Boutique Tassie music festival, Party in Paddock, has jumped on board #BYObottle, saying goodbye to single use water bottles as part of a growing movement to tackle plastic waste in the music industry.

Festival Director Jesse Higgs said he was “stoked” to become a #BYObottle Festival! “Single-use plastic waste is one of the most unnecessary and damaging consequences of music festivals, with millions of bottles being disposed of every year” Mr Higgs said.

After supporting and advising Party in the Paddock in their fantastic work, Green Music were on the ground, chatting with punters about the big move. Over two hot days, a team of four fabulous volunteers surveyed more than 300 fans, or almost 5% of attendees, to hear what they had to say about the plastic-free initiative.

Amazingly, 98% of people said they supported Party in the Paddock’s move away from bottled water, and were keen to see all music festivals, artists and fans step up and do their bit to tackle plastic pollution.

In the lead up to the event, Party in the Paddock launched a fantastic social media campaign to get fans onside, explaining why plastic pollution is such a massive problem, and asking them to do their bit by bringing their own bottle to fill up at one of the many water stations dotted around the festival grounds.

Festival crew put up large signage around the taps to draw attention to these stations and ensure that punters knew where go to fill up and would stay hydrated throughout the event.

Party in the Paddock were also able to supply a large number of free high quality reusable bottles to punters that forgot to bring their own, thanks to the support of Tasmania’s Road Safety Advisory Council.

And the results? Over 70% of the punters we talked with knew about the festival’s plans to eliminate bottled water before arriving on site, and a whopping 90% brought their own bottle with them – proof that the festival’s pre-event communications had hit the mark.

With fellow Tasmanian festivals Cygnet Folk and Panama Fest already deeply committed to #BYObottle and other waste reduction initiatives, the island state looks set to overtake the mainland as the place to go to party sustainably.

Keen to take action? Help share our plastic-free petition with your mates so they can add their voice and get other festivals to ditch disposable bottles!