Our Commitments
About Us
American Express presents BST Hyde Park is a 10-day event consisting of nine days of world class ticketed music events and eight days of free midweek community-focussed activities. The event attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.
AEG’s aim as a responsible event organiser is to ensure we are working to maximise the ways in which our event makes a positive impact, whilst reducing the negative impacts on the environment and community
Sustainability
Our Sustainability Policy outlines our key economic, social and environmental commitments and objectives in the development and execution of American Express presents BST Hyde Park.
Here are some of the things we do to ensure American Express presents BST Hyde Park is a sustainable and responsible festival:
- Waste and recycling
- Travel & transport
- Energy
- Procurement & Materials
- Local area impacts
- Protecting the ecology
- We achieve zero waste to landfill.
- There is a 'no single use plastic' policy across the festival and bars.
- Plastic serve-ware is banned at all food trader stands – all food packaging and cutlery is compostable.
- Leave No Trace policy - every single item dropped in the grass is picked up by our litter team.
- Each year we work on improved solutions to combat single-use plastic
- We advise all visitors to choose greener travel options, such as public transport and arriving by bike or foot.
- The central London location of our events means that we are well served by the public transport network.
- AEG are committed to using sustainably and locally sourced materials, equipment and products, with the aim of reducing travel miles.
- All of our water comes from the on site mains water supply rather than being tankered to site, thereby eliminating transport emissions
- We’re working with charity Ecolibrium to balance your fossil-fuel travel miles to the festival - these are typically the biggest contributor to an event’s carbon footprint, making up to 80% for the average festival in the UK! 100% of your donation will be invested directly into clean renewable energy - helping to tackle the environmental impacts of your journey. You can add your donation when purchasing your festival ticket.
We work with our power providers to maximise efficiency, monitor energy use, minimise emissions and prevent pollution
The event uses HVO Biofuel (a form of renewable diesel that has been produced from vegetable fats and oils).
- We work closely with our traders and suppliers to source local produce and services to support the local economy.
- We ensure all our food traders are ethically and environmentally conscious.
- There are 90% vegetarian options on site, and the traders serving meat only use free range meat.
- Our artist catering company achieved the ISO 14001 accreditation in 2009, the international specification for an environmental management system.
- All staff are encouraged to get a reusable water bottle from the event offices and fill up at any one of the multiple free water points around the site.
- Event merchandise is ethically and sustainably sourced.
- Local community engagement is key to delivering the events. AEG work year round alongside local stakeholders and the local communities who are consulted throughout the planning stages and the events
- Management plans around Noise, Traffic and Ingress and Egress are developed to minimise impact of these on the surrounding residents. We work closely with the local authority’s environmental protection teams to produce the events at agreed sound levels. Specialist acoustic consultants are hired to monitor sound levels throughout the event to ensure these levels are adhered to.
- A dedicated community impact management team are based on site to assist with any queries from local residents during the event build/derig and concert dates.
- 8 out of the 17 show days of the event are for the community and general public to access the event site free of charge to enjoy a wide range of free activities including cinema, music, sports, arts and theatre.
- As part of the events’ commitment to the local community, opportunities are provided for a range of local businesses, operators, suppliers and performance content to become part of our journey.
- Employment and training opportunities are provided for local colleges and universities.
- Protecting the park's flora and fauna, grass, land water courses and landscape is a priority.
- We ensure that the necessary measures are in place to protect the Park and provide instructions to all contractors to help achieve this.
- Any waste generated by festival goers inside or outside the event perimeter is removed by litter picks.
- Consider public transport, walking and biking to reduce your carbon footprint. Get directions here Use TFL’s Journey Planner and check which entrance applies for your ticket type closer to the event.
- Help us increase our recycling rate by adhering to the recycling system and placing all waste and recyclables into the correct designated bins which are signposted throughout the site. If you aren’t sure where to put something, please ask!
- Bin your butts. Every butt has to be picked up by hand, so please use the bins provided.
- Use only as many disposable items (e.g., paper towels, napkins, utensils) as you need.
- Please respect the neighbourhood and our neighbours by leaving the event quickly and quietly.
Community Engagement
Local community engagement is key to delivering the event. AEG work year round alongside local stakeholders in planning American Express presents BST Park and have installed a Community Impact Team to oversee and be the first point of on-site call for any resident concerns. The CIT, based at the Marble Arch entrance to Hyde Park, are on hand during the build and dismantling of the site and throughout the event itself to target areas under pressure whether that is litter reporting, crowd flows or noise management.
8 out of the 17 show days for the event is for the community and general public to access the event site free of charge to enjoy a wide range of free activities including cinema, music, sports, arts and theatre. See below section ‘Open House – Free-to-Enter Community Programme’ for full information.
The Royal Parks
The Royal Parks is the charity which manages, protects and improves the parks in an exemplary and sustainable manner so that everyone, now and in the future, has the opportunity to enjoy their natural and historic environments.
The charity looks after eight of London’s finest open spaces: Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, St James’s Park, The Green Park, The Regent’s Park and Primrose Hill, Greenwich Park, Richmond Park and Bushy Park. It also manages other important open spaces in the capital, including Brompton Cemetery and Victoria Tower Gardens.
It costs around £45m a year to manage the parks. The charity raises around 80 percent of this money itself and the summer concerts are an essential part of income generation for The Royal Parks.
For further information please visit their website and follow The Royal Parks on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Open House
American Express presents BST Hyde Park isn’t just three weekends of performances from world class music superstars. During the weeks the event site remains open Hyde Parks Open House, when the site comes alive with an amazing array of free entertainment such as an outdoor cinema, a children’s theatre, live music and dance workshops, cabaret and bingo, yoga and trapeze workshops, horticultural shows and many more educational and sport related activities. There are also some of the UK’s best independent food and drink producers open for lunch and dinner throughout the week. Full information can be found here.
Open House and The Royal Parks
Due to the fantastic and fun selection of free activities on offer, BST’s Open House is one of the fastest growing events The Royal Parks hosts. The main purpose of Open House is to:
- Promote The Royal Parks, to show what the charity does and how local and wider community groups can get involved and be inspired by events and workshops
- Educate visitors about The Royal Parks, its history and heritage, wildlife and horticulture
- Fundraise to support The Royal Parks charity with its work to maintain and care for the eight parks
- The Royal Parks are continuing to develop these events year on year, to be more in line with their charitable objectives and to add even more value for the local communities who visit.
The Royal Parks Showcase
As part of the 2018 and 2019 Open House midweek extravaganza The Royal Parks held its very own Showcase. Set in a beautiful, designated area The Royal Parks teams put on a packed schedule including:
Educational activities for adults and kids from The Royal Park’s Education Team- such as botanical tea tasting with botanicals grown in Kensington Garden’s allotment, and ‘Speakers’ Corner speaks up!’ A Soundscape of real voices accompanied by photos of Speakers.
Flower stall selling our home-grown plants from the Hyde Park Super Nursery (where we grow all the flowers to plant in front of Buckingham Palace). Manned by our knowledgeable horticultural staff who were only to happy to answer all your plant related questions.
A gallery of the winners from this year’s photography competition, all showing wildlife spotted in the parks. Some of our favourites have been made into the first ever The Royal Parks calendar- on sale now!
A chance to meet dedicated members of the Friends of Hyde Park community group, who were on hand to tell visitors about the park’s history and wildlife and to encourage further community involvement.
Accessibility
Our aim is to make sure that American Express presents BST Hyde Park is fully accessible to anyone who wants to attend.
In 2019, BST Hyde Park was proud to be awarded the Gold Level of the Charter of Best Practice by Attitude is Everything, a charity that improves deaf and disabled people’s access to live music. BST Hyde Park continues working to improve and develop accessibility year upon year.
The latest update for 2019 onwards is BSL (British Sign Language) being provided as standard across all main stage performances.
Full information can be found here.
