WOMADelaide Becomes First SA Festival to Run All Stages on Renewable Energy

WOMADelaide has announced that in 2026 all stages will be powered using 100% renewable energy – setting a new benchmark and becoming South Australia’s first festival to power the majority of its event with renewables.

Nationally, WOMADelaide has been a leader in sustainable festival power, strategically working towards this target since 2021.

WOMADelaide – World of Music, Art and Dance – is a major event on the South Australian events calendar, held in Adelaide’s Botanic Park/Tainmuntilla over four days and nights from March 6–9, 2026, and attended by up to 80,000 people each year.

In 2026, the festival will use renewable energy as the primary source of electricity, with the majority of liquid fuel being 100% renewable. This is achieved through a mix of B100 fuel – a biodiesel made entirely from organic matter and trialled at the festival since 2021 – and the latest addition, HVO fuel.

‘Sustainability is something we’re all really passionate about, and we’ve been working hard to reduce and offset the festival’s carbon emissions while minimising our environmental impact,’ said Festival Director Ian Scobie AM.

‘We’re really thrilled to introduce HVO to the festival, as that means we will now be powering all the stages at the festival from 100% renewable energy. This is a significant step which will lower the festivals total carbon emissions and bring us closer to a fossil-fuel free event.’

HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil) is 100% renewable fuel made from used cooking oil and animal fat waste. It produces approximately 90% less greenhouse gas than diesel and can directly replace it in the same machinery as diesel (for example, drivers can run a diesel-powered car on HVO).

Introduced to the festival in 2026, HVO will be used to power the Foundation Stage, WOMADelaide’s largest stage, which was previously powered using mineral diesel.

This is part of WOMADelaide’ s continued effort to lead the way in sustainability innovation, and not only reduce, but to actively offset the festival’s carbon footprint. Many of these practises have gone on to become industry standard and they include:

• In 2001, WOMADelaide was the first major event to introduce the ‘three bin recycling’ system – now common to all households.
• Using reusable cups at all bars and compostable plates, bowls and cutlery for all food vendors – the first festival in Australia to adopt this waste management strategy, in effect since 2001.
• Investing $3 of every ticket sold back into planting trees in regional South Australia through our Greening Australia collaboration, which begin in 2007 and has achieved the planting of some 149 hectares of ’WOMADelaide forests’ to date.
• Segmented recycling and organic waste bins across the festival site, diverts over 98% of the waste generated by the festival away from landfill through our ‘zero waste to landfill’ strategy with a four-bin system waste management program, which has been in effect since 2009.