Carbon-neutral rock music on offer at green festival

Ever since climate change became the music industry's latest cause, culminating in the Live Earth concerts last month, musicians have been left in a dilemma. Touring is any band's lifeblood, especially given the precipitous decline in CD sales caused by downloading, but it is also an enormously wasteful use of energy.

The dilemma was highlighted by Radiohead lead singer Thom Yorke, who has become a spokesman for Friends of the Earth and one of rock's most high-profile eco-campaigners.

He derided the "ridiculous consumption of energy" used by bands in transporting themselves, their entourages and powerful lighting and sound systems needed to power stadium gigs.

Hosting a carbon-neutral gig seems almost a contradiction in terms. Critics estimated that the Live Earth concerts generated 31,500 tons of carbon emissions - the equivalent annual output of a town as big as Dundalk.

The organisers of the Irish Green Gathering in Woodbrook House in Co Wexford are hoping to lead the way and show that a carbon-neutral rock festival is possible.

The concert is being organised by Woodbrook's owners, Giles FitzHerbert, the former British ambassador to Venezuela, and his wife Alexandra, who bought the house in 1998, and who have frequently used the grounds of their Georgian home to host operas.

The main stage will be powered by a photovoltaic system which works on solar energy. An array of cells convert solar energy to direct current electricity. They have been charged for the last fortnight and will produce 7.5 kilowatts of electricity - enough to power the main stage.

Although the three-day festival, which starts this afternoon, takes place at the same time as The Rolling Stones concert at Slane, the organisers have put together an impressive list of artists and there is a link between the two events. Fiddler Frankie Gavin and his newly-formed Hibernian Rhapsody group start off proceedings tonight. He is one of the support acts for the Rolling Stones tomorrow.

Another stalwart of Irish traditional music, Steve Cooney, plays on Sunday evening. Upcoming artists taking part include TenPast7; Dry County; Somadrone; Rarely Seen Above Ground; Dae Kim; Ilya K; Stanley Super 800; Ham Sandwich; Leanne Harte; Clive Barnes; Hybrasil; Saviours of Space; TwinKranes; and Stagger Lee.

Mr FitzHerbert is hoping the Rolling Stones will not take away for his event.

"We've a different audience. That concert's for the oldies, we're hoping for a younger crowd," he said.

"The idea is about sustainability. Our festival is not entirely sustainable - we will need generators for the smaller stages - but we are showing the kinds of things that can be done. We're trying to illustrate the possibilities involved.

"Rock bands should use much less energy. It's very extravagant. We think it can be done, but it requires efforts on both sides with less power being used by bands."

There'll be three stages of live music, stalls providing practical demonstrations of solar water heating and pellet boilers, a holistic healing area with shiatsu and Ayurvedic treatments, green workshops and screenings of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth and other films.

The Feasta Energy and Climate Change group is hosting a debate on Saturday evening between economist Richard Douthwaite and the Greens' deputy leader, Mary White TD. Mrs White will be talking about carbon tax and personal carbon quotas.

Tickets can be purchased at the event. Weekend tickets cost €50 and day tickets are €20.