Stufish Entertainment Architects has signalled a new era for sustainable production design by debuting bamboo staging elements at the Global Citizen Festival: Amazônia.
The international advocacy organisation’s first festival in Latin America brought together 50,000 attendees at Estádio Olímpico do Pará in Belém, Brazil, earlier this month (1 Nov), in celebration of a year-long fundraising campaign that secured $1 billion (€868m). The one-day event was headlined by Anitta, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Charlie Puth, Gaby Amarantos, and Seu Jorge.
Reportedly the most sustainable festival in the region’s history, the Live Nation and Rock World-produced event served as a model for its mission and was powered by batteries, oil and gas-free biofuels, and solar energy generated by panels on the stadium’s roof.
For the one-day showcase, Stufish deployed bamboo design elements to accent the production, its first large-scale test for the environmentally conscious design. All scenic elements were created from organic or rented materials.
“The 2025 Global Citizen represents a major step forward in live show design,” says Ray Winkler, CEO and design director. “Our goal was to show that sustainability and spectacle can coexist in the same space.
“By rethinking what a stage can be made of, we hope to open doors towards a lower-carbon future in live entertainment.”
Bamboo is a low-carbon alternative to the traditional staging materials of steel and aluminium. The plant’s rapid growth and strength make it a lightweight alternative for frameworks and designs, per Stufish.
Additionally, organisers offset roughly 15,000 tonnes of carbon with contributions from Comerc Energia and Future Climate, and a regional crew, supplies, and equipment were utilised to help further limit emissions.
“At Stufish, we believe in pushing boundaries, not only creatively but ethically,” says senior architect Dionysis Toumazis. “This project shows what’s possible when innovation meets responsibility.
“By using bamboo, we’re able to achieve the same strength and flexibility as traditional materials while dramatically reducing the carbon footprint of the production.”
Apart from the bamboo elements, the stage’s structure, lighting elements, and LED systems were constructed with traditional metal rentals.
Global Citizen Festival organisers also collaborated with Rock World’s sustainability operations team to incorporate sustainable practices into the event, including banning single-use plastics and integrating on-site recycling and compost stations.
This move is the latest in Stufish’s ongoing sustainability efforts. The design firm is also behind London’s ABBA Arena, home of ABBA Voyage, which was constructed using sustainably sourced engineered timber.
