AN East Anglian festival will make a gesture towards eco-friendliness this summer when it powers one of its stages with hydrogen. Festival Republic, organiser of the Latitude festival at Henham Park, between Beccles and Southwold, says it is "working towards a greener festival".

AN East Anglian festival will make a gesture towards eco-friendliness this summer when it powers one of its stages with hydrogen.

Festival Republic, organiser of the Latitude festival at Henham Park, between Beccles and Southwold, says it is "working towards a greener festival". Along with Arcola, a theatre company which has its own sustainability programme, it will power the theatre tent with a hydrogen fuel cell, which operates almost silently and which produces no emissions, just electricity and water. The tent will be lit with low-energy LED lighting.

Arcola is presenting a series of short plays called the Miniaturists at Latitude, alongside performances from theatre companies like the Royal Court and the Bush Theatre.

But the green theatre stage will have only a minor impact on the carbon footprint of the July 17-20 festival, which also has several large music stages, as well as comedy, literature, film, poetry and cabaret arenas. Other equipment at the festival will use conventional power.