The perfect environment

Huge effort goes into making the Oxegen experience as enjoyable, memorable and stress-free as possible. With a massive range of extra-curricular attractions and activities on offer, the event is about much more than music. Niall Morris is ‘enhancements officer’ for Oxegen ’09 — his job is to help you have a good time.

“You could say I look after all the little things that help make it better,“ he explains. “For example, we’ve the scouts coming in as volunteers – they will help you set up your tent for a small donation. They’re also doing a ‘tent rescue service’ – if it gets damaged they’ll help you out and will be on hand on the last day to help you pack”.
"Footwear chain Schuh, meanwhile, is organising a ‘wellie exchange’ which means that if it rains, you can exchange your mucky runners for a pair of nice new boots. They clean up the runners and donate them to a third world charity so it’s all for a good cause.”
Away from the main music stages, there is non-stop music and entertainment in the campsite, Morris explains. “From Thursday night onwards we’ll be running a live outdoor stage in the campsite with tribute bands. We have Stone Roses and AC/DC tribute acts, there’s a glam rock band for a bit of fun, and there’s a group called ‘Smash Hits’ doing ‘90s stuff.”
He continues: “This year also sees the return of the XBox Live area, a massive cinema screen which will be running into the late hours with gaming and movies, and finishes up with VJs. Also, in the campsite the Fun Fair is ongoing for pretty much 24 hours with rollercoaster, bungee jumping, the works.”
Food is another essential element of any festival, and these days it’s not just about chips and burgers. “We work very hard with all the concessions to improve the quality and variety of food on offer,” says Morris. "This year we’ve expanded the range even further and we have everything from Tex Mex, Gourmet Burgers, Indian with people like Café Mao and Brunos coming onsite as well. There are a few new things to improve the eating experience, like offering comfortable seating around the food units.”
Morris also looks after all of the onsite art and décor which covers everything form the Stonehenge-style rock‘n’roll entrance to pop-art sculptures such as a giant toothbrush. “Things like that work as markers so people will know where they are. And we’ll have 700 flags around the site providing some nice colour. We’ve got graffiti artist Maser from Dublin coming down to do some pieces.”
Oxegen aims to be as carbon-neutral an event as possible. As this year’s festival sees a bigger emphasis on Green initiatives, the festival has appointed an eco-consultant, Dylan Townsend, who will analyse all of the festival’s work practices, and implement procedures that will ultimately result in a greener and more efficient festival.
With a background in environmental journalism, Townsend is a member of the Challenge Europe initiative, which aims to reduce Ireland’s carbon footprint and increase food and energy security through new policies and actions.
“It’s all about sending out a message,” he explains, “People don’t always want to hear about the environment, but with so many coming together at a festival like this, there’s an opportunity to learn new things.”
Green Party Minister Eamon Ryan will launch the festival’s dedicated Green space Ecogen on the Friday of the festival. “We’re having climate change talks and green films and discussions on the environment,” says Townsend. “There’ll be green charities and ethical food vendors selling organic fare and we’ll also have eco experts on hand to give information.”
Transport is a big issue and Oxegen recommends that as many people as possible use public transport. According to Townsend, 67% arrived at the festival by public transport last year.
“We’re trying to at least maintain that number, if not make it better this year,” he says. “The emissions from transport to and from the festival are 82% of the total. The rest would be energy used such diesel in setting up stages etc. We have a car sharing facility whereby people arriving in full cars will get into the car park free of charge.
“We’re also doing a lot on the recycling front. We’ve several recycling areas onsite for bottles, cans, paper and we’re also looking at renewable options for energy though it’s difficult to get temporary facilities that are also green.”
Meanwhile, in the Green Campsite, fans can choose from “Podpads” with their sunflower solar panels or the comfortable “MyHabs”, made from recycled plastic and water-proof cardboard. Tangerine Fields also returns offering fans the chance to book a ready pitched and equipped tent. At the end of the weekend, Tangerine Fields will donate all used sleeping bags to homeless charities as well as recycling all tents.
Finally Oxegen have launched a green video competition – Green TV which according to Townsend is about encouraging people to create two minute film clips of green messages (for details see oxegen.ie/greentv). “We’re giving winners VIPs tickets. We’ll show their clips on the big screens between acts – it’s all about creating awareness.”