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About the One Planet Festival

The One Planet Festival (Oct. 9th – 12th) is being organised by Local and Effective Sustainable Solutions (LESS), is an initiative of the Energy Forum of the Lancaster District Sustainability Partnership, Dukes Playhouse, Lancaster University and various other local bodies and businesses and has been approved by the Lancaster District Council. The goal of the festival is four fold:

1. To celebrate our District through film, music, arts, food, drink,
2. Champion sustainable practices, cutting edge technology and research, and those organisations, businesses and individuals working towards our District becoming sustainable.
3. Promote these practices and initiatives to the wider community.
4. Increase awareness of climate change, peak oil (energy descent), and the solutions available to us as a community through films, lectures, panel discussions and workshops.
5. Drink beer, listen to great music, enjoy some good food and have a great time in our town

The main focus will be to use the City of Lancaster’s existing infrastructure (if this is a success, next year the location will switch to Morecambe, and back again) with Lancaster’s Duke Playhouse being the centre of activities (and main ticket office) for a climate change film festival, the lectures and panel discussions.

Lancaster Town Hall is booked for a Sustainable Exposition on Sat. 11th Oct. showcasing practices, technologies, research initiatives, local food, ales, and those organisations involved in sustainable solutions.

Restaurants, public houses, markets, and local businesses that can demonstrate sustainable credentials (e.g. supply locally brewed ales and local produce, use electricity from sustainable sources) and examples of sustainable practices in the District will be listed on a brochure available to festival goers.

There will be eco-tours available (walking, cycling, bus) throughout the District. For the latter the bus/es will be run on waste recycled vegetable oil. These tours will include some of the locations identified in the brochure.

At the moment we’re looking at identifying and getting the word out to as many interested parties and stakeholders as possible in the District (and the region as a whole) as well as attempting to locate additional sources of funding. At this stage we’re still open to additional ideas. What we have so far is:

• The festival will run over a long weekend (Thurs. Oct. 9th – Sun. 12th)
• Will be focused in Lancaster (if successful next year it will be focused in Morecambe)
• Will include talks from key note speakers on sustainability issues at the Dukes Playhouse as well as panel discussions on films.
• Will include a ‘Climate Change Film Festival’ at the Dukes Playhouse open to submissions from around the world.
• Will have a Sustainability Exposition at Lancaster Town Hall Sat. 11th
• Will have a series of events held not just in Lancaster but throughout the district.
• Pubs, Restaurants, charity shops, markets, examples of good practice will be listed on a pamphlet (free or for sale depending on level of funding)
• Events will be ticketed by day and also for weekend as a whole for film and music events – one, two, three or four day ticket applicable for all events.
• Music (band and DJ) concerts will be held in Lancaster (at Gregson, town hall) open to submissions from bands from within reach of public transport but featuring NW bands and DJs with equipment powered by sustainable sources (acoustic acts powered by bicycle generators)
• Day trips in waste recycled oil powered bus/es to examples of sustainability in practice in Lancaster and adjacent districts with a lunch at locations catering local produce.
• Crowberry Consulting’s carbon footprint event tool is being used to help plan this festival and to allow a BSI 8901certificate of sustainability to be issued.