London’s LIDO Festival has been named ‘The Festival Award’ winner at the Rolling Stone UK Awards 2025, triumphing over established giants like Glastonbury and All Points East. While the headlines celebrate the victory, the real story lies in the technology that secured it: a revolutionary battery system that powered the main stage for 32 continuous hours without a drop of diesel.
The award, presented late last week (Nov 20), specifically recognised LIDO’s “green ethos and boundary-pushing bookings.” Accepting the honour, LIDO representative Chris Goodman pointed directly to the event’s technical achievement, noting that “with Massive Attack’s help and expertise, the entire festival ran on batteries for 32 hours,” creating a blueprint that is “only going to get better and better.”
The Tech Behind the Win
The decision to abandon traditional generators was driven by headliner Massive Attack and their Act 1.5 initiative. To meet the band’s demand for a 100% renewable show, LIDO’s organisers, LS Events, partnered with Grid Faeries and Ecotricity to deploy a 1MW battery system—equivalent to twin 500kVA generators—storing 3MWh of wind and solar energy.
Unlike diesel generators, which run continuously regardless of demand, the battery system offered a “cleaner” audio experience. Dom Harter, Managing Director of Martin Audio, explained the sonic advantage to industry press: “Where a generator will sag and dip—when you hear lulling bass that can be the generator dipping down—batteries will deliver as much power as quickly as you want. You can hear it in the low end, it’s really tight.”
The system was supported by a “Power Bible” developed from historical data at Victoria Park, allowing the technical team to right-size the energy needs rather than over-specifying fuel-guzzling generators. A central “wizard’s cabin” monitored real-time data from 11 additional mobile batteries and hydrogen power units across the site, ensuring efficiency was tracked down to the kilowatt.
Beyond the Batteries
The sustainability efforts extended well beyond power. The festival implemented an industry-first use of green hydrogen for its second stage and ran a zero-landfill waste management plan. On the ground, this meant a “cans only” bar policy to eliminate plastic cups and on-site aluminium baling that crushed waste into recyclable cubes, reducing the number of waste trucks needed on London’s roads.
Community integration also played a pivotal role in the Rolling Stone win. The festival was praised for offering free midweek arts programming for locals and engaging students in real-world music industry experience.
LIDO 2026: Dates and Tickets
Fresh off its award win, LIDO is preparing for its second edition in Victoria Park. Irish pop star CMAT has been confirmed to headline on Friday, 12 June 2026, while electronic duo Maribou State will top the bill on Saturday, 20 June.
Tickets for the 2026 dates are on sale now, with the festival promising to push its sustainable infrastructure even further.
- Friday 12 June 2026: CMAT, Father John Misty, Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory, Katy J Pearson.
- Saturday 20 June 2026: Maribou State (Headliner), plus full supporting bill TBA.
Image credits:
Sophia J Carey
Disclosures: TheFestivals is funded through advertising and sometimes earns a commission on purchases made through links on this website, including in this article: None
Add as a preferred source