It doesn’t matter how big your festival is, how much money you’ve spent, or who’s headlining. When the rain comes, when the wind picks up, or when the heat becomes unbearable, there’s only one question that matters: are you prepared?

More and more festivals are being forced to rethink, postpone, or cancel altogether. Because the ground can’t take it. Because safety can’t be guaranteed. Or because no one is willing to take the risk anymore. This panel brings real-world experience to the table. Vivian Belzaguy Hunter, who leads sustainability efforts at Ultra Music Festival and Ascendance Sustainable Events, shares what it means to plan for climate extremes at large-scale events. Oliver Guy Watkins from PMY Group contributes insights from the production and technology side, while Maarten van Denderen of No Risk adds the insurance and risk management perspective — a critical component as weather unpredictability grows.

Moderated by Linnéa Vågen Svensson of Greener Events, the panel explores why a solid safety plan isn’t something you add at the end, but something you build everything else around. Why sustainability and resilience are deeply interconnected. And why asking hard questions early on matters more than ever.

We’ll talk site layout, crisis communication, insurance, and crowd movement. But most of all, we’ll ask: how do we keep making festivals happen in a world where the climate has stopped playing by the rules?