Hi Andy, its a great opportunity to meet you virtually. When you were working on the Fyre Festival was sustainability a big consideration for Billy McFarland during the planning and organization or not really as much of a priority for him? I can imagine how to handle waste and rubbish was a big concern on the remote island?
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Hi Michele,
As you know, the amount of waste that large events create is mind boggling! I encourage people to start with baby steps…the first being, eliminate plastic at your event. How do you do this? Compostable plates, cups and cutlery for larger events & glass wear and china for smaller events. This really helps on reducing waste and it is a great first step!
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Hi Andy,
Thanks for doing this AMA! How has your experience of Fyre Festival changed your approach to planning events? And what would your advice be to someone planning a luxury music festival in the Bahamas?
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Hi Suzie,
Eventbrite and Social Tables have been incredibly helpful in producing our large events the last few years. The technology that they have developed is incredible. It has relieved so much stress for us for back of the house operations.
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Hi Claire,
Planning an event in the Bahamas, taking Nassau out of the equation, is quite challenging. The smaller islands have very little infrastructure; proper plumbing, electricity, skilled local labour and access to crucial local vendors (rental companies, caterers, floral designers etc…). When planning an event in New York, we take all these things for granted. It’s much easier to plan a good event with good infrastructure at your finger tips. But the Bahamas are absolutely beautiful and I love to support those islands in any way I can. So bring your infrastructure with you and spread love down there with those wonderful people!
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HI Lau,
As you may have seen, I hosted a virtual music festival in late May to raise money for Covid-19. I partnered with Trap Nation and Chill Nation and we had over 100 performers from several countries around the world participating. It was a great success! The entire virtual festival appeared to be live streamed but the secret truth is that we shot several short videos the week prior to continuely inject into the content of the three day festival. This gave the viewers and attendees a variety of content besides just the music. Example of a few videos; me out in my garden picking vegetables, me with a few cute cooking tips in my kitchen, me at my bar mixing some fun cocktails, me dancing by myself in my living room to fun music…you see where this is going, mix it up and make it fun! These crazy Covid times are quite stressful on everybody and people want to smile and have fun, even with corporate projects.
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Hi Andy,
Thanks for your time and for sharing your knowledge on this AMA session.
Which would be your top piece of advice to a person new into the sustainable events industry?
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Hi Andrea,
Sadly, sustainability was not as big of a priority as I wanted it to be for the festival. Billy fired his original production team and brought me and the new production team in with only 6 weeks to plan the festival. There wasn’t enough time to plan a good sustainable waste program unfortunately. On the other hand, the construction and design crew, were all about sustainability and focused on reuse, recycle and reclaim for everything that was built. Example; driftwood from the beaches to make tables and bar tops, palm fronds for roofs, ceilings and decorations, fallen trees and branches to create interesting art sculptures etc…So at the end of the day, we did our best with the time constraint that we had but you know the end of the story 
sometimes your best just isn’t good enough.
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Hi Jonny,
Great question! The top four things I learned from FYRE festival about planning a luxury music festival are these;
1 - make sure that you have 9 months to properly plan the festival
2 - make sure that you have the proper infrastructure in place i.e. housing and accommodations, plumbing, electricity and good local skilled labor.
3 - select a venue that covers as much of the above as possible like a resort.
4 - last but not least, at most importantly… make sure you have the proper funding in place.
let me know if you need any help…i’m your man
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Hi Andy. Not all events go to plan, what process do you follow to track and apply meaningful learnings to improve future events? Lau.
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Hi Andy,
What is it like organising events for celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio and Beyoncé?
Hi Nuria,
In planning a sustainable event, I feel the most important key to success is locating and partnering with like-minded vendors. For example; production and AV companies that are embracing sustainability by utilizing LED lighting and solar generators for a start. Finding farm to table caterers that are supporting local farmers who are embracing regenerative farming. Keep it local, organic and in season. Also, utilizing every bit of “waste” e.g. using every part of vegetables and not throwing any away - making vegetable stock etc. Find a design production company partner who is all about reusing, reclaiming, repurposing and recycling! It’s amazing how someone else’s “junk” can be created into something beautiful.
But for your first step if this all sounds intimidating, just try elimination plastic at all of your events to start and continue to try find others like you in the event world who want to make the world a better place
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Hi Lau,
Good question! Because as we all know as event professionals, shit happens! In planning a good event, it’s always good to have a plan A, B & C! That’s obviously a bit difficult for every aspect of the event but focusing on a good rain plan for outdoor events, a well organized run of show and a comprehensive pre staff/event team meeting are good measures to take in creating a successful event!
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Thanks very much for your reply Andy. I can imagine how difficult and challenging it must have been for you and your team!! Like you say, you did the best you could in this time and moment and it was a great learning curve for future events 
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Thanks for you feedback Andy. Having pre-recorded content ready to go is a great tip!
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Hi LegacyTheTeam,
Fun and quite stressful at the same time! Sadly, you rarely get the ability to work directly with the celebrity…lots of long conference calls with agents, lawyers, assistants, PR firms and every once in a while an in-person with the celebrity. In the end, many of the celebrities are pretty shy but usually always gracious. And if your lucky, your rewarded with a fun photo!
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Hi Andy! What has been the best event you’ve ever been to (or organised) and why? 
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Hi all,
That hour flew by! We have to close now, thanks so much for your questions and to Andy for taking part. Please do follow Andy on Instagram @realandyking.
If you’d like to contact Andy, you can reach him on here @Andyking or by email at bookings@andykingevents.com - Appearances and speaking engagements are his thing 
Join us next Tuesday 20th October at 16.00 BST for another Ask Me Anything, this time on carbon offsetting! See you next week…
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Hi Shelby,
Love the question! I hosted a mini Coachella for a couple thousand people on the Coachella Polo grounds in Palm Springs. It was as close to zero waste as you can get and absolutely beautiful. The guests loved it. We created an amazing entrance, a beautiful stage, a silent disco, a karaoke club, large oversized outdoor games, a mid night glow in the dark golf range, a ferris wheel, a hot air balloon, over 20 food trucks partnering with local farmers with amazing ingredients and yummy food, amazing sculptures made of reclaimed, reused and recycled materials and lots of fun activations engaging all the guests. It was an amazing night! And once again we left the site the next day without a trace! That was a great sustainable event!
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