In a massive win for the inaugural Wanderer Festival held in Pambula Beach last month, the eco-focused event hit sustainability goals with just six cubic metres of landfill collected over the three-day festival.
Setting the bar for what future festivals should look like, Wanderer’s founder Simon Daly has long been passionate about promoting awareness about the environment to all generations, with a vision to improve the event’s sustainability goals each year.
It follows his previous incarnation – The Lost Lands in 2019 – where they implemented a successful ‘leave no trace’ policy that resulted in less than one percent contaminated waste.
Among the initiatives put in place for the multigenerational Wanderer Festival weekend included the use of green-lid bins for organic compostable material for FOGO (Food Organics Garden Organics) and yellow-lid bins for recyclables, with all vendors using compostable packaging and utensils.
There were also a number of free water refill and hot wash stations included across festival grounds where punters were able to clean any single-use plastic items they brought, along with the option to purchase reusable bottles and cups from festival stalls.
Asked what sparked his choice to have an eco-friendly festival, which boasted a huge line-up of more than 60 local, national and international artists, Wanderer Festival creator Simon Daly explained that his long experience in running similar events had him opting for an environmentally-friendly way forward.
“I’ve always had an absolute love for the environment since childhood and through running festivals like Falls Festival, which is held in such beautiful environments – and Wanderer is no different, we don’t want to have an impact on the environment,” Daly said.
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Not content with merely paying lip service when it came to their sustainability message, Daly revealed that they had walked away from a number of sponsors who didn’t align with his vision for an eco-friendly festival.
“As a first-year festival, you’d notice we didn’t have sponsors but we had a bunch approach us in the weeks leading up to the festival, but they had single-use packaging at their activations. In the end, we had to walk away from really great opportunities, and always will, because you’ve got to follow it the whole way through.”
“You just have to, and it came to a month or two out [from the festival] and we weren’t sure if we were going to make it across the line financially – but it still just can’t cross that line. So that was really important.”
Not only did Wanderer bring a fresh, eco-friendly, all-inclusive take on the traditional festival, but it also gave a much-needed boost to NSW Sapphire Coast’s economy after years of being decimated by bushfires and floods.
Even the locals rolled up their sleeves to help out over the weekend, including Longstocking Brewery and Oyster Bar owners, Peter Caldwell and Joey Cunningham, who drove artists to and from the festival site while ensuring the brewery continued dishing its delectable wood-fired pizzas.
Speaking of the community support thrown behind Wanderer Festival’s first event, Daly added, “I’ve only been here about three years. It’s just such a beautiful place to live. The beauty, the space, the people, and I feel so, so lucky to be a part of that.”
“The thing I really loved about it was it just felt so inclusive. Whether you were in your 60s, your 40s and 50s or early 20s, whatever age you are you felt like you were among your own.”
Check out the highlights from Wanderer Festival below:
@jessiethejourno Wanderer Festival 🌞 #wandererfestival #musicfestival #merimbulansw #sapphirecoastnsw #southcoastnsw
