Green light to Connect Festival

Aug 28 2008 by Shirley Bartynek, Hamilton Advertiser

MUSIC fans are being given the chance to take a carbon-neutral route to Britain's most environmentally friendly festival.

Scottish Citylink, the official travel provider for the Hydro Connect festival, will be helping revellers to attend the event with a clear conscience after the coach company teamed up with Scottish Hydro Electric to offset passengers' carbon emissions.

Scottish Hydro Electric, the official event sponsors, have agreed to neutralise the atmospheric effect of the coaches' exhausts through a range of projects which include planting trees for every passenger who travels on Citylink's services to this weekend’s event at Inveraray Castle, which is near Loch Fyne in Argyll.

Regular bus services will be running between 24 Scottish towns and cities and the festival site from the morning of Friday (August 29) until Monday September 1.

More than 5000 revellers are expected to take advantage of Citylink’s services.

Electricity, gas and telecommunications giant Scottish Hydro Electric will also give each passenger a free gift which could prove invaluable in Scotland’s unpredictable climate – a waterproof poncho made from recycled materials.