FEST 8 PICS AND STATS

Map with pins placed by FEST8-goers indicating where they traveled from

Gainesville Florida’s annual FEST event entered its eighth year this past October. A rock music event that lasted three days, the FEST 8 hosted a few hundred punk and alternative unsigned and signed bands from independent music labels.

It attracted approximately 6,000 people from all over the U.S. and many international countries. For FEST 8, twelve different venues accommodated the performers and revelers over the 3-day weekend, creating a raucous carnival of attendees that stretched along University Avenue and Main Street in downtown Gainesville, FL. As an event that relies heavily on electricity and long distance transportation, FEST 8’s CO2 output was of a magnitude that merited both carbon accounting and offsetting.

On October 30th at 10 A.M., three volunteers surveyed FEST-goers at the event registration on their distance traveled, method of transportation, number of travel companions, and time spent in a hotel. Attendees were also asked to place a pin on U.S. and world maps to indicate where they traveled from, creating a visual geographic representation of the FEST’s scope.

Strikeforce Diablo at FEST8

According to the survey of 1,026 attendees, approximately 10,219 tonnes of CO2 was emitted in total or 1.70 tCO2 per person. 20% of these emissions were generated by cars, 72% by air travel, 8% by lodging, and ~1% by electricity used to power the venues during the shows. Approximately 6,000 people attended the event, making the FEST 8’s total carbon footprint around 10,219 tonnes of CO2, the equivalent of emissions from the consumption of 1,150,00 gallons of gasoline.