Volunteering 2024

[kerplunk]

54 minutes ago, efcfanwirral said:

There were quite a few, including myself, at Reading. Is fully oversubscribed definitely an option, given some will still get tickets?

 

I dunno - it's plausible for it to be oversubscribed I think. The way the general release places were snapped up in seconds this year suggests there wasn't a lot of spare

 

(I'll be one trying for tickets regardless)

[Leyrulion]

2 hours ago, kerplunk said:

There were murmurs around the Oxfire at shambala about a noticeable number of new peeps (like me) racking up their 2-festivals priority for glastonbury next year, and so likely to be oversubscribed  😄

This discussion happens every year and come March 1st there's always priority spaces left unfilled before general sale. 

[Leyrulion]

23 hours ago, Skip997 said:

Half the hours. Finish early. No night shifts 

Told you it's be done early! 

 

They're a great route in for a lot of fests but no Glastonbury which is my main Oxfam motivation. 

[Skip997]

2 minutes ago, Leyrulion said:

Told you it's be done early! 

 

They're a great route in for a lot of fests but no Glastonbury which is my main Oxfam motivation. 

May become my “go to” for Shambala. Loads easier than my previous job, which may be no longer available anyway 

[stuie]

10 minutes ago, Leyrulion said:

This discussion happens every year and come March 1st there's always priority spaces left unfilled before general sale. 

 

I can't see any major change... they didn't add on any major new festivals or increase steward numbers at their existing festivals, so there should be a similar amount of people with priority as there normally is. 

 

Supervisor priority has also been removed this year but I can't see that making much difference either as most supervisors will do more than one fest per season anyway. 

[stuie]

13 minutes ago, Leyrulion said:

They're a great route in for a lot of fests but no Glastonbury which is my main Oxfam motivation. 

 

If they paid the charities a decent amount they would be. 

[Leyrulion]

30 minutes ago, stuie said:

 

If they paid the charities a decent amount they would be. 

 

 

That doesn't stop them being a great route into a lot of festivals for people.

Edited August 29 by Leyrulion

[Paul ™]

1 hour ago, stuie said:

 

If they paid the charities a decent amount they would be. 

Got to agree, I dislike their business model 

 

[incident]

4 hours ago, kerplunk said:

There were murmurs around the Oxfire at shambala about a noticeable number of new peeps (like me) racking up their 2-festivals priority for glastonbury next year, and so likely to be oversubscribed  😄

 

Tbh there's been rumours of that nature for years, and this isn't the first year where there's a load of new people.

 

They've still only half-filled Glastonbury in priority since the current criteria was introduced.

[balti-pie]

I seem to say this here about once a year, and I know it’s anathema on a glastobating forum like this, but a fair amount of the Oxfam volunteers with priority have - pauses for emphasis here - absolutely no interest in going to Glastonbury at all. They say it’s too big, too far to walk to some of the volunteer spots, too long perhaps, and just plain not what some people are volunteering for.
 

Seems crazy for those of us who are mad keen glasto nerds, but it’s true yknow 

[efcfanwirral]

3 minutes ago, balti-pie said:

I seem to say this here about once a year, and I know it’s anathema on a glastobating forum like this, but a fair amount of the Oxfam volunteers with priority have - pauses for emphasis here - absolutely no interest in going to Glastonbury at all. They say it’s too big, too far to walk to some of the volunteer spots, too long perhaps, and just plain not what some people are volunteering for.
 

Seems crazy for those of us who are mad keen glasto nerds, but it’s true yknow 

Yeah its all about Wilderness, Beautiful Days and Shambala from most that I speak to. Three places I doubt I'll ever set foot in!!

[balti-pie]

10 hours ago, efcfanwirral said:

Yeah its all about Wilderness, Beautiful Days and Shambala from most that I speak to. Three places I doubt I'll ever set foot in!!

I cannot stand the Levellers, I’ve hated em for years (bit irrational, but yknow - opinions are there to be had) but I hear Beautiful Days is great to volunteer at - nice camping, staff bar, crowd are friendly and no bother, etc etc - I might be tempted one of these years 😊

[Skip997]

1 hour ago, balti-pie said:I hear Beautiful Days is great to volunteer at - nice camping, staff bar, crowd are friendly and no bother, etc etc - I might be tempted one of these years 😊

Yea it has all that, but on the other hand it’s “dull as dishwater”

[balti-pie]

33 minutes ago, Skip997 said:

Yea it has all that, but on the other hand it’s “dull as dishwater”

 

If im volunteering at a festival, i dont want to be thrilled by the lineup, cos ill be missing out on great swathes of it and i'd rather be a punter. I think thats why glastonbury is perfect for me to volunteer at, cos there's very unlikely to be any absolute cannot miss acts, but there'll be tons of stuff i'd happily go and watch. Havnt paid for a ticket since 2017, i've forgotten what its like to be a normie! 

[efcfanwirral]

1 minute ago, balti-pie said:

 

If im volunteering at a festival, i dont want to be thrilled by the lineup, cos ill be missing out on great swathes of it and i'd rather be a punter. I think thats why glastonbury is perfect for me to volunteer at, cos there's very unlikely to be any absolute cannot miss acts, but there'll be tons of stuff i'd happily go and watch. Havnt paid for a ticket since 2017, i've forgotten what its like to be a normie! 

I'm still at the point where I'd prefer to go to one with a lineup where there's easily enough on for me to enjoy when I'm not on shift. I'd probably struggle to find anything if I went to the three I mentioned even not volunteering! 

[stuie]

9 minutes ago, efcfanwirral said:

I'm still at the point where I'd prefer to go to one with a lineup where there's easily enough on for me to enjoy when I'm not on shift. I'd probably struggle to find anything if I went to the three I mentioned even not volunteering! 

 

At Glasto, there' obviously always something to see but Wilderness this year was spot on for me.  Between working shifts I managed to see Bicep and Faithless (who I'd missed at Glasto), Eats Everything, Jessie Ware, Michael Kiwanuka, Barry Cant Swim, Ewan McVicar, Craig Charles, Goldfrapp. 

 

Along with yoga, lake swimming etc.  

 

I have no interest in volunteering at a festival where there's nothing for me to do in my downtime. 

[philipsteak]

On 8/29/2024 at 11:45 AM, kerplunk said:

There were murmurs around the Oxfire at shambala about a noticeable number of new peeps (like me) racking up their 2-festivals priority for glastonbury next year, and so likely to be oversubscribed  😄

 

Spoke to Mat (coordinator) about this on Sunday and he reckoned it wouldn't be a problem. Maybe slightly more priority peeps than usual but there'll still be plenty left for the public release.

Edited August 30 by philipsteak

[efcfanwirral]

12 minutes ago, philipsteak said:

 

Spoke to Mat (coordinator) about this on Sunday and he reckoned it wouldn't be a problem. Maybe slightly more priority peeps than usual but there'll still be plenty left for the public release.

Excellent news! 

[goldfishboy]

20 hours ago, efcfanwirral said:

Yeah its all about Wilderness, Beautiful Days and Shambala from most that I speak to. Three places I doubt I'll ever set foot in!!

the one that always fills up first is Bearded Theory

[incident]

7 minutes ago, goldfishboy said:

the one that always fills up first is Bearded Theory

 

Part of that is just because there's so few steward spaces though, compared to the ones named.

 

I don't know what the current numbers are, but safe to say that Shambala has several multiples of Bearded in terms of Oxfam steward numbers (despite the festivals having a similar capacity).

[tarw]

10 minutes ago, incident said:

 

Part of that is just because there's so few steward spaces though, compared to the ones named.

 

I don't know what the current numbers are, but safe to say that Shambala has several multiples of Bearded in terms of Oxfam steward numbers (despite the festivals having a similar capacity).

600 places at Shambala and 500 at Wilderness we were told

[philipsteak]

2 hours ago, tarw said:

600 places at Shambala and 500 at Wilderness we were told

I think Bearded was about 200/250 last time I did it.

[ilovelanegan]

15 minutes ago, philipsteak said:

I think Bearded was about 200/250 last time I did it.

 

Why is that, out of interest? Never done Bearded but keen to do it as a punter and/or volunteer sooner rather than later.

[amfy]

I started volunteering with Oxfam for Glastonbury, but after 6 years, the emphasis has changed a great deal for me. Doing other festivals for priority, or just to try them out, has given me a different perspective.
I’ve definitely come to the conclusion that Glastonbury is one of the worst to volunteer at.

Shifts can be over an hour from base (either walking or in a minibus) The most interesting shifts are pedestrian gates, and many more are on gates where nothing much happens at all. At many other festivals, there are really enjoyable shifts that still feel like part of your festival rather than time away from it.

The amount of walking to & from shifts, on top of the amount of walking Glastonbury requires anyway, makes it pretty exhausting. 
I’d still recommend it to people who want a way in, but these days, my priority isn’t being used for Glastonbury & many others are the same. I think there is a ‘churn’ in priority because almost as fast as new people build priority, there are others who’ve done it a few times that decide Glastonbury volunteering just isn’t their favourite thing any more.

 

 

 

[stuie]

9 minutes ago, amfy said:

I started volunteering with Oxfam for Glastonbury, but after 6 years, the emphasis has changed a great deal for me. Doing other festivals for priority, or just to try them out, has given me a different perspective.
I’ve definitely come to the conclusion that Glastonbury is one of the worst to volunteer at.

Shifts can be over an hour from base (either walking or in a minibus) The most interesting shifts are pedestrian gates, and many more are on gates where nothing much happens at all. At many other festivals, there are really enjoyable shifts that still feel like part of your festival rather than time away from it.

The amount of walking to & from shifts, on top of the amount of walking Glastonbury requires anyway, makes it pretty exhausting. 
I’d still recommend it to people who want a way in, but these days, my priority isn’t being used for Glastonbury & many others are the same. I think there is a ‘churn’ in priority because almost as fast as new people build priority, there are others who’ve done it a few times that decide Glastonbury volunteering just isn’t their favourite thing any more.

All of this is spot on.  I’m on the tipping point myself and I’ve been very lucky with all my shifts being on PGC for the last few years. It’s balanced out by the extra days on the farm and all the crew bars, but if you’re looking for the more enjoyable Oxfam shifts, they are definitely at other festivals!