Ecofest

We bought light to the darkness of winter, and produced a fully sustainable, off grid, conscious and eco-friendly event. The event bought together many pockets of the community (children, artists, environmentalists, farmers and festival goers), and demonstrated how a festival can be a social and environmentally conscious event.

The program consisted of:

– Intergenerational lantern parade

– Pedal Powered outdoor cinema, screening films Chasing Coral and Accelerate

– Off grid music stage featuring live performances by Leah Senior, Mon Coeur, Michaela Alexander, Rory Walker & Domenico de Clario

– Participatory workshops & discussions on regenerative farming, wicking beds and more

– Live (pedal powered) projection wall, with audience-generated visuals

We demonstrated true sustainability – in people power – throughout. And the fact that the whole event was single use free, carbon offset, and sustainable.

This was demonstrated in so many ways:

  • pedal power for the cinema
  • reused crockery from the bar
  • LED lighting not incandescent lighting (much more eco!)
  • to the small amount of power we used for the LED lighting being the excess power generated by the solar panels
  • Eco paper and dyes for the posters (plus a very minimal print quantity – around 1/3 of what we usually print)
  • Wood fired heating for the cob over cooking
  • Encouraging everyone to car pool / pedal / walk
  • Carbon offset/tree-planting donation to balance out the omissions that artists/crew incurred travelling to the festival

We surveyed the audience community on the night, and some really inspiring outcomes were measured, namely that:

  • 88% of attendees reporting an increased sense of belonging
  • 90% of attendees thought that the event increased the cultural contribution to Mildura
  • 92% of attendees felt that this was an inclusive event
  • 83% of attendees mentioned that they met new people at the event
  • 81% of attendees felt that the ECOfest was a distinctive event on the Mildura Arts calendar

The festival was delivered in partnership with:

Mulberry Tree Playgroup / Sunraysia Sustainability Network / 350 Mallee /

Food Next Door / Christie Centre / With One Voice Choir