Thinking Green

We are doing our best at the 16th Annual festival to be as green as possible. Here are a few of the ways we're making that happen with your help...

You probably noticed if you have bought a ticket online that you had the option to purchase a "Be Green Ticket." For the nominal price of $2.50, Green Mountain Energy Company will provide 250kWh of renewable energy on your behalf. Each ticket will off-set 341 lbs of carbon dioxide, about the equivalent of not driving your car for 379 miles.


Blues and Brews is 100% carbon neutral this year! We are proud to be a part of Eco-Tunes, a comprehensive program for carbon neutral music tours and events created by Green Mountain Energy and Sustainable Waves. We are offsetting the carbon dioxide emissions created by the festival's generators and electricity usage as well as our staff's air travel and vehicle based emissions for the event. This year we will be offsetting 26 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, a harmful gas that is the leading cause of global warming. To put this in perspective, this is like not driving your car over 63,600 miles or the annual carbon absorption of more than 3,440 trees.

When you arrive in Town Park, take notice of the different disposal options available to you. We will have volunteers to help direct trash flow, with dispensers available for recycling, compost and trash. The six stations will be lit by solar power at night, so there's no excuse for not minimizing our waste this year!

All of our vendors are required to use compostable wares, meaning these products won't wait around in landfills for years on end. All the cups, plates and utensils are made from corn and sugar cane, so they are all biocompostable and won't stick around. Be aware when you are throwing your food products out, they should go in the compost piles rather than trash!

There will be no plastic bags at Blues and Brews this year. If you think you may need one for your campsite or to bag your trash, please reuse one from home. Reusethisbag.com lists some reasons why the switch to reusable bags is so important for our environment. The company is also creating some fantastic Blues and Brews tote bags, featuring all 16 of the past festival posters. Keep your eyes out for the unique, and environmentally friendly, bags.

We appreciate all your help in creating a green festival. Please be aware of the foot print you leave, we want to keep Telluride beautiful for many Blues and Brews to come!

BREWS AT THE FESTIVAL

As one half of the title, the brews that travel to Telluride are pretty important. The Grand Tasting takes place Saturday, September 19 from noon until 3pm, where you can get your fill of the microbrews. During the rest of the festival, the House of Brews offers a unique selection of beers you can purchase anytime.

This years participants in the House of Brews are:
Durango Brewing Co.
Great Divide Brewing
Odell Brewing Co.
Ska Brewing Co.
Smuggler's Brewpub

Check them out along with the rest of our beer sponsors to start checking out the possible beer selections...

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is proud to be the official beer sponsor of the Telluride Blues & Brews festival and salutes the festival's efforts to fight global warming. As environmental leaders in the brewing industry, Sierra Nevada is proud to work with responsible partners who share our sustainability goals.

WEBSITE UPDATES

We've updated the Blues and Brews website with all the latest updates!

You can now check out the completed line-up, all of the artist biographies, and the list of breweries that will be present. Take a look around the site, we bet you'll learn something you didn't already know!

Also, we've made it easier to add our blog to your favorite RSS reader. Use the link on the right side of the page to subscribe. We'll be updating the blog more frequently with exciting festival news!