If you’ve been to a festival, you’ll probably know that volunteers are a critical and integral part of any operation. Just like the “Games Makers” of the 2012 London Olympics, our amazing EF volunteer family have been the superhero’s who keep the wheels turning and smiles coming.  Whether its guiding our guests around the site, moving bales of hay, scanning tickets or lighting the campfires, these people are an essential and integral part of our festivals and you could be one of them, Yay!

With the launch of our new festival, Elderflower Fields Midlands, we are now looking for new volunteers to help us make this family festival run smoothly. You don’t need to have any previous experience or special skills, just your availability for the event and willingness to get stuck in, the rest we can show you.  You’ll get the chance to experience something new, lean new skills and make new lifelong friends.  We do ask that volunteers attend the crew briefing on Thursday evening before the event opens at midday Friday, so please factor this into your plans.

Below you’ll find specific team information and the link to our application form.  We’ll have a chat with you over the phone once you’ve applied to welcome you to the family and answer all those new questions you suddenly have!

Field Stewarding Team

Our Field Teams are the eyes and ears of the festival. Working in pairs, you’ll look after a specific area of the event and act as a contact point for our lovely festival guests. You may be answering questions about what time the bands are on or offering directions and helping people find their way about the site.  You’ll quickly get to know your area and you’ll be able to spot if anything needs rectifying. You’ll be in radio contact with HQ, reporting any incidents and feeding information back to staff and the public. Field Teams make up the core of our volunteers and it’s a great opportunity for anyone interested in getting into event management with real, on the ground responsibility at a large arts event.

Information Team

The Information Team is based at Elderflower Fields HQ and has two main jobs. Firstly, acting as a central hub of information for festival goers – answering questions and pointing out where things are. And secondly, keeping in contact with the Field Teams and the festival production team to update the programme with any changes and communicate this to staff and the public. If you love organising and creating calm from chaos, this could be the role for you!…

Ticketing and Accreditation Team

Our ticketing and accreditation team is normally the first contact our guests and performers will have with festival staff once they arrive, so it’s a super important role. You’ll be working in the main ticketing or accreditation tent, welcoming customers, crew and performers, scanning tickets and issuing wristbands. The work can be hectic at times, but you’ll be led by an experienced manager and it’s great fun meeting all the smiling customers and bands!

Production Support Team

The Production Support Team does pretty much what it says on the tin. Supporting the main Production Team, you’ll be assisting in a diverse range of activities which makes it perfect for those looking to gain first hand experience of running a large arts event and for people who like variety. Production Support is sort of like the glue which sticks the whole festival together – which means you could be doing anything from welcoming bands and helping them move their gear to chaperoning vehicles across the site or helping the tech crews on one of the stages. You’ll also jump in and support the other teams when they get busy and you’ll be looking out for any issues and reporting back to the Production team via your radio.

Crew HQ and Crew Support Team

Our crew HQ and Crew support Team are the amazing people who look after our festival family. Based at Crew Headquarters you’ll be welcoming teams on shift and checking them in, ensuring they have what they need to do a great job and passing on any updates or briefings. You’ll be the masters of creating a happy vibe, sending our volunteers out with smiles and perhaps a bit of glitter!  The support team will also look out for our crew welfare, so you could be delivering sun cream to the teams in the field or making sure the ticketing tent has chairs, whatever you think our volunteer family need!

What else should I know?

Whilst Elderflower Fields South has been a busy festival in Sussex since 2012, 2020 is the very first year of Elderflower Fields Midlands. This is a really exciting time for us and an excellent opportunity to become part the founding team. Whatever your involvement, you’ll be a vital part of this new team and you will help shape things for years to come.

We’ll be asking our new teams to get stuck in and there will be lots of variety. You’ll complete a maximum of 3 six hour shifts, one or more of which may be before or after the public are on site. The ambition is to reduce this to 4 or 5 hour shifts but it depends on how many volunteers we get, so invite your friends as it’s great working with your mates and we can even put you on the same shifts!

In return, you get free entry (obviously), plenty of time to relax and enjoy the festival and we’ll feed you a hot meal once per day (normally in the evening). You’ll loads of space to camp in, as well as access to loos, hot showers and sinks. But most importantly, you’ll help create an amazing experience for all the families, experience great camaraderie, learn lots and have a really fun few days.

Before filling out the application form, please ensure you’ve read our volunteer terms and conditions – click here

If you’re interested in any of these roles, please fill out the form below, or if you have any questions, please email Tim at volunteer@elderflowerfields.co.uk.

Bringing your family

Children of volunteers are welcome to join you at the festival, free of charge. You must arrange suitable child care for the times that you are on shift. If you would like to bring your partner then that’s super! We can arrange it so you can either work the same or different shifts, so that they can also volunteer and be part of the amazing team. If they don’t wish to, or aren’t able to volunteer that’s no problem ,just remember they wont qualify for a free ticket and they’ll need buy a festival ticket but we will be able to give you a discounted rate. These will be available to purchase in the winter.