Humber Street Sesh achieves ambitious decarbonisation goal at festival’s 10th anniversary
From humble beginnings as a small festival to showcase local bands and artists, Humber Street Sesh has grown to become one of the region’s biggest and best-loved music events.
Thanks to the involvement of fellow Oh Yes! Net Zero members, festival organisers were able to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of this year’s event - the 10th to be held on Hull Marina - by a staggering 90 per cent. We asked festival director and founder Dave Mays how it was achieved.
“We’ve always looked for ways to reduce the impact of Sesh on the environment and make it more sustainable,” said Dave.
“Over the years we’ve taken steps like cutting the use of single-use plastic bottles by having water stations at bars where people can fill their own bottles, and serving canned wines, beers and soft drinks.
“We’ve also used solar-powered stages, and in 2022 we introduced biodegradable bamboo wristbands.
“Our principal sponsors and partners include the University of Hull and Hull City Council, who’ve supported us from the beginning and are both founding partners of Oh Yes! Net Zero.
“We signed up to be part of the Oh Yes! Net Zero campaign last year and attending some of its events made us take a critical look at where the festival’s carbon emissions come from and what we could to reduce them. That’s led to us taking our sustainability efforts to a new level.”
It became clear from an analysis of the festival’s carbon footprint that the diesel generators used to power many of the festival’s stages, catering outlets and infrastructure such as lighting were responsible for the vast majority of its emissions.
Conversations with the firm supplying the generators and with JR Rix & Sons Ltd – another Oh Yes! Net Zero member and festival supporter – revealed that powering them with hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), rather than diesel, could lead to a significant reduction.
“Analysts at the University did the calculations for us and confirmed that switching to ethically sourced HVO would reduce our C02 emissions from 3,302kg to 46kg – an incredible saving of more than 90 per cent,” Dave continued.
“HVO is currently more expensive than diesel, but to support our sustainability efforts Rix provided it at a discounted rate, which we’re very grateful for.”
Principal partner Hull Trains also helped to make this year’s Sesh the most sustainable ever, offering free, environmentally-friendly train travel from Brough, Howden, Selby and Doncaster to Hull and back for festival-goers.
And partner Hull City Council played its part by ensuring waste generated from the event was either recycled or incinerated, with nothing sent to landfill.
Other sustainability measures at this year’s festival included the use of compostable paper cups and recyclable materials across all bars and food concessions.
Dave concluded: “2023 festival was a milestone in the history of the festival, not just because we returned to Hull Marina for a hugely successful 10th event there, but also because we reached a turning point in our sustainability journey.
“We couldn’t have achieved the transformational reduction in our carbon footprint without the support of our partners and fellow Oh Yes! Net Zero members the University of Hull, JR Rix & Sons. Our thanks go to them and the other partners who helped make it possible.”
Melissa Rackham, community engagement manager at Oh Yes! Net Zero said: “One of the biggest benefits of joining the Oh Yes! Net Zero campaign is the opportunity it brings to collaborate with other organisations towards the shared goal of reducing carbon emissions across our region.
“Humber Street Sesh is a brilliant example of collaboration in practice. It’s inspiring to see what Dave and the Sesh team have achieved with the support of other members of the campaign.”