The Pentagram-based environmental public service Do The Green Thing has launched #FestiVegi, a campaign that calls on UK festivals organisers and revellers to go easy on the meat.
The campaign was launched on the eve of Glastonbury, one of the most spectacular gatherings of humanity, music and conviviality the world has to offer. Held on a farm and hosted by a farmer and his family for the last 46 years, Glastonbury invites a society of over 175,000 people to follow many principles of natural and sustainable living.
But, despite its many worthy environmental credentials, Glastonbury (and many festivals like it) fail to care for our planet in one essential way - it serves meat, and lots of it.
So why has Do the Green Thing set its sights on UK festivals? Because they have a large audience - 3.17 million people visit them annually - and it would make a big difference to our planet if all those people used their time away from everyday life to go meat-free.
Do The Green Thing has made the case for vegetarian festivals in its third Issue. The Issue begins with ‘Why I’ve got beef with festivals like Glastonbury’, an editorial piece its co-founder and Pentagram partner Naresh Ramchandani, that explains the effect of unchecked meat consumption on our planet, debunks the myth that meat is the ultimate hangover cure and suggests ways to make it easier to go #FestiVegi. It is accompanied by 'Vegliners', a series of illustrations by Huntley Muir that reimagine the lyrics of some of Glastonbury’s most iconic acts with a veggie twist.
The Issue ends with ‘Hyping the veg’, a #FestiVegi ad campaign by Craig Oldham, helping veg stall owners promote their fare and inspiring festival goers to stay faithful to a climatarian diet. Using the visual language of market stalls, and incorporating some outlandish but not unreasonable claims, the posters are freshly served and ready for veggie vendors to download, display on their stalls and vans and redress the PR imbalance that has for so long tipped heavily in favour of flesh.
Read the Issue and download the ‘Hyping the Veg’ posters here.
