Manu Delago is a Grammy nominated artist who has performed in more than fifty countries around the world. In response to his growing recognition of the environmental impact of the travel involved in his lifestyle as a touring artist, Manu set out on an inspiring low carbon artist tour by bicycle aptly named the ‘ReCycling Tour’.
In May 2021, Manu along with his band and crew cycled more than 1500km around Central Europe and played eighteen concerts on the ‘ReCycling Tour’.
“We want to do something with this tour for the climate and for the environment […] Transport is a big problem with touring. I used to fly a lot and take tour buses. So using the bicycle is a key ingredient of the ReCycling Tour.”
During the tour the crew transported all instruments and technical equipment using specially built bicycle trailers and generated the electricity required for their lights, equipment and the live shows by using solar panels. Fans and audiences provided homemade, vegetarian food along the way to keep waste to a minimum and ensure that food was locally sourced. To share this experience with their audience, fans were encouraged to cycle or walk to the concert venues. If it was too far, audiences were asked to take public transport rather than drive.
Alongside these emission-cutting measures, the ReCycling tour aimed to make a statement to the industry that artists can create low carbon tours: travelling and performing without leaving a large ecological footprint. The sustainable message and efforts of the team were sent out via daily live streams and vlogs, which gained a large digital following and promoted sustainable touring to music makers, hosts and fans worldwide. Manu hopes his example will inspire other artists to embark on low carbon tours.
“My goal is to inspire as many people as possible worldwide, besides the music industry, to pursue a sustainable lifestyle”
Manu and his team are optimistic for the future of touring and the music industry, they intend to keep on minimising their travel impacts where possible.
“We might not always be able to cycle to all the gigs because we tour internationally, but we can keep some elements […] I’m hoping that it will inspire many other people to live slightly more sustainable lives.”
ecolibrium works with artists to tackle emissions from touring – we are releasing a guide to sustainable travel and transport for artists (coming soon) or you can download our ‘ecolibrium for Artists’ to find out how we can help balance unavoidable emissions from tour travel through investment in climate solutions HERE.
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