Bestival, End of the Road and Field Day are all banning glitter

Over 60 festivals will stop the sale of 'harmful' plastic glitter over the next three years

Bestival, End of the Road, Field Day and dozens of other UK music festivals are banning glitter.

Over 60 of them have made the decision to ban the sale of ‘harmful’ plastic glitter at their events, citing environmental concerns. The glitter-ban comes as part of a wider pledge to eliminate all single-use plastics from festivals over the next three years.

Most glitter is made out of tiny particles of plastic, and environmentalists say that these micro-plastics can easily end up polluting the oceans after passing through water filtration systems.

Advertisement

This doesn’t mean a complete farewell to multi-coloured sparkle, however. Several companies already make an environmentally friendly, biodegradable version, with one British scientist making glitter out of aluminium-coated eucalyptus tree extract. These biodegradable alternatives will be available at all the festivals involved.

Headed up by the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF), the new #DrasticOnPlastic campaign will also forbid on site vendors from selling plastic bottles, straws, and food trays by 2021.

The full list of festivals banning glitter is as follows:
2000 Trees, Ampthill Festival, ArcTanGent, Barn on the Farm, Beat-Herder Festival, Belladrum Tartan Heart, Bestival, Bloodstock, Bluedot, Boardmasters, Boomtown, Burning Lantern/Brecon Jazz, Camp Bestival, Common People, Deer Shed, Eisteddfod, El Dorado, Elderflower Fields, Electric Fields, End of the Road, Cropredy, Festival No 6, Festival of Voice, Field Day, Fire in the Mountain, Garage Nation, Greenbelt, Green Gathering, Handmade Festival, Hanwell Hootie, Heb Celt, Just So, Kendal Calling, Kew the Music, Larmer Tree, Liverpool Sound City, Lost Village, London Remixed, Magical Festival, Meltdown, Mint Street, Nozstock, Oxjam, Oxted Beer & Music, Pangaea, Pete the Monkey, Rewind Festival, Shambala, Starry Skies, Standon Calling, Strawberries & Creem, Sunflowerfest, SWN Festival, Tramlines, Truck, Twisterella, Underneath the Stars, Vicars Picnic, Victorious, Village Green, and Y-Not

Though organisers are not implementing a ban on festival-goers bringing in their own glitter, the AIF is encouraging punters to opt for an environmentally friendly variety. “The AIF and its member festivals won’t be stopping attendees from bringing glitter to events,” they say, “but will be encouraging festival-goers to bring biodegradable glitter rather than harmful plastic glitter”

“Unless you’ve been living on the moon, you’ll know the plastic problem is not going away,” Bestival organiser Rob Da Bank said in a statement. “This is exactly the sort of work the AIF needs to be doing – leading the global charge against essentially unnecessary plastic at all our festivals.”

You May Also Like

Advertisement

TRENDING

Advertisement

More Stories