I want to discuss one last event related to influencers that has been damaging our environment before the semester ends. Enter: Coachella. The annual music and art festival is held in Indo, California and attracts hoards of young people each year. It is happening THIS WEEKEND (and the next) and I have been receiving a significant number of advertisements related to it.
Big names are expected to attend the music and art festival including Billie Eilish, The Weeknd and Epik High amongst other performers. Influencers are invited to events like Coachella to promote the event and it has been infamously been the source of influencer controversies in the past (*coughs* James Charles and Tati). After two years of the festival being cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, expect a lot of ‘revenge’ raving and partying! But what is the true cost of this partying?
A study by Larasti (2019) investigated the environmental impacts of the festival and how they have been managed. The study aimed to examine how adverse the environmental impact of a music festival is with Cochella as a case study. It also includes a critical analysis of the environmental impacts by calculating the carbon emissions from visitor transportation and analysing the energy used and waste generated during the festival. It also evaluates the success of Coachella’s sustainability efforts.
Some of the key findings of the study are:
1. Coachella is an extremely energy intensive event
Large music festivals like Coachella require energy for many different functions. This includes stage-related functions like, audio, video, and lighting; trader-related functions like, food traders, non-food traders, bar; and site infrastructure-related functions like, production areas, tour buses performers, and parking areas.
2. Coachella produces large amounts of waste every year that contribute to environmental pollution
According to an environmental impact report on Coachella and other festivals, these events generate an estimated 1,612 tons of solid waste annually, or about 107 tons per festival day. Furthermore, only 20 percent of that waste is recycled. The decomposition of this solid waste can contribute to environmental pollution. The improper management of the solid waste can result in harmful chemicals leaching into the soil which can also threaten groundwater systems in the area.
3. Coachella results in high vehicular numbers that create massive amounts of carbon emissions
Being a large-scale event, Coachella attracts tourists from all over the United States and even some international tourists. In 2016, there were over 36000 visitor vehicles in Coachella which results in negative impacts for the environment. From the diagram above, Larasti (2019) found that the total greenhouse gas emissions are 1,181,864.50 kg CO2e. This number is equivalent to 142 homes’ annual energy use.
Of course, Coachella is aware of these negative environmental impacts and have made several corporate efforts to minimise these impacts. From their website, they have incorporated some of their ‘efforts’ which can be seen in the screen capture below
However these claims are incredibly vague and contain a lot of fluff and buzzwords. The actual actions being taken by the organisers are unclear. What exactly do “Speak up about the impacts of climate change,” “Deploy a Waste Gang team to increase recycling & compost,” and “Share best practices” entail? Here we can see token green gestures or greenwashing (Gray, 2021) in play which manipulates consumers into thinking that their actions may not be so bad for the environment after all. These words however are empty and do not hold any parties accountable for the environmental pollutiona nd damage caused by the festival.
Coachella. (n.d.). Sustainability. Coachella. Retrieved from https://www.coachella.com/sustainability.
Gray, J. (2021). Covid put music festivals on hold. Climate change might offer bigger long-term problems. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/covid-put-music-festivals-on-hold-climate-change-might-offer-bigger-long-term-problems/2021/10/21/f7863736-2c4f-11ec-985d-3150f7e106b2_story.html.
Larasti, A. K. (2019). ‘Environmental Impacts Management of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival’. Gadjah Mada Journal of Tourism Studies, (2)2, 56-72, DOI: https://doi.org/10.22146/gamajts.v2i2.56851.