Volunteering at Festivals

[normalperson]

I am hoping to spend a large portion of next summer (2018) volunteering at festivals and was wondering if anyone has done this before?

Is it better to go with Oxfam as then I will have a better choice of festivals to go to and they might be happy for me to do a bit more if I am volunteering with them, or is it better to go through another company? Is this thing pretty rare or is there likely to be other people who are doing a similar thing and volunteering for a couple of months? Not really sure where to start with getting this organised- so thought I'd start here early as someone might be able to help.

If I'm not being completely clear on what I'm after let me know and I can give you more info- thanks!

 

[kaosmark2]

Here's a link to an old thread with a few posts answering some general questions.

Here is the efestivals guide to working at festivals.

Oxfam have a fairly good reputation, you might (I'm not 100% sure), be able to roll over your deposit from one festival to another, which will help with cash flow. If you work predominantly for one company you'll pay fewer deposits and that will help.

Make sure you understand that you'll still have a fair whack of costs from this, travel is a big one, but food, drink, etc. all add up. Some festivals and volunteering companies treat their staff better than others, meal vouchers, free food/etc. are provided by some but not all.

It's worth posting threads for any specific festivals you have in mind, as people in that forum will have direct experience of volunteering there, and will also be better able to advise which companies provide what roles.

There will be some people who are doing a fair whack of festivals, and some who just do one or two, a big thing to consider is where you'll be in between the fests. Are you renting somewhere? Staying with parents/other family? Couchsurfing in between? Make sure you know where you can get laundry done, stock up on semi-perishable food, etc.

Also, if you're planning on a lengthy bout of festivals, make sure you have a good tent. Cheap ones are fine for one or two weekends of the summer, but not for every single one. Have back-up plans, have ways to deal with things if something goes wrong (you fall ill; lose keys/phone/wallet; something vital gets stolen; tent gets damaged; etc)

Any other info not covered you want to know?

[normalperson]

Thanks for your reply and the linked info- that guides very useful!

Choosing between specific companies is something I will have to think about, I think emailing each of them and seeing what I can offer them and vice versa might be a good way of going about it before I make a decision. Good idea making a post on each forum of festivals I am interested in, I'd like to do a mix of big and small and for bigger ones can imagine there's loads of people happy to help on here.

Lots of the "long term" stuff i.e. buying semi perishable food/laundry etc I am fairly confident with, I have been traveling in the past and I suppose it's fairly similar just in your own country. On the days I am not at festivals I plan on doing a mix of staying with family/friends (they're conveniently spread across the UK) with the occasional hotel/hostel stay if I find myself friendless. Travel wise I think I'm likely to just bring a car around with me, although I am weighing up whether a small campervan would be worth it.

I'm more interested in both the social and work aspects of it, if I am working somewhere for a couple of months I'd really like to develop some skills so that it's something I can bring with me in the future, but that's probably something emailing potential employers would help. Also socially it's a bit daunting and I don't like the idea of being dumped with strangers every single weekend if there's some people who are doing something similar, just helps knowing you're not completely on your own at the start, although I suppose I will have some friends at festivals occasionally, not really sure how to find these people though.

[kaosmark2]

If you're working with them for a few months, it's worth (as you said) contacting them to see if they can arrange for you to take on a bit more responsibility. At each festival, unless you've spoken to the company, they'll assume you're only doing a couple.

There will be people who do multiple, and there'll be some who do a few. I've found it very easy chatting to other volunteers, far moreso than generally at fests (which is still a lot easier than in the real world). How much they steward/what other fests they're doing is an easy topic of conversation, and if you get on with someone you can find them fairly easily at the next fest you're both working.

[incident]

On 03/04/2017 at 8:00 PM, kaosmark2 said:

Oxfam have a fairly good reputation, you might (I'm not 100% sure), be able to roll over your deposit from one festival to another,

You can. The deposit amount varies by festival, so Oxfam take the highest amount and it covers you for all events you work across the summer. and it's returned ~6 weeks after your last event. I'd suggest Oxfam as being the better option for a few reasons.

Firstly, because they actively encourage people to step up to supervisor roles - so if you're doing say 6 events across the summer, there's a good chance that you'll have the opportunity to take on more responsibility as the season progresses.

Secondly, because it's benefiting a charity that does a lot of good.

Thirdly, because on the whole I think they treat the staff well - For example I'm pretty sure they provide meal vouchers at every festival even where others don't. In particular I really dislike some of the terms and conditions that the main alternative (Festaff) imposes on you such as holding your passport/driving licence during the festival and charging volunteers an "admin fee" for the privilege of working for them.