Bristol is planning to establish a clean power hub for its summer programme that guarantees renewable energy for music festivals, high attendance cultural events, & film and television productions.
A new pilot partnership between West of England Mayoral Combined Authority, Bristol City Council, the ACT 1.5 project, development support from Grid Faeries x Ecotricity, and multiple clean power providers will see a new temporary mobile power hub established within the city, that can be utilised by a selection of music and cultural events and ongoing tv and film shoots. This pioneering leap builds on the world record breaking low emissions ACT1.5 festival produced by Massive Attack on Bristol Downs in 2024 and the sustainable work the city events team have been carrying out through other initiatives
While other national and international events have trialled part-battery power, this model would see the City Council and Regional Authority collaborating to guarantee renewably powered mobile energy and charging for the summer months to a selection of outdoor events.
The pilot programme is anticipated to run from May to early September 2026, bringing together a range of battery and pioneering green-hydrogen solutions to green the summer season.
Mark Donne, Lead Producer ACT 1.5 commented: “2026 will be the summer of plug for Bristol events, seeing in excess of 20 major events decarbonised, & an entirely new, viable model introduced. This is major step of unprecedented scale & the perfect legacy of Massive Attack’s transgression – not only for the environment, but for the people who live near, work at, or go to summer festivals and events. This is a clean air strategy as well as a climate one, and another world first for Bristol.”
