The organiser behind Forest Live festival says the music industry is making “one of the most concerted efforts” to combat the climate crisis – but there is “more to be done”.
Forest Live festival, presented by Forestry England, is a series of outdoor concerts held in some of England’s most picturesque natural settings.
This year, The Independent has partnered with the event as its exclusive news partner, providing news and updates ahead of performances from stars such as Nile Rodgers, Sting, Bryan Adams, Paloma Faith, Van Morrison, and Tom Jones.
National events programme manager Rhodri Jones explains how the festival was launched in 2001 on a “much smaller” scale, with just a handful of acts playing at various forest locations. Some of the earliest bookings included Ed Sheeran, Motorhead, Massive Attack, and Blondie.
“It all started as a way to bring people together in the forest, and now it’s about getting as many people to experience the areas we look after for the first time and hopefully build a life-long relationship with them – and also to generate funds for the work that we do,” Jones says.
“Forestry England are custodians of over 1,500 sites around England, but we also do a lot of work in research, protecting endangered species, and research such as which tree species we need to invest in in the UK in order to future-proof from climate change.”
“[The festival] has grown massively since that initial year,” Jones continues. “We’ve increased the number of sites we work at and the level of artists we work with, so this year we have 23 concerts, with each one going up to 10,000 capacity.”
One of Forest Live’s biggest endeavours is sustainability, with Forestry England dedicated to growing and caring for over 1,500 of the nation’s forests for this generation and future generations to come.
“With all major industries there’s a responsibility to do what we can,” Jones said. “You see artists that are doing really great things… there’s a lot to be done, but I do think the music industry is one of the ones that’s talking about it the most. It’s something where there is a concerted effort to do better.”
He emphasises the fact that these sites are there the whole year for visitors to discover and enjoy, whether through mountain biking trails, assault courses, treetop adventures, horse-riding, wellbeing trails, or sensory walks.
“They’re the perfect place to get away from the stresses of modern life,” he says.
Forest Live festival 2024 takes place from 13 June – tickets are available now.
