Going Off-Grid was a learning experience

The first OFF-GRID eco festival combined with ‘an intimate, family focussed camp’ took place from 20th-23rd August, and was a big success, according to co-organiser Dan Hurring.
It was a small camp size of up to 500 people, on a hill-top field between Shepton Mallet and Dinder.
Organised by Natural Communities CIC, who run the popular Sunrise festivals, Off-Grid potentially could have increased its demand, when organisers offered stranded ticket holders of the cancelled Big Green Gathering the option to spend their tickets at this event. However, the effect was less than organisers expected.
Attractions included great music, circus, walk about acts, games, dance, workshops, talks, tented stalls and organic cafes, but also the focus was about learning. “This is ultimately an educational experience, it’s a community networking event, it’s a place for skills and knowledge sharing,” said Dan Hurring.
Entertainments were powered by all sorts of micro generators, but mainly wind turbines and solar photovoltaic sources, which managed to keep most of the show going over its four days.
“It’s been DIY, more so than most of our events in the past, we even ran out of power for our production office computers and phones, but there’s been a lot of working together among the solar power providers here, with lots of borrowing and fixing bits together, and we’ve had some amazing technical geniuses working on-site,” explained Dan.
In a small but significant way, Off-Grid proves it is possible to run an outdoor event of this kind without noisy generators or mains electricity, both of which add to carbon dioxide emissions.
Dan Hurring thinks they are pointing the way forward to a future for festivals that can do more in this direction.
“There’s a lot of challenges ahead for festivals and we’re entering a time when fossil fuels are likely to become a lot more expensive, when climate change means we need to take a lot more care in what we are consuming, and so I think festivals are facing a transition from the very oil-based set up to something new, which events like this can point the way to...
“Saying that, there’s a long way to go – even here there’s a lot of learning for us – such as in sustainable transport, which we didn’t really achieve, and also there’s not enough solar provision available in the UK at this time to power a bigger festival even a one quarter of the size of Glastonbury Festival,” he said.
There are many eco challenges still facing festivals, admits Dan, but he believes there are people with the minds and skills to do what’s needed, since it’s inevitable that all festivals will need to be greener in the future.
Ticket holders of the cancelled Big Green Gathering, who made use of the offer to exchange their tickets for entry to Off-Grid also voiced their anger and disappointment about the loss of an important ‘green cultural event,’ but others had optimism that it might result in more smaller events – like Off-Grid – taking place in future.
Paul Lund (25.8.09)