Sustainability and looking after the land is what Valley Fest is all about – that is why we have taken the decision this year to ban disposable coffee cups and single use plastic bottles. We will instead be offering ceramic mugs for hot drinks we also encourage you lovely lot to bring your own reusable coffee cups. Bristol Water will also be on site offering free tap water with their award-winning Water Bar – so please bring your own water bottles as well!
The Bristol Water Bar works in partnership with Refill Bristol with the aim of reducing plastic waste and highlighting the importance of healthy hydration. Since its creation in 2016, the bar has been to several local festivals, saving tens of thousands of plastic bottles from going to landfill. This year, the Water Bar is going bigger than ever: visiting 13 events in and around Bristol with the aim of saving 80,000 plastic bottles from going to landfill. Festival goers are encouraged to bring their own reusable water bottles to fill up on free water, but Bristol Water will also be selling stainless steel cups and water bottles for £5 on site as well as offering the chance of winning some.
The reusable drinks cups will also be back at the bars, which require a £1 deposit that you get back when you return the cup.
Luke Hasell, the organic farmer behind Valley Fest said: “I became an organic farmer because I care about the environment. The whole ethos behind the festival is that everything we do should be a conversation with nature, so we continue to strive for the festival to be sustainable and environmentally aware. In the UK we throw away 2.5 billion coffee cups a year, this is behaviour we need to change and so we are doing what we can.
“And we are all becoming a lot more aware of the impact of plastic on our land and oceans so we are urging people not to bring plastic bottles, and there will be no single use plastic bottles on the festival site. We also love glitter but are asking festival goers to only bring biodegrable eco-friendly glitter that is not made from plastic – otherwise it goes into the soil and never leaves.”