Using Reclaimed Construction Materials for Music Festival Site Builds.

With a focus on sustainability more music festival organisers are looking at alternative ways to construct and build their festival sites using reclaimed materials. What are the key considerations in using reclaimed materials and how do organisers get started by incorporating this into their site build plans.

The events and music festival sectors do not have the best reputation when it comes to building elaborately designed stages and temporary structures that are sustainable. It is not unusual for most of the materials used in construction to be destroyed after being dismantled form a site. This is now becoming an unacceptable practice and festival organisers are now seeking more sustainable temporary structures. One option is to use a supplier that provides complete reusable structure made form sustainable materials, the alternative is to seek out reclaimed construction materials.

Safety First.
There are some structures that have fixed safety specifications particularly related to stage construction, internal scaffolding skeletons and anything that is load bearing. A lighting truss and associated rigging needs to meet any prevailing safety regulations. Using reclaimed materials for stage decoration and construction of other temporary on-site buildings may be possible but everything must be inspected and approved by a certified safety inspector. Obtaining a relevant safety inspection report may also be a requirement of companies that are providing insurance for the festival.

Construction Material Expertise.
Visiting any of the numerous reclamation sites reveals a wide range of interesting architectural pieces and even simple basic construction materials including brickwork and wood. It requires an expert eye to design and conceive structures using such reclaimed materials and this expertise extends to craftspeople tasked with the physical construction too. An excellent example of a music festival that designs and uses reclaimed materials for much of their temporary structure decoration is Boomtown festival in the UK who manage to build themed towns and streets.

Costs and Real Sustainability.
Sustainability can have a financial cost making it more expensive than using new materials but this may be changing. Many architectural reclamation sites have construction and building experts who can recommend how pieces can be installed and removed. Some even offer a buy back scheme which can greatly reduce the costs of going down this route. If the festival organisation wants to reuse construction materials for future events they can be packaged and stored for future use.

Using reclaimed construction materials and interesting architectural pieces can be sustainable without incurring substantial costs. Whilst many music festivals are looking to create an ultra-modern design using new materials there is still scope to design and build temporary festival site structures and stages that are unique and contain reclaimed interesting architectural materials.

For festival organisers planning their events using a software management platform like Festival Pro gives them all the functionality they need manage every aspect of their event logistics. The guys who are responsible for this software have been in the front line of event management for many years and the features are built from that experience and are performance artists themselves. The Festival Pro platform is easy to use and has comprehensive features with specific modules for managing artists, contractors, venues/stages, vendors, volunteers, sponsors, guestlists, ticketing, cashless payments and contactless ordering.

Photo by Mustafa ezz via Pexels

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