Volunteering 2024

[stuie]

4 minutes ago, Leyrulion said:

Glastonbury is essentially the exception for having only shifts on the edge. Most other fests there's usually at least an option of doing something in the action.

Yes, the campsites can be fun too especially at places like wilderness. I’m jealous of the people who get shifts patrolling down the lakes though. 

[oakdown]

2 hours ago, Leyrulion said:

Glastonbury is essentially the exception for having only shifts on the edge. Most other fests there's usually at least an option of doing something in the action.

Ah must have just had poor luck at Trees then! Didn't chat much with anyone not on my shifts since I had punter mates to hang with in my off-hours, so I assumed everyone was on the periphery there too.

[The Red Telephone]

7 hours ago, deepkittycaz said:

Slightly more detailed answer now - 

It's a lovely small festival, so easy to get around!

The music was varied despite being at the alternative end of the spectrum. It meant that I could always find something on that I enjoyed listening to.

Really friendly crowd as well, people always happy to chat 🙂

This was the first year I've done the whole festival and I'm going this August as well.

Highlights of '23 were the Chinese Football 'Wall of Hug' (instead of wall of death); GGOLDD bringing the entire main tent to tears with their last song; and the whole Heilung set - don't know what I watched, but I was expecting a portal to another dimension to appear at any moment.

 

 

 

Many thanks for this. I’m 95% certain this will be my 2nd festival for this year now. Was there much else on other than the music stages?

Had a bad experience at Shambala in 2023, and none of the other festivals fit in with holidays/ other commitments, so Arctangent here we come (hopefully!)

Edited January 21 by The Red Telephone

[chuckles07]

4 hours ago, oakdown said:

Cheers! That's what drew me to it to be honest, electronic music isn't my main thing but the vibe of the place just looks cool, especially with all the performance art going on. There's arena shifts up for grabs then? Would be nice to get a little more of a central rotation than the ped/vehicle gates at G.

No probs. Yes as @Leyrulionsaid above most Oxfam festivals apart from G have positions in the stage area. Boomtown is similar to G in that there isn’t an arena that is separate to camping. Once you are in your are in and its much better for that.  So even if you are on a campsite position you are often able to be part of some type of entertainment. 

[Leyrulion]

2 hours ago, chuckles07 said:

No probs. Yes as @Leyrulionsaid above most Oxfam festivals apart from G have positions in the stage area. Boomtown is similar to G in that there isn’t an arena that is separate to camping. Once you are in your are in and its much better for that.  So even if you are on a campsite position you are often able to be part of some type of entertainment. 

And the unlimited alcohol rule on first entry for volunteers is a bonus (caveat that it may not be the same this year).

[incident]

Just now, Leyrulion said:

And the unlimited alcohol rule on first entry for volunteers is a bonus (caveat that it may not be the same this year).

Wouldn't be inclined to give them much credit for that.

Boomtown remains the only festival (out of about a dozen different ones) where I've ever been searched on entry as a volunteer, even opening up my bag and having a dog get uncomfortably close. In fact I've not had either of those happen as a punter anywhere either.

[chuckles07]

8 minutes ago, incident said:

Wouldn't be inclined to give them much credit for that.

Boomtown remains the only festival (out of about a dozen different ones) where I've ever been searched on entry as a volunteer, even opening up my bag and having a dog get uncomfortably close. In fact I've not had either of those happen as a punter anywhere either.

Yeah i have been searched as well when going in. TBF it was cursory and usually done with a laugh. The security guys had f**k all else to do the day before the public arrive. Boomtown does have a drugs rep to manage so i can understand why volunteers and workers are searched - it could be an easy way for dealers to get their product on site.

[incident]

5 minutes ago, chuckles07 said:

Yeah i have been searched as well when going in. TBF it was cursory and usually done with a laugh. The security guys had f**k all else to do the day before the public arrive. Boomtown does have a drugs rep to manage so i can understand why volunteers and workers are searched - it could be an easy way for dealers to get their product on site.

From what I understand from talking to security (and I assume the festival will be well aware of this), the people bringing in serious quantities of drugs won't be putting them though the pedestrian gates.

[Paul ™]

Searching staff (pedestrians and vehicles) is standard at a lot of festivals now, especially with dogs, both expo and DD

[philipsteak]

15 hours ago, The Red Telephone said:

Many thanks for this. I’m 95% certain this will be my 2nd festival for this year now. Was there much else on other than the music stages?

Had a bad experience at Shambala in 2023, and none of the other festivals fit in with holidays/ other commitments, so Arctangent here we come (hopefully!)

If you don't mind saying I'm interested by what you're bad experience was at Shambala.

It's one of like to try at some point.

Never been myself but only ever heard the best reports, from punters and volunteers. 

[giantkatestacks]

8 hours ago, Paul ™ said:

Searching staff (pedestrians and vehicles) is standard at a lot of festivals now, especially with dogs, both expo and DD

I was searched at Glastonbury in the Stones year. Was very miffed about it as well.

[The Red Telephone]

4 hours ago, philipsteak said:

If you don't mind saying I'm interested by what you're bad experience was at Shambala.

It's one of like to try at some point.

Never been myself but only ever heard the best reports, from punters and volunteers. 

Certainly 😀

2 out of my 3 shifts were fine - campsite roaming and then up a fire tower - but then had a night shift on one of the dance music stages. Thought it would be a blast as I liked the music being played and everyone had been lovely and friendly in the festival up until that point.

The venue was really busy and I was at first stewarding at an exit - 95% of the time I was stopping people trying to come in rather than queue up. Everyone hammered and not very happy at being told “no”. Thankfully I had a security guard with me to ward off anyone particularly nasty.

The last 3 hours of the shift I was at the backstage gate, with strict orders not to let anyone in unless they were friends with the guy running the stage. Again, lots of rude/ aggressive people who wouldn’t take no for an answer. No security with me, so was acting more like a bouncer than a steward. Felt a bit exposed at time. Some of the people who were legitimately in there were kind to me, however. Didn’t get a break on that shift either.

The rest of the festival with Oxfam was fine - really big campsite and well organised.

[deepkittycaz]

21 hours ago, The Red Telephone said:

Many thanks for this. I’m 95% certain this will be my 2nd festival for this year now. Was there much else on other than the music stages?

Had a bad experience at Shambala in 2023, and none of the other festivals fit in with holidays/ other commitments, so Arctangent here we come (hopefully!)

In the mornings before music there's usually a podcast talk on. Lots of food stalls and a few general merch stalls.

There's one music merch stall where they have band signings as well.

[philipsteak]

5 hours ago, The Red Telephone said:

Certainly 😀

2 out of my 3 shifts were fine - campsite roaming and then up a fire tower - but then had a night shift on one of the dance music stages. Thought it would be a blast as I liked the music being played and everyone had been lovely and friendly in the festival up until that point.

The venue was really busy and I was at first stewarding at an exit - 95% of the time I was stopping people trying to come in rather than queue up. Everyone hammered and not very happy at being told “no”. Thankfully I had a security guard with me to ward off anyone particularly nasty.

The last 3 hours of the shift I was at the backstage gate, with strict orders not to let anyone in unless they were friends with the guy running the stage. Again, lots of rude/ aggressive people who wouldn’t take no for an answer. No security with me, so was acting more like a bouncer than a steward. Felt a bit exposed at time. Some of the people who were legitimately in there were kind to me, however. Didn’t get a break on that shift either.

The rest of the festival with Oxfam was fine - really big campsite and well organised.

Such a shame when shifts go like that.

Really not OK for you to be stuck by yourself in a position like that though

[stuie]

5 hours ago, The Red Telephone said:

Certainly 😀

2 out of my 3 shifts were fine - campsite roaming and then up a fire tower - but then had a night shift on one of the dance music stages. Thought it would be a blast as I liked the music being played and everyone had been lovely and friendly in the festival up until that point.

The venue was really busy and I was at first stewarding at an exit - 95% of the time I was stopping people trying to come in rather than queue up. Everyone hammered and not very happy at being told “no”. Thankfully I had a security guard with me to ward off anyone particularly nasty.

The last 3 hours of the shift I was at the backstage gate, with strict orders not to let anyone in unless they were friends with the guy running the stage. Again, lots of rude/ aggressive people who wouldn’t take no for an answer. No security with me, so was acting more like a bouncer than a steward. Felt a bit exposed at time. Some of the people who were legitimately in there were kind to me, however. Didn’t get a break on that shift either.

The rest of the festival with Oxfam was fine - really big campsite and well organised.

Ah that’s really not cool.  Did you have a radio? Were you able to call in your situation to ask for assistance? We spoke earlier in the thread about normally being overstaffed in most situations so this really is unusual. 

Any first timers reading this - don’t panic too much, this is a really unusual situation and unlikely to happen to you. 

[incident]

3 minutes ago, stuie said:

Any first timers reading this - don’t panic too much, this is a really unusual situation and unlikely to happen to you. 

Especially at Shambala, where in my experience far more than at most festivals the organisers do tend to take on feedback and learn from mistakes.

[The Red Telephone]

31 minutes ago, stuie said:

Ah that’s really not cool.  Did you have a radio? Were you able to call in your situation to ask for assistance? We spoke earlier in the thread about normally being overstaffed in most situations so this really is unusual. 

Any first timers reading this - don’t panic too much, this is a really unusual situation and unlikely to happen to you. 

No radio, unfortunately. I was on my own at the back gate, so didn’t want to leave my position. Our supervisor was having a bit of a bad time too, so guess it wasn’t a great night all round!

Sorry, had no intentions of putting anybody off! Oxfam Glastonbury was amazing and 2/3rds of Shambala was good. I’ve found out that dealing with f**ked people when you’re stone cold so sober is not my cup of tea!

Edited January 22 by The Red Telephone

[The Red Telephone]

22 minutes ago, incident said:

Especially at Shambala, where in my experience far more than at most festivals the organisers do tend to take on feedback and learn from mistakes.

Yes, I did mention it in my feedback, so hopefully it won’t happen to anybody else.

[Aragorn]

How likely is it for returning non  vet's (recycling crew)to get their first pick on shifts chosen?

[dondo]

5 minutes ago, Aragorn said:

How likely is it for returning non  vet's (recycling crew)to get their first pick on shifts chosen?

I think it depends what you have chosen and how many are on those teams.  For example morning litter pick has the biggest numbers (I think) so I think that would be OK.  The other teams with smaller numbers obviously smaller chance. 

[Aragorn]

I went for yellow 10am to 4pm with tractor morning 2nd shift

[dondo]

1 hour ago, Aragorn said:

I went for yellow 10am to 4pm with tractor morning 2nd shift

I did Tractor last year and was good. 

Not sure how big those teams are but think the 10 to 4 might be popular as not early start but on the flip side does mean missing bands in the afternoon. So basically don't really know!!

[Leyrulion]

15 hours ago, The Red Telephone said:

No radio, unfortunately. I was on my own at the back gate, so didn’t want to leave my position. Our supervisor was having a bit of a bad time too, so guess it wasn’t a great night all round!

Sorry, had no intentions of putting anybody off! Oxfam Glastonbury was amazing and 2/3rds of Shambala was good. I’ve found out that dealing with f**ked people when you’re stone cold so sober is not my cup of tea!

That's entirely on your supervisor not you, don't worry. They should have radioed in for extra help, there wasn't exactly a shortage of it. I'm reading this having been on campsite shifts where we could have spared at least 4 people.

[Festival Sounds Podcast]

19 hours ago, The Red Telephone said:

No radio, unfortunately. I was on my own at the back gate, so didn’t want to leave my position. Our supervisor was having a bit of a bad time too, so guess it wasn’t a great night all round!

Sorry, had no intentions of putting anybody off! Oxfam Glastonbury was amazing and 2/3rds of Shambala was good. I’ve found out that dealing with f**ked people when you’re stone cold so sober is not my cup of tea!

You are right to call it out and honest feedback is better so people know it’s not all plain sailing. Huge amounts of my time volunteering (as a supervisor) is problem solving when things haven’t gone to plan.  You should have had security with you or at least another steward or two.  Good for people to get your perspective on it.

[stuie]

Morning all. Just a reminder for Oxfam folk that have earned priority status, that tomorrow is the day! Expected opening mid morning. 

After much consideration, I’ll be at Glastonbury, Wilderness and Beautiful Days next year.  Hope to see some efesters in the fields! Good luck 😀