I know it's early, but what the hell, I'm excited O.K?
Just wondering if there were any other lone volunteers for Reading this year who fancied having a chat before we all get thrown into a field together. :D
It's my first year volunteering at a festival, and I can't wait to meet everyone and have an awesome time!
Reading 2013 Volunteers
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- Last Post 29 April 2013
Hey! It's my first time volunteering at a festival too...I'm ridiculously excited =D. I've been to a couple of festivals but never reading...can't wait!
Hey!
Pleased to meet you, I'm Aaron :) not my first time volunteering but am a lone ranger also :) Reading is amazing, you will be blown away! ^.^
Hi Aaron :) Have you volunteered at reading before?
Yes this will be my 5th year volunteering at Reading but I have come on my own a couple of times, and again this year :) I truly love it! :D
Wow 5th time! Must be great if you keep coming back, I'm really excited but a teeny bit nervous about going solo. Convinced I'll forget something or get lost lol. How far is the car park from staff camping? Is there anything to do Tuesday night? Sorry, got hundreds of questions lol :)
I'm not sure but i think the staff camping is right by the staff carpark, i'm relieved!
So excited about this :D been to reading the last two years so i'm excited to work there! i have a couple of questions for anyone who's done it before..
1.what are the different jobs you could get?
2.do you get to pick preference on what job you get along with shift patterns?
3.how tiring is it balancing work with festivalness?
I do love it! ^^ fire away with the questions, i'll help any way I can :)
>Getting lost? - Not really an issue, once you know where the staff camping is you will be set
>what are the different jobs you could get? - you get to apply online soon so keep checking your paam page for updates, but you can be a)team leader b)spotter c)general foot patrol d)fire tower duties e)beer hand out & i'm not sure if last year was a one off to help with under-staffing but f) wristband exchange.
>do you get to pick preference on what job you get along with shift patterns? - hopefully I kind of answered this above :) you can pretty much choose your position within limits especially if you are quick off the mark.
>how tiring is it balancing work with festivalness? - not hard at all, but this is my advice from always working A shift. ALOT of people suffer on there night shift (1a.m. till 9a.m.) but make sure you keep warm cloths to hand, snacks and a positive attitude :) oh and sleep the morning after before bands :p other than that the work isn't tiring unless you let it get you down. I actually love helping and feel really good afterwards which gives me a boost!
>Tuesday night I love because you get to meet everyone, have the night to party and get acquainted with the site and surroundings before its mobbed by drunk party animals etc and generally chill before jumping head first into a pleasant warzone ^^
Hello everyone and hello Aaron! I read all you answers, I found all of them really helpful!! It will be the fist time for me and I have a couple of questions too.. :)
- Do you ever work alone? Especially in the night shifts? I really hope we will be in a team.. I can imagine patrolling an area for 8 hrs in the night by myself, how boooring!!
- When do the bands usually start and finish playing?
-What did you do about food? Did you actually cook something? XD
music is on from 11am to 11.30 pm. I do cook normally simple things otherwise crew cafe is pretty good. No you will never be on your own you will always be in pairs
Hey guys, anyone know when the shift preferences thingy will be live on paam? Getting a tad bit excited and checking every day!
Hello! ^^
As a follow on from Geo's reply:
-The band times are as mentioned - but the bands have been known to go as late as 12.30 with encores but I think they have gotten pretty strict with the noise licencing laws now so should be done by 11.30pm
-You are advised to always work in pairs for safety reasons, but many times Iv ended up going on a mission alone somewhere, but don't fear there is always company near by :)
-Personally I go to Tescos the first day I get there (roughly 20-30 mins walk) and stock up on crisps, pot noodles, energy bars etc and just visit the crew eating when I fancy a hot meal. I would recommend foods that just require boiling water for when you are on shift as each station has a kettle in the caravan so it is easy to make mid work snacks ^^
PurpleHayze - No idea I have been doing the same, as it seems very late this year and I am very excited :) Just keep checking daily and hopefully we can choose soon! :)
Hey guys! Thanks for all the info! I'm happy that nobody says it's necessary to bring cooking tools/little bbq and stuff because I'm going by train so I will bring just what I can actually carry! I guess the worse consequence for not cooking is just spending more money on food, not a huge deal considering that festival goes pay sooo much for the ticket!! When are you planning to get there (date/time)? :)
Hey am.bra, Tescos is the saviour saint in the piece! XD you can pretty much live off cheap stuff from there so don't worry about bringing a load of unnecessary stuff :) because I have to fly to the uk each year for Reading I don't even bring a sleeping bag - I just buy a duvet+pillow combo from Tesco for around £9 then donate it to the salvation army at the end ^_^
following up the last question I am planning to get there Tuesday morning around 10 a.m. hopefully :)
Shift preferences are up!!!! I've everything crossed for alpha or echo 2, be nice to me hotbox....I've waited 19 yrs to see green day!!!!