Music Festivals: Locations, Impacts, and Environmental Concerns

This assignment delves into the geographical aspects of music festivals, examining their locations, impacts on local communities and the environment, and sustainability practices. The analysis begins with identifying various music festivals and their locations, differentiating between city-based and town/village-based events. The assignment explores the timing of these festivals, considering seasonal factors and specific dates. It investigates the environmental settings favored by these events, their duration, and attendance numbers. A critical component involves assessing the facilities required to accommodate large crowds, differentiating between permanent and temporary structures. The study also addresses potential conflicts between local residents and festival attendees, along with the economic and social impacts on the local community and businesses. Furthermore, the assignment identifies potential problems associated with music festivals, such as environmental damage and waste management. It proposes provisions for organizers to manage the environment, including waste disposal, noise control, and security measures. The assessment includes a PMI table that considers the advantages and disadvantages of music festivals for various stakeholders. Finally, the assignment explores sustainable practices for festival goers, such as waste reduction and environmentally-friendly food options.

Questions Name of music festival Name of music festival
Where are these music festivals held? North Byron Parklands Victoria
Which ones are city based? Splendour in the grass is based on
city location
Golden Plains Festival
Which ones are based around a town
or a small village?
Yelgun, New South Wales Meredith
Which towns are nearby these
festivals? (Use google maps)
Some of the towns near where the
festival is held include Sydney to the
north and Brisbane to the south
Geelong and Ballarat are all
small cities located near where
the festival is held.
When are they held? (time of the year
or actual dates).
The festival is held July 19-24 for
only 2-3 Days per year
1st May is the date when the
festival is held
Why are they held at this time? It’s usually a winter season It’s a farms outdoor celebration
festival
What type of environment is popular
for these festivals?
Traditional music is an important
environment used to mark this
festival
The view to the typical western
district farm land is a popular
environment
How long do they go for? The festival takes either 2 or 3 days The festival is held over the
whole weekend (2 days)
How popular are they? How many
people attend?
About 50,000 people are able to
attend the festival and is one of the
popular festival
The festival is attended by about
13,550 people
What facilities are required for these
festivals to cope with the large
numbers who attend? Permanent or
temporary?
Some of the key facilities needed
include permanent theatre rooms for
proper protection and also bigger
stages for better performance
Increased lighting is a key
requirement for the increased
attendance to the festival.
Additionally, bigger areas for
tents, temporary toilets and
more exit locations are needed
to cater for the increased
number.
What potential conflicts might occur
between local people and festival
goers?
Ethical conflicts due to different
ethnic groupings and social conflicts
are common in this festival
Transportation conflicts which
may arise due to the large
number is possible. Residents
will at times feel the shortage
when foreigners invade
What might the impact be on the
local community and businesses?
Impacts of the conflicts on business
may include reduced sales and losses
in business when competition is
brought from outside
Increased use of public means
will promote the transportation
system and lead to economy
growth
What are some other problems or
issues that might be created by music
festivals?
Festival season like this one may be
associated with increased
environmental disasters and drug
abuse among the attendees.
High waste productions and
increased CO2 Emissions are
some impacts which are
associated with organizing the
music festival
1. What provisions should be
made by organisers to help
manage the environment?
The organizer should be able to
organize for proper disposal bins
which are well separated. Also they
should install noise control
equipment to avoid disturbances
To improve security, the
organizers should increase
lighting to the site. Also
improvement of health can be
achieved by providing proper
water and plumbing systems
2. What condition should the After the festival, the site should be
left clear of debris
Removal of all Un-
environmental propers should be

physical environment be left in
after the event?
done after the festival
3. Considering it is a common
practice to leave behind all the
things you bring along
(including tents, chairs, eskies
etc), what measures could be
taken to educate the festival
goers on more sustainable
practices?
Some of the key measures which can
be taken to ensure proper state of site
is achieved include use of fliers to
educate the participants, using the
advertisers to include key practices
in maintaining the event scene
encouraging and facilitating the
use on site of only locally
sourced organic food and
incorporating environmentally
themed talks into their programs
can be used to ensure that the
site is left clean
4. Create a PMI table which looks
at the advantages and
disadvantages of music
festivals (consider a range of
stake holders).
Advantages Disadvantages
Interactions Environmental
pollution
Help
community
Loud
Learning
environments
Scare away
animals
Create
connections
Sound noise
Advantages Disadvantages
Exposure to
different
culture
Injuries due to
accidents
Increased
interaction
and learning
platform
Environmental
pollution
Talent
growth
Moral decay
Exhaustion
5. Locate the festivals you
have found out about on
Google Earth, Google Maps
or from other sources.
Create a map showing their
locations. Remember
BOLTSS)
6. What facilities are required for
these festivals to cope with the
large numbers who attend?
Permanent or temporary?
To cope with the high number, the
organizers should increase security
systems, ensure proper divisions and
good barrier systems and good
separations in terms of ages and
other factors for the participants.
The organizers should ensure
enough lighting systems, large
camp site, proper security
system and emergency exits for
the participants
7. What potential conflicts might
occur between local people and
festival goers?
Some of the potential conflicts which
may arise during the festive season
include cultural differences,
language barriers and social issues
Psychological conflict may arise
between the festive goers and
the locals. This is due to the
differences in cultures on the
people
8. What might the impact be on
the local community and
businesses?
The presence of the music festival
may lead to growth of business and
local community economy
The music festival may bring
changes in behaviour on the
local community and also
growth of economy