This month:

• Green Leader Q&A #60, Ridder Haspels, Technical Director at Chasing the Hihat
• Take the Vision 2030 Climate Pledge: 30 Actions for Live Outdoor Events by 2030
• Take the Survey: Tell us which Government policy shifts will support your events' sustainability 
• Support and Sponsor The Sustainable Events Summit 10th edition. 
• Resource Spotlight: Vape Recycling at Festivals and Events Toolkit - Material Focus 2026
• Resource Spotlight: Responsible Merch Guide
• Supplier Spotlight: 4Wall at Lido Festival 
• Donate in Earth Week to double onboard:earth's impact on industry travel emissions. 
• Events and news from across the industry.

Please consider paying £5, £10 or £15 to support Vision's monthly newsletter. Donate HERE.

Contact bethan@visionsustainableevents.org to share newsletter ideas and news. 

On Earth Day 2026, Vision for Sustainable Events launched the Vision 2030 Climate Pledge, a landmark initiative within the UK live events industry’s Climate Transition Plan. 

Based on the recently published The Show Must Go On (SMGO) report, the pledge provides a blueprint for organisers towards halving their emissions by 2030 with support from government and the supply chain.

Designed for events of all scales, the pledge offers a ready-made sustainability strategy via a checklist of 30 practical, achievable climate actions. Event organisers who take the pledge will gain access to expert-led masterclasses, impact-tracking tools, and exclusive industry roundtables to support their journey.

Early adopters of the pledge include Shambala, Love Saves the Day, Greenbelt, Belladrum, Forwards, Medicine Festival, Norfolk & Norwich Festival, Tropical Pressure, Bristol Harbourside Festival. Working with us are supporters; The Association of Independant Festivals (AIF), Superstruct UK, Kilimanjaro Live and LS Events. 

>>Take the Vision 2030 Climate Pledge + Download the Climate Actions Checklist

During his university years, Ridder began organising underground raves in Amsterdam warehouses. Over 12 years, these gatherings grew into large-scale music festivals hosting up to 30,000 visitors per day. His role has expanded to overseeing full technical production from concept to realisation, leading Chasing the Hihat's sustainability strategy, and representing the organisation in the Green Deal Circular Festivals, a European collaboration of 50 festivals pioneering circular events. Read Ridder's answers to our 20 monthly questions HERE>>

In March, we spoke with Ian Baird, Outdoor Events Development Manager, Brighton & Hove City Council. Read his answers HERE>> 

In the 3rd edition of the Show Must Go On a number of specific requests of government policy were identified to help the live events industry to overcome systemic barriers to achieve the total 50% reduction outlined in the Climate Transition Plan 2030.

We are inviting event organisers to rank these policy asks by order of priority and achievability. This will give us a picture of your priorities and inform discussions with government. Let us know your focus areas>> 

The Sustainable Events Summit 10th edition is planned for October 21st 2026. It is a free-to-access conference which relies on the support of industry partners.

Sponsorship of the Summit gives organisations the opportunity to raise their profile in the sustainable events community, show support, and enable this important sector to come together to share ideas and improve working practices for years to come.

Sponsors receive significant profile and reach through the event, our media partners, and our established communications channels. Download the sponsorship pack | Contact Sponsorship Lead, Graham Brown.

This Earth Day, onboard:earth—the charity dedicated to tackling travel emissions in the live events industry—is participating in The Big Give's Earth Raise fundraising campaign.

With a target of raising £5,000, they must raise £2,500 from individual supporters this week (22nd-29th April) to successfully unlock a further £2,500 in match funding. Your contribution today effectively doubles their capacity to drive environmental change.

Donations will help support more festivals and events to measure and reduce travel emissions, build tools that make data gathering easier, and fund nature restoration projects that balance unavoidable travel emissions. Donate today >> 

As part of the Recycle Your Electricals campaign, Material Focus are back for 2026 to help support UK festivals and events with vape recycling this summer.

They’ve created an updated 2026 version of the Vape Recycling at Festivals and Events Toolkit to help stakeholders understand how to manage vapes and vape recycling. The Toolkit includes: 

• Previous success stories from the festival circuit
• The results from the latest round of research on vape use since the ban
• Practical advice on campaigning and recycling at your event
• Funding available for vape bins. 

Download the 2026 Vapes at Festivals Toolkit. 

Julie’s Bicycle has collaborated with Green Music Australia, REVERB and The CSO Shop on the launch of a new Responsible Merch Guide, helping the music industry reduce the environmental and social impacts of merchandise and physical music production.

The free guide is designed for artists, managers, labels, merch teams, and suppliers seeking to make more informed environmental and ethical decisions across the full merchandise lifecycle. It is launched alongside a Global Supplier Directory featuring businesses offering responsible and ethical merchandise and physical music solutions. Download the Guide.

If you enjoyed this edition, please help fund the next one.

We love the positive feedback we receive from our community of thousands of green event lovers. However, despite the rise of AI, this newsletter doesn't write itself (yet!). We are asking our readers to contribute the cost of a pint (£5, £10, or £15) so we can keep delivering these updates.

Please consider paying £5, £10 or £15. Donate HERE online - it takes just a minute and makes a world of difference to our not-for-profit project.

Our curated selection of news from across the live events industry and beyond, including jobs, blogs, and what the Vision team has been reading this month: 

• A Greener Future blog showcases sustainable festivals for Earth Day 2026 HERE
• The Essential Guide: Compostable Serveware at Festivals & Events Webinar - sign up HERE
• Music Venue Trust announces Off The Grid programme, supporting grassroots venues with energy efficiency and renewables HERE
• AIF Launches Sustainability Step Change Fund with £40,000 Backing from Ticket Tailor’s Earth Invest HERE
• A Greener Future training courses on key event operational issues impacting the environment HERE.

Our newsletter reaches over 5,000 UK event professionals interested in sustainability. Send jobs, events, resources and articles to feature here to: info@visionsustainableevents.org