Bestival organisers have announced plans to further reduce reliance on single-use plastics, by removing plastic bottles for sale.

The new initiative – which comes in the wake of ‘The Final Straw’ campaign – will see single-use water bottles now be fully replaced by canned CanO Water at the onsite bars at both Bestival and Camp Bestival. To-date, over 60 festivals have pledged to eradicate single-use plastics from their events by 2021; as a festival that prides itself on ethical and human-standards, it’s great to see Bestival be one of the first major events to undertake such an initiative so early on.

“We’re very serious about reducing the plastic waste at our festivals, which we know is a problem that needs solving” says Bestival founder Rob Da Bank. “We’ve already launched The Final Straw and joined the Drastic on Plastic campaign, so getting rid of plastic water bottles and using CanO Water’s 100% recyclable cans on our bars is a big step ahead in our mission. We’d love for all the traders on site to be plastic free right now but we’re also realistic that can’t happen overnight. Our goal is 2021 but we’re going to do as much as we can before that date and bringing in CanO Water is an important step that we’re pleased we can make this year.”

This year’s Bestival, which takes place on 2-5th August, will see the likes of Mark Ronson and Diplo, London Grammar, M.I.A, Grace Jones, Jorja Smith, Plan B, Chaka Khan and Mura Masa grace the event’s new home at Dorset’s Lulworth Estate. Tickets are onsale now over on the official Bestival site.