The organiser of Austin City Limits Music Festival has revealed that its IHG® Hotels & Resorts stage will be powered by a hybrid battery system, including all audio, lighting, video and stage production.

The hybrid-powered stage will deploy more than 1 MWh of battery storage capacity, minimising the run time of biodiesel generators, and providing significant fuel and emissions savings. In addition, the giant shade tents at ACL Eats, situated at the West Entrance of the festival, and a variety of backstage areas will also be powered on hybrid battery systems too.

Jake Perry, director of operations and sustainability at C3 Presents, said: “Following this year’s highly successful and history-making battery-powered main stage at Lollapalooza, we are excited to bring this sustainable solution to Austin City Limits Music Festival. We have set a goal to build a more sustainable future for music festivals, which involves implementing solutions that make our operations more energy efficient and reinventing how we look at power. We are grateful to REVERB’s Decarbonization Project for their partnership in helping us move closer to our goals.”

ACL Festival is committed to sustainable festival practices in the field, behind the scenes and through the preservation of the ever-beautiful Zilker Park. This commitment is integrated into every area of the park, from recycling and composting to eco-friendly service items at ACL Eats and Electrolit Hydration Stations that provide festivalgoers with free, filtered water, while diverting thousands of plastic bottles from the landfill. Biodiesel is utilised in diesel engines across the festival site, and the festival producers offset the carbon dioxide emissions of festival vehicles, generators, and staff travel by purchasing certified carbon offsets. The festival also utilises a materials recovery programme that identifies key materials that can be diverted from landfills and shared with partners across its community.  This year, ACL Fest will work with Food for All Project to donate any unused backstage meals to feed people in need.

Austin Parks Foundation (APF) will present ACL Fest’s signature greening programs for both weekends of the festival. APF and its volunteers will be managing Rock and Recycle, Divert It! and Water Refill Stations. Rock and Recycle, which is co-presented by H-E-B, encourages festival attendees to pick up a bag of recyclables or TURN reusable cups from the grounds in exchange for a specially designed ACL Fest line-up tee. Divert It! enlists volunteers to encourage and educate fans by helping them compost, recycle and send less waste to landfills. And Hydration Stations Presented by Electrolit encourage ACL Fest fans to bring a reusable water bottle to reduce waste. APF also invites guests to stop by the APF booth to snap a photo, enjoy some free swag, and learn more about how to support Austin’s parks and green spaces.

ACL Fest 2024 takes place October 4-6 and October 11-13 at Zilker Park.