As the quarantine regulations are lifted from our lives after three years, large-scale outdoor festivals are open again. Various festivals like the Seoul Jazz Festival, which invites numerous domestic and foreign artists, as well as the Waterbomb Festival, which allows people to enjoy water guns with electronic music, are back. Since numerous fiestas will heat up the following year, The Sungkyun Times (SKT) would like to introduce the culture of outdoor festivals, discuss their problems, and what possible solutions there are to take.
The Features and Popularity of Outdoor Festivals
Outdoor festivals are large-scale events that provide people with celebrations of different cultural aspects. They usually come in the form of huge music festivals, local fairs, and concept festivals. Major music festivals promote various music genres and often allow audiences to enjoy food and attractions during the performances. The Seoul Jazz Festival in Korea and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in the United States are well-known examples. Local fairs refer to largescale events related to regional specialties, like the Boryeong Mud Festival in Chungcheong Province. Meanwhile, concept festivals are held with specific concepts or purposes, such as the Seoul International Fireworks Festival and Newtro Festival. Though outdoor festivals disappeared for over two years due to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) regulations, the huge number of festival audiences in 2022 proved the revival of their popularity. Seoul Jazz Festival held last May, received great attention, selling over 30,000 tickets in three seconds. Cho Gyu-jin (Sophomore, Department of Korean Language and Literature), who went to the event said, “I’ve waited for this day to sing along with the crowd, and seeing my favorite artists perform gave me great comfort.” Moreover, the increasing demand for festival-related goods also proved its popularity. According to the fashion application Ably, the sales of various festival outfits increased dramatically last summer, along with a 980% increase in the number of searches for “water gun” — a must-have festival item. Festivals come in diverse forms and are wanted more than ever as they energize people from busy lives.
Problems of Outdoor Festivals
An Unwelcoming Event for the Environment
As a massive number of people flock to the events, waste problems from outdoor festivals are getting worse. Visitors purchase and consume food and beverages, which usually come in disposable containers that are difficult to recycle. According to the Disposables Monitoring Report in Jeonju Gamaek Festival, 140,000 waste pieces were made during the event. Kwak Jae-won, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Trashbusters — a reusable container rental service, said that the Seoul Inkki Festival, which attracts about 3,000 people every year, produces an average of 35,000 liters of waste. He further expressed the seriousness of the waste problem and the need for specific solutions. Not only from visitors but disposals from event planning and set-up are also immense. As different logos and designs are made every year, festival items like banners, name tags, and light sticks are abandoned after usage. In particular, polypropylene, the commonly used plastic material in banners, does not decompose once buried and contaminates the Earth with carcinogens when incinerated. Therefore, with the trash mountains made for one-offs and the host’s unrecyclable disposables, a vicious cycle is created for the environment.
Festivals Doing More Harm than Good
Festivals should be freely held and enjoyed, but they also can threaten people’s safety and disturb local businesses. On November 5th, 2021, as rapper Travis Scott appeared at Astroworld Festival, a fatal crowd crush occurred, killing eight and injuring more than 300. Videos circulating on social media showed that the audience seemed exhausted from the concert’s beginning. However, it is assumed that Travis Scott continued the performance even after noticing there were injured people. Footage of the audience booing at those screaming out in pain also went viral. Afterward, criticisms mounted on the singer, festival conducts, and the audience. The Houston Police Department (HPD) deduced that the incident happened due to a lack of communication between the artist, staff, and security. Meanwhile, outdoor festivals can also go through conflicts with local merchants. Though festivals have the effect of fostering the market nearby event areas, they sometimes bring confusion to local business districts. There are cases where huge crowds gather and affect the local shopping area, leading to a drop in sales when traffic congestion happens. According to a survey by JoongAng Ilbo, merchants nearby the Itaewon Global Village Festival area complained that visitors were using their bathrooms without purchasing, even responding violently when merchants confronted them. In addition, food trucks and illegal street vendors target visitors in festival areas, creating trouble between local businesses districts. The issue especially stands out in local fairs. Local fairs happen to promote regional specialties, but food trucks and illicit street vendors profit from these events. Thus, outdoor festivals can become an event that does more harm than good.
For Better Outdoor Festivals
To Minimize Adverse Environmental Effects
In order to get rid of the enormous remains from festivals, disposable waste must be reduced and upcycled. To actualize this, festival coordinators should strive to minimize the use of disposable products. At the Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival, food trucks provided multi-use containers through the collaboration of Trashbusters, shrinking the amount of litter to 32% even with the increased number of visitors. Accordingly, event organizers should make efforts to arrange eco-friendly events while taking environmental consequences into account. Also, efforts in waste reduction are expected at the governmental level, as the Guidelines for Reducing the Use of Disposable Products in Public Institutions are revised. In addition, festival disposals can be reused through upcycling by adding design and value. At the Joyolpark Festival held last year, event banners were collected right after use to be upcycled into bags and pouches. Also, abandoned necklace chains and plastic bottle caps were repurposed as festival goods at the Jarasum Jazz Festival. Local governments are also attempting various eco-friendly ideas. Kim Ik-yeol, the director of the tourism festival in Seocheon, said, “Last September, upcycling education using abandoned banners from previous events was held to create an environmentally safe festival.” Through such efforts on disposal reduction and finding new uses for waste, minimizing environmental damage is possible.
-Festivals That Mind the Safety of Visitors and Local Merchants
The most crucial factors in festival settings, where many people gather in a constrained space, require extra caution from the organizers and the audience’s safety awareness. First, the coordinator should establish precautions to prepare for accidents and try to remove blind spots in cases of emergency. Furthermore, by arranging more security, the host can communicate with the audience in real-time. Rapper Jay Park prevented further accidents by stopping his performance when he noticed a collapsed person in the audience. Conflicts with local merchants can also be worked out through discussions between the municipality and merchant committees. For this to happen, it is necessary to organize festival committees ahead to tune into merchants’ feedback. In fact, the Seodaemun-gu Office constructed festival committees ahead of big events to reflect the voice of business owners. Finally, to attract visitors to local stores, authorities should regulate illegal stalls and give special benefits to local merchants. For example, local merchants used to oppose the Boryeong Mud Festival but finally agreed to cooperate after the district’s efforts on offering sales booths.
Outdoor festivals provide excitement and solace to people who are exhausted from their daily lives. Audiences are finally allowed to dance and sing along at festivals to blow away their fatigue. However, if such festivals damage the environment, hurt people, and intrude on local businesses, they can no longer be everyone’s source of enjoyment. The SKT hopes that Kingo’s interests in festivals can also contribute to a sustainable future.