Festival and Event Organizers and Food Vendors
Tell us about your event experience managing waste services.
Banner Photo: Calgary Folk Music Festival
About the Project
Overview
Project Update: April 28, 2023
Thank you to festival and event organizers and waste service providers for providing your feedback in phase one of engagement. Please click here to view our What We Heard Report. We are now taking into consideration the feedback to identify next steps for the project deliverables.
Background:
The City of Calgary wants to learn about experiences with waste service changes for festivals and events hosted on City land, with a goal to better support the festival and event industry.
In the past, festival and event organizers could choose between City-delivered waste services or privately delivered services. Since 2022, City-delivered service for attendees and vendors is no longer available* to event organizers; however, organizers remain responsible to ensure there is adequate garbage, recycling, and compost service available for vendors and attendees at their event.
* The City continues to provide roll-off containers for a fee that festival and event organizers can deposit materials collected throughout their event site into.
More Information
Over the past few years, there have been significant changes to how festival and event organizers set up and manage their waste collection and removal from an event site and how this has been supported through City funding. These changes have resulted in various concerns being raised by the event industry. The City of Calgary wants to understand how to support the festival and event industry as it adapts to these changes.
After a financial review, The City determined that it could not continue providing waste services to events due to a lack of staff, trucks and budget to cover the program costs.
Currently, there are many private service providers that can be contracted for waste removal from an event site. There are also companies that can provide on-site containers for attendees and vendors to sort their recycling, compost, and garbage.
What remains unclear is:
- Who provides these services for the festivals and events industry,
- The range of services that these companies offer,
- If they are able to service all event sizes or if they have a minimum event size,
- Their capacity for growth,
- Their ability to collaborate to provide one-stop service for customers, and
- If they provide waste diversion reporting.
FAQ
FAQ
- Is The City considering reinstating waste service for festivals and events?
- Are waste services performed by non-City of Calgary organizations eligible for a Festival and Event subsidy?
- Do you have a list of companies that provide waste service to festivals and events?
- Do you have information resources available to assist festival and event organizers and food vendors with this change?
- Does The City have in-person education staff that can stand by the recycling, compost and garbage bins to direct event attendees on how to sort properly?
- Does The City offer in-person education for festival and event organizers and volunteers?
- Who do I contact if I have additional questions?
Provide Your Input
The City would like to better understand the experiences of festival and event organizers, food vendors, and waste service providers around changes to waste services at festival and event sites. As part of this engagement, we want to identify gaps and opportunities to support the festival and event industry.
Next Steps
Your feedback from phase one engagement will help inform recommendations about the future of waste at festivals and events. Please view the phase one What We Heard Report here.
If you have questions or comments about this project, please email: EventfulCityStrategy@calgary.ca
