Werchter Festival sets goal to half greenhouse gas emissions

Werchter Festival sets goal to half greenhouse gas emissions
Credit: Jason Asare / Rock Werchter

As signatories of the Green Nation charter, three Werchter festivals are committing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030, the organisers announced Tuesday, 14 June. Among the three are Rock Werchter, TW Classic and Werchter Boutique.

The Werchter festivals will be undergoing changes this year to take steps toward the goal of reducing emissions. Attendees of Rock Werchter will be offered free train and bus tickets via NMBS and De Lijn to encourage public transportation usage.

Two night trains will also run from Leuven station, one for Mechelen–Antwerp, and another for Brussels–Ghent Sint Pieters, though these will cost 12€. Shuttle busses to and from the Leuven station will be provided.

For those attending Werchter Boutique and TW Classic, public transport will be available at a low price. The NMBS is putting on night trains after these one-day festivals as well.

Beyond transportation

The festivals are also lowering the amount of trash collected that can be exchanged for a free drink voucher. While previously it was 20 cups or bottles in exchange for a drink token, it will be 15 cups or bottles this year.

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When it comes to the festival's own energy usage, Rock Werchter’s fourth stage, The Slope, will be run entirely on locally-generated green energy in partnership with the Bolt energy platform.

At the festival’s campsite, the Hive, solar panels and a renewable energy battery will be used to provide power.

Werchter Boutique will play out on 19 June, TW Classic — 25 June. Rock Werchter will take place from 30 June to 3 July, the same weekend as the Paradise City festival, which is recognised as the greenest music festival in Belgium, and of the greenest in the world.


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