Beats for Love Is Not Just a Four-Day Event. It is a Year-Round System.

Beats for Love brings thousands of people to Ostrava over four days and, according to estimates, generates one billion crowns. Festival director Kamil Rudolf, however, says that an event of this scale cannot be planned as a four-day occasion. In his view, sustainability has to be part of the budget from the very beginning, not an add-on at the end.

One billion crowns in four days. How much of that “stays” in the region? The festival brings Ostrava a huge economic boost. Do you also think about how to target that impact?

Absolutely. We do not see the festival merely as a four-day event, but as a year-round project that should bring long-term benefits to Ostrava and the entire region.

The economic impact of the festival is enormous, but for us it is important not only how much money the festival brings in, but also where that money subsequently goes.

That is why we have long worked with local and regional suppliers wherever it makes sense, particularly in areas such as technical services, catering, transport, accommodation, cleaning, security, construction supplies and other operational support for the festival. It is not always possible to cover everything purely regionally, because the festival and international artists place huge demands on capacity, quality, safety and speed of delivery. But when we have comparable quality and reliability, a local supplier is always a natural priority for us.

When we involve local companies, local workers, regional services and local entrepreneurs, the festival does not help only for four days, but supports the entire ecosystem of people and businesses around Ostrava.

Almost 5,000 people work on the festival, and through multiplier effects we create approximately 900 year-round jobs.

At the same time, we realise that, as a major festival, we have the opportunity to set certain standards. That is why we also try to encourage suppliers to think sustainably and economically, for example in the areas of packaging, transport, the repeated use of materials and more efficient logistics.

Large festivals work with huge numbers of people, materials, waste, equipment and energy. Where do you think there is the greatest potential for savings and smarter operations?

We have always viewed and planned our festival as a long-term system, not as a one-off four-day event. In an operation of this scale, every decision is multiplied across materials, transport, waste, energy and people’s work.

We see better material planning and the repeated use of equipment as absolutely key. Every year, the festival works with a large number of banners (decorative covering PVC fabrics), structures, floors, fences, signage, decorations, furniture and technical facilities that we own. If these items are designed so that they can be reused, stored, repaired or adapted for the next edition, it creates significant savings. And believe me, across the whole site, many installations can be, and are, used repeatedly in this way. The savings are not only ecological, but also financial.

There is also great potential in logistics. Every unnecessary journey, unused vehicle, poorly timed delivery or surplus material order means costs, emissions and pressure on production. That is why it is important to coordinate suppliers better and combine transport. Why send two vehicles from Prague when we can use one larger one? And that applies to everything.

Another important area is waste, catering and packaging. Sorting waste is, of course, important, but a truly smart solution starts earlier, by trying to prevent waste in the first place. Returnable cups are a huge advantage. Last year, we also introduced an edition of 0.3-litre cups, and it had a major impact in terms of cleaning and recycling. We reduced the number of containers, and the cleaning staff could be used in more important areas, and so on. Next year, we will continue in this direction again.

And, of course, we also deal with energy and technology. This year, we will see how the price of diesel affects the festival’s costs. Like every festival, we need separate standalone systems to prevent outages in the local grid. So here too, it was important this year to prepare the generators for a better distribution of connection points and to adjust operating times so that nothing was running unnecessarily.

For us, then, it is not about limiting the festival or reducing its quality. It is about making it work more intelligently.

Returnable cups are a basic element. Do you also monitor their return rate? Where do you see the greatest room for improvement?

Returnable cups have been with us since the very beginning of the festival and are one of the basic and essential elements of our more sustainable operation. The cup itself, however, does not solve the problem unless the entire system around it is well set up. That is why, together with our partner, we fine-tune the individual steps every year and also monitor trends abroad, which is a great source of motivation for us. It is mainly about having the right number of cups, their design, distribution to the bars, collection points, washing, storage and reuse.

The move to the new Beats for Love Universe cup design, as well as to a new chapter of one-third-litre sizes, makes sense to us mainly because we have managed to drastically reduce single-use waste and because it better reflects how visitors behave at the festival. Not every drink needs the same volume, and more suitable sizes help reduce waste, speed up service at the bars and improve visitor comfort.

We do, of course, monitor and evaluate the return rate, because that is what shows whether the system also works in practice. At the same time, it is important to mention that our older cup editions remain in circulation this year as well. This means, for example, that a half-litre cup from the first edition has already been used repeatedly and is gradually offsetting its production footprint across several editions of the festival.

A tree for every DJ. How did this idea come about, and what comes after trees?

The idea of “Trees for Love” came from a simple thought: when hundreds of artists and thousands of visitors, including people from all over the world, come to the festival, and the event naturally has a large carbon footprint, we want to approach it openly. We do not want to claim that planting trees will solve everything. But we see it as one of the concrete steps through which we address the festival’s impact, trying to reduce part of its footprint every year and offset part of it over the long term.

This year, in a village near Frýdek-Místek, where we have our offices, we planted approximately 2,050 trees. We do this together with the local grammar school, which is important to us because the project is not only about numbers, but also about a relationship with the place, involving young people and providing concrete help to our surroundings.

For us, the long-term impact is what matters most when it comes to trees. A tree that takes root and can grow for decades will continue to absorb carbon gradually, even at a time when we ourselves are no longer here. It is not an instant solution, but a responsible investment in the future. And that is exactly how we approach it: reducing the festival’s impact wherever we can, while also supporting projects that make sense for our region and for future generations.

Where is the circular economy still most painful for you? Where would you like to be more sustainable, but it is not yet possible?

The circular economy is still most challenging for us where the ideal solution meets the reality of a festival of this scale. On paper, we often know what would be the most sustainable option, but in practice, safety, supplier capacity, price, logistics, storage and, above all, time all come into play. The festival is built within a short period of time and everything has to work perfectly.

A major challenge for us is single-use or short-term materials: shading materials, banners, signage, decorations, some packaging, exhibition elements and parts of the backstage infrastructure. We try to design them so that they can be reused, re-sewn, adapted or passed on, but this is not always possible. Sometimes the visual identity, dimensions, partner, safety requirement or the location itself within the festival site changes.

In Brno, you are starting from scratch. How are you transferring circular thinking into an entirely new environment?

What we are bringing from Ostrava is, above all, experience. We know that sustainability must not be something that is added at the very end, when the festival is practically finished. On the contrary, sustainability has to be part of production planning from the very beginning. The production team is the same, so in everything where it is possible, we are working in a very similar, if not the same, way.

In Brno, we are building on an already established system, using proven procedures from Ostrava and adapting them to the new environment, the new site and local suppliers.

What can visitors look forward to this year? Are you preparing anything you are doing for the very first time?

This year, visitors can look forward above all to a packed music programme across all four days, but at the same time we want to show that a festival can operate in a more modern and responsible way. We are therefore gradually integrating sustainability directly into the festival’s operation, from returnable cups and waste sorting to local projects and the digitalisation of the festival.

One of the new features is LoveID, through which we are moving part of the visitor service and ticketing into a digital format. This means fewer paper tickets, less printing and fewer single-use materials. At the same time, it helps us manage operations better and make the visitor experience more comfortable.

We are also very pleased with this year’s merchandise, much of which is new and has been created in collaboration with the local artist City Folklore, Petra Gherbetz. Through this, we want to show that festival merchandise does not have to be just a fast-consumption item, but can have a story, local relevance and value that makes people keep it for longer.