In a bid for sustainability, the Lollapalooza 2025 mainstage will be entirely powered by a hybrid battery system.

This system will power all lighting, audio and video components of the biggest stage at the festival, which begins this weekend (July 31-Aug. 3) at Grant Park in Chicago. Headliners include Tyler, the Creator, Luke Combs, Olivia Rodrigo, Korn, Rüfüs du Sol, Twice, A$AP Rocky and Sabrina Carpenter.

The battery deployment will decrease the necessity of biodiesel generators, which organizers say will in turn significantly reduce fuel use and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The project is a joint effort from Lollapalooza producer C3 Presents, Live Nation’s Green Nation sustainability initiative and longstanding sustainability nonprofit REVERB.

This is the second year Lollapalooza is using this battery hybrid system to power its mainstage, with the debut of the initiative last year making Lollapalooza the first major U.S. festival to power its mainstage on a hybrid battery system, organizers say. The idea was not only to use cleaner power for the fest, but to demonstrate to all large-scale event producers that such an achievement was possible.

“There’s a lot of fear and apprehension over providing the power that’s turning the show on,” Jake Perry, director of operations and sustainability at C3 Presents, told Billboard in 2024. “But there were, like, zero issues.”  

In 2024, a rep for Lollapalooza told Billboard that the project resulted in a 67% reduction in both fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions over prior years, when batteries had not been used. As reported by Billboard, this equated “to the sparing of 26 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, or the equivalent to five homes’ electricity use for a year. The use of batteries also saved over 3,000 gallons of fuel.”

Powering the mainstage entirely with batteries expanded a 2023 project in which REVERB and its Music Decarbonization Project partnered with Billie Eilish to power her Lollapalooza headlining performance with batteries.

Beyond the mainstage, Lollapalooza 2025 is incorporating a number of other greening initiatives, including recycling and composting, free water and the use of biodiesel (versus regular diesel gas) in all of its generators.

Construction materials like wood used at the festival will also be collected and made available to the local community, a program that in 2024 resulted in the recovery of roughly 22,000 pounds of material. Additionally, this year’s fest will have an activation from Leonardo DiCaprio’s Re:wild organization, which will offer information to attendees about plant-based diets and other ways to advocate for the environment in daily life.

“Through Green Nation, we’re committed to driving measurable progress on sustainability across all corners of live music,” Lucy August-Perna, Live Nation’s head of global sustainability, said in a statement. “Bringing the battery-powered main stage back to Lollapalooza in 2025 is part of that mission — not only reducing emissions and improving the fan experience, but helping shape a more sustainable blueprint for festivals around the world.”

“Powering the entire T-Mobile Stage this year with Green Nation and the festival means even less diesel and a bigger step for climate-friendly live music,” added REVERB co-founder Adam Gardner. “Lollapalooza keeps raising the bar on what a sustainable festival can look like, and we’re proud to be part of it.”

The use of batteries is becoming an increasingly common way for festivals to cut down their greenhouse gas emissions. Beyond Lollapalooza, San Francisco’s Portola 2024 festival used battery, solar and grid power to reduce the event’s scope one carbon emissions, which altogether mitigated the use of more than 6,000 gallons of diesel fuel.