Guelphs Hillside Festival – The Greenest Festival Around

Its that time of year again!  The middle of summer, and that means the Hillside Festival is finally upon us.  For a long time now, I’ve attended this festival just outside of Guelph, Ontario.  It started out in 1984 in the city of Guelph at a small venue called riverside park.  Since the first festival, the event has grown each year.  The first couple of events were one day festivals, but with the growing number of attendees, in 1987 the festival officially moved to the island on Guelph Lake and became a three day hippy fest!

Now, when one thinks of a three day festival such as this, its hard to imagine the possibility of being a “Green” or eco friendly and environmentally sound event.  Considering that the festival draws some 5000 people to this tiny island every summer for a weekend of music, spoken word, workshops and great food among other things, the festival is one of the most eco friendly events around!

Sooo….Just how is it that the Hillside Festival is the greenest festival around??

Speed Rive Cycle offers a free bicycle lockup station.  Festival goers are encouraged to ride their bikes out to the lake and lock them up at the secured bike lock station.

The main stage at Hillside features a Green Roof .  The roof was planted in 2005 to replace the greenspace taken up by the stage.

All food served by vendors at the festival is served on reusable plastic dishes.  The dishes are collected and washed by a handful of volunteers on site and are used every year at the festival.

The festival is powered by Green energy from Bullfrog power in Ontario.

In an effort to curb wasted water bottles, festival goers are urged to bring refillable containers which can be filled for free by Wellington water watchers who bring in a massive tanker full of water.

You just can’t get around smokers, so the festival provides Film canisters for butts so people aren’t just throwing their cigarette butts on the ground.

All beer, coffee, water, whatever you might drink requires you to either purchase, or bring Reusable Hillside mugs from previous festivals.  Don’t worry, the mugs are cheap at 2 bucks each

Hillside Festival Main Stage

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