the "positivity and countless memories that come from the festival weekend are mirrored in its positive commitment to the environment both locally and wider".

They said the new measures would build on those actions and make sure festival-goers "can celebrate one of the biggest weekends of the year whilst... limiting effects on the environment".

The measures include:

  • Sending all reusable food waste to Open Kitchen MCR, a local project which turns unused food into meals for vulnerable people
  • Stopping vendors using single-use plastics and requiring the use of compostable cutlery, plates and cups
  • Offering only environmentally-friendly "clean glitter" on site
  • Using biofuel where possible
  • Encouraging the use of public transport to travel to and from the festival
  • Committing to be 100% paperless and cashless

The representative said similar efforts in 2022 had seen about 335,000 recyclable cups used at the festival, which had cut plastic wastage by "the hundreds of thousands" across the weekend.

Jody Hartley Parklife in 2022Jody Hartley
Mr Drape said festivals had "the power to push change" and must take their responsibilities seriously

Mr Drape said making changes had become "a real passion for us at Parklife" and was "something we're looking to improve year-on-year to get better and develop creative solutions to make the weekend as sustainable as possible".

"Now more than ever, it's vital that festivals and events play their role in leaving a positive impact upon the environment and local community they find themselves in," he said.

"It's evident that change needs to happen in order to protect the world we live in, and doing this in tandem with a range of projects close-to-home doing incredible things within the local area means we can leave an impact that goes beyond just one weekend of the year.

"Festivals have the power to push change and we're continuing to find new ways to do that."

Parklife, which takes place on 10 and 11 June, will see headline sets from The 1975 and Aitch, alongside The Prodigy, Little Simz and Rudimental.

The weekend will also see shows by Carl Cox, Skrillex, Slowthai, Annie Mac, Becky Hill, Fred Again…, Wu-Tang Clan and Nas, Raye and many more.

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