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It’s hard to face the fact that many of the things that make us happy come with an environmental price tag – flying overseas, ordering Uber Eats, online shopping and attending live music festivals. But not everyone’s turning a blind eye. In recent years, musicians have started reimagining what a lower-impact live event could look like – most notably Coldplay, who cut the carbon footprint of their latest world tour by 59 per cent compared to their previous one. Now, one beloved Aussie band is picking up the baton – and proving that festivals, too, can be big on vibes without being brutal on the planet.
This autumn, beloved brotherly duo Oli and Louis Leimbach of Lime Cordiale are launching a new climate-focused music festival that will be run fully off-grid on renewable energy. Fittingly titled Lime Green Festival, it will be a bold experiment in what the future of live music could look like when climate action is the main event.
The Leimbach brothers said, “For the last five years, we’ve wrestled with a deep, personal dilemma as environmentalists: Is our touring contributing to the problem? Does it still make sense in a world that’s hurting? Should we continue to tour at all? We’ve decided that the answer isn't to stop, but to change. Live music is about the vital connection between people, and we believe that connection is exactly what we need to fuel a new way of doing things. Our aim is to stage the greenest music festival Australia has ever seen – rethinking everything from renewable stage power and transport to how we handle food and human waste.”
Taking over Point Malcolm Reserve in Adelaide on Saturday, April 18, Lime Green is more than just your average music festival. Alongside live performances, it will feature inspiring talks, interactive workshops and activations that spotlight leaders and innovators driving Australia’s growing regenerative movement. Joining Lime Cordiale on the festival stage are indie-folk duo The Dreggs, Adelaide singer-songwriter aleksiah and rising local four-piece Pash, plus the next triple j Unearthed Winner.
When it comes to sustainability, Lime Green is walking the walk. The main stage, and hopefully the entire festival, will run entirely off-grid using vegetable oil battery generators. Festivalgoers can charge their devices at solar- and bike-powered stations, snap up upcycled merch (including pieces made from seaweed), and rest easy knowing leftover food will be donated to charity. On top of that, $1 from every ticket sold will go towards a South Australian community-led response to the algal bloom, made possible through Solar Slice – a world-leading environmental ticketing initiative led by artist-led climate impact agency FEAT.
If you’re keen to go green, tickets for Lime Green Festival go on sale at 9am AEDT on Friday, January 23. The keenest beans can sign up for the pre-sale, which starts at 9am on Wednesday, January 21 – put your name on the waitlist here.