home

jobs at festivals

The Indispensible Festivals Guide

Monday 16th January 2012


No major festival could function without the stewards, security, catering and other staff that help events run smoothly. If you are looking for a temporary job over the summer, like working at large outdoor events and enjoy working around large numbers of people then working at a festival could be for you.

There are many different ways you can work at a festival. A lot of the work is voluntary, and often stewards will work for their tickets instead of getting a wage - often to the benefit of a charity such as Oxfam.

For more information about working at festivals, check out our guide to working at festivals.

Currently recruiting for their 2012 dates...

VSC/Workers Beer Company Would you like to get free entry to festivals such as , Latitude, Hop Farm, Uprise, Reading and Leeds - and at the same time help raise crucial funds for the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign?

VSC will again be joining with the important labour movement organisation Worker's Beer Company (www.workersbeer.co.uk) and will be organising volunteers at a range of festivals. As a volunteer, you get free entry, and at those where you need to camp, you stay in a reserved 'village' with toilets and hot showers plus soem free food and drink. (You need to bring a tent and a sleeping bag). There is also free transport to some festivals from London and sometimes elsewhere. In exchange you will work a bar shift (6-8 hours) for which VSC will receive £6.50 per hour - funds which are crucial to enabling our solidarity campaigning throughout the year. To register as a potential volunteer please contact vscassistant@yahoo.co.uk with the names of the festivals you would like to volunteer at, including an indication on whether you are prepared to do waiter/ess service at the festivals if necessary. For queries contact VSC on 0207 420 8963 or vscassistant@yahoo.co.uk.

Cash and Traffic Management require paid car park stewards and ticket sellers to work at major events this summer including Reading and Leeds Festivals, Global Gathering and The Glade. These are in addition to a wide selection of other outdoor events including motorsports and sporting events. Further details are available on www.cashandtrafficmanagement.com.

FESTAFF offers casual employment opportunities in stewarding and general festival/campsite duties. In return for one day's work they provide a ticket to the festival, a place to camp, and food and water while on duty. Any additional days/hours worked are paid at an hourly rate. Shifts are scheduled to allow ample free time to enjoy the festival. Their current clients include Bestival, Creamfields, Wickerman, Camp Bestival, V, Isle of Wight Festival, Sonispshere, Rock Ness, and Download. See the Festaff website for more details.

Better Festival Group provide stewards for a number of events including Sonisphere, 2000Trees, Headstock, and Bloodstock. Steward vacancies below are voluntary – you are not paid for your time and are instead given time off during the event to enjoy it in exchange for you working the required hours. See the Better Festival Group wesite for more details.

Green Stewards provide stewards for a number of events. Stewards get free entry to the festival, free meals (usually one per shift) and £6.50 an hour per shift hour (excluding changeover time). This will be paid via paye and will be subject to tax. Please note that they have to wait for the festival to pay them before they can pay you - this can take 3-5 weeks. See the Green Stewards wesite for more details.

Oxfam provide stewards for a number of events. Stewards usually pay for their tickets before the festival and then get the money refunded afterwards. See the Oxfam wesite for more details.