By Jacob Chua
Debuting in 2005, Tomorrowland has become one of the best known music festivals in the world— winning numerous awards and accolades, even being nominated as "best musical event of the year" for 5 years in a row. Tomorrowland attracts over 400,000 people from all around the world, with them flying to Belgium to experience this breathtaking experience.
Tomorrowland is a large-scale annual electronic dance music festival held in Boom, Belgium in 2023, featuring popular DJ’s such as Martin Garrix, Tiësto, and Steve Aoki
Tomorrowland is known for its loud music and its iconic stage setup including multiple light shows, smoke machines, loud speakers, and more. The common public tend to forget the carbon footprint that Music Festivals bring to the environment.
With people traveling all around the world to experience this involves traveling to Belgium via train and planes. It is said that 72% of carbon emissions are linked to air travel. Further, 20% are linked to products and services sold such as food, goodies, T-shirts or tents. Studies show that 149,000 tonnes of CO2 were emitted throughout this 3 day event.
Tomorrowland’s emission of carbon dioxide produces a Negative Externality of Production. A negative externality of production occurs when the production process of a good or service generates a negative effect on a third party or on society as a whole, in particular Tomorrowland with its emission creates a negative effect on society through the emission of carbon dioxide, and worsening the state of pollution and the environment.
With the world already suffering from Global Warming, the presence and negative effects that Tomorrowland has on everyone. However, for this event to keep on happening, more sustainable measures have been on the rise such as recycled tents have been used as well as a solution to go green.
Bibliography:
Taylor, M. (2023, August 15). Tomorrowland speaks on Reducing Carbon Footprint. We Rave You - Electronic Dance Music Magazine.
