Insomnia is making its return to the NEC in 2020 and this time the UK’s largest gaming festival is setting its sights sustainability. Welcoming over 45,000 fans each year, the festival is already known for its non-stop programme of unmissable gaming goodness; Now, its organisers hope that it will be the first to show unnecessary waste that it’s ‘Game Over’.
With reports showing that 23,500 tonnes of waste are produced annually at UK festivals, i66 is determined to take control of the situation and do its best to get greener. To do this, it has teamed up with Nestlé Cereals’ Curiously Cinnamon to bring the first ‘Eco Village’ to its line-up.
The Eco-Village will see the introduction of 150 sustainably-sourced cardboard tents for gamers to stay in over the course of the four-day festival. With enough room for two, the tents are made with both practicality and comfort in mind. What’s more, they are better at blocking out light, making them perfect for the NEC’s indoor camping halls when gamers need to get some hard-earned shut-eye.
Most importantly though, the tents are 100% recyclable, so once they’ve served their purpose at Insomnia Gaming Festival, they can be broken down and repurposed.
Phil Crawford from Player1 Events, the masterminds behind i66, is passionate about ensuring that the festival is as eco-conscious as possible. He commented:
“We’re in the midst of a climate change crisis and the effect of this is being felt the world over: however, whilst its seen a rise in reusable water bottles and a ban on plastic bags, these changes haven’t translated to the world of festivals like ours… yet. Now, it’s time to get serious and to get honest with ourselves about the impact that shows, conventions, and expos are having on the planet, and as organisers, we need to be responsible for designing festivals with sustainability plans built in.
“Working with Curiously Cinnamon at Nestlé Cereals to bring the first Eco Village to Insomnia Gaming Festival has been fantastic. The team understood from the outset what we wanted to achieve and why it was so important to us, and together we’ve come up with a solution that we feel will make a significant difference to i66’s sustainability. We cannot wait to watch the Insomnia Eco Village come to life and make it a staple of every show going forward.”
By introducing the eco-friendly camping village during its festival, Insomnia’s organisers hope that it will encourage more events-organisers to follow suit in making small changes that have a huge difference.
Further to this, it wants to show that sustainable options don’t have to break the bank. Thanks to Curiously Cinnamon, staying in the Eco Village tents start at just £75, which is cheaper than purchasing two singular camping tickets, so gamers have even more reason to answer the Call of Duty to protect the environment.
“We really hope that those attending i66 get behind our pledge to go green and support our Eco Village. We know that this is just the first step of many to making Insomnia sustainable, but we look forward to working with even more partners to create a model of best practice for festivals to follow. Together, we can make a massive difference!” concluded Phil.
Insomnia Gaming Festival will return to Birmingham’s NEC from the 10-13 April. Bringing back fan-favourites, including everything Cosplay competitions and LAN parties, to dedicated Virtual Reality and Retro zones – not to mention chances to meet-and-greet the biggest names in the world of online games – the festival will once again bring together the best that gaming industry has to offer under one roof.
To get your hands on tickets, head to insomnia.seetickets.com/tour/insomnia. To find out more about the Eco Village, check out the website here, but for more about what is in store for Insomnia, visit insomniagamingfestival.com.
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