More than 30 events, venues and innovators were honoured for their sustainability efforts at the ceremony in London
By Lisa Henderson for IQ Mag
The 2025 International AGF Awards took place in London last night, honouring sustainability pioneers across the live events industry.
The awards – which were supported by Skydiamond and hosted by Madame Gandhi and AGF CEO Claire O’Neill – concluded the 17th edition of the Green Events and Innovation (GEI) conference.
Finalists of the awards included 34 events, venues and innovators from 14 countries with awards being presented across nine sustainability categories, including power, water, food, and travel.
One of the top accolades – the International Greener Festival Award 2025 – went to Norway’s Øyafestivalen, which also scooped the Greener Transport Award. In 2024 the festival went meat-free and got the highest level of organic food certification available in Norway.
Upon receiving the award, the festival’s head of sustainability Marie Furseth said: “It’s a massive pleasure, sustainability has been part of the holistic mindset for at least 20 years, probably more. It’s very important and we love what we do. We hope other festivals will follow.”
“Sustainability has been part of the holistic mindset for at least 20 years, probably more”
New for this year was the introduction of the International Greener Arena Award, won by Forest Green Rovers FC – The New Lawn for their local community work including Community Cookalongs, Soccer Camps and venue Eco Tours to their organic pitch with no use of pesticides or chemical fertilisers, and their 100% plant-based menu.
Echoes of Earth received the Circular Event Award, a first-time win for India. Another first-time winner was Waking Life in Portugal who took home the Water & Sanitation Award.
The UK took home two awards, with Greenbelt Festival winning the Pied Piper award for their “inspiring and thought-provoking programming” and Green Gathering winning the Greener Power Award having powered their festival with 100% renewable energy.
We Love Green in France won the Greener Catering Award with their plant-based menu, and the Community Action Award was won by the Paléo Festival Nyon in Switzerland for their extensive work with the community. The Greener Innovations Award went to Sziget Festival for their innovative Green Sziget Passport Games activation.
Finalists are selected from all AGF certified Greener Events, Festivals and Arenas over the past year, with top scores across key sustainability criteria. Applicants undergo a detailed assessment, site visits, and analysis by AGF auditors.
Each International AGF Award winner was issued with a trophy handcrafted of reclaimed wood by the organiser’s father Steve O’Neill, as well as a 0.7 carat “mined from the sky” diamond certified by the International Gemological Institute and gifted by award sponsors Skydiamond.
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