Friday, February 11, 2022
Wow, what a week! 💥
20 years ago, Harmony Blake, then the Deputy Licensee of Latitude Festival and Leeds Festival and assistant to Melvin Benn, approached Mark Hatchard about supervising a small team of volunteers at Leeds Festival. What began as a team of 7 volunteers at Leeds Festival in 2003 has grown year on year into the 3,000 staff and volunteers who join Hotbox Events at Download Festival, Latitude Festival, Camp Bestival, Reading and Leeds Festival every year.
We had seen some signs that it might be a good year for volunteering applications throughout January - with Reading and Leeds already selling out of weekend tickets, and higher than usual activity on our social channels, we thought we might have a busy week… but this year’s application opening has been off the charts! 📈
We're seeing similar numbers for Camp Bestival Dorset, Camp Bestival Shropshire, Download and Latitude Festival too, making this our best opening week in our 20-year history and the risk of volunteer places filling up soon a real possibility – so if you're thinking of joining us this summer, be quick and apply now!
Plus, as shift preferences are allocated first come first served based on deposit payment date, the sooner your sign up and pay your deposit, the better chance you have of getting your preferred shift pattern!
Download Festival – 8th – 13th June 2022
Line up: Kiss, Iron Maiden, Biffy Clyro, A Day To Remember, Deftones, Korn
Latitude Festival – 20th – 25th July 2022
Line up to be revealed!
Camp Bestival Dorset – 27th July – 1st August 2022
Line up: Rag'n'Bone Man, Rudimental, Sister Sledge, Kool And The Gang, Razorlight, Example
Camp Bestival Shropshire – 17th – 22nd August 2022
Line up: Fatboy Slim, Rag'n'Bone Man, Becky Hill, Example, Scouting For Girls, Sara Cox
Reading Festival – 24th – 29th August 2022
Line up: Arctic Monkeys, Rage Against The Machine, Dave, Bring Me The Horizon, Megan Thee Stallion, Halsey, Bastille, Wolf Alice, Enter Shikari
Leeds Festival – 24th – 29th August 2022
Line up: Arctic Monkeys, Rage Against The Machine, Dave, Bring Me The Horizon, Megan Thee Stallion, Halsey, Bastille, Wolf Alice, Enter Shikari
To find out more and apply choose the festival you're interested in volunteering at, you'll then find all the info including when you'll need to arrive at the festival, how many volunteer shifts you'll do, how old you need to be to volunteer at festivals, the kind of things you'll get involved with when volunteering and loads more!
As usual, you need to pay a refundable security deposit to volunteer with us this summer.
When volunteering with Hotbox Events you only need to pay 1 deposit to volunteer at as many festivals as you like each summer!
Deposits are returned within 30 days of the last day of a festival, if you have volunteered with us before your deposit is discounted by 35%. There are no admin fees charged on deposits, so you receive your entire deposit back as long as you complete all of your shifts at the festivals!
Of course, if for any reason a festival does not go ahead, your security deposit will be returned to you in full.
Please remember that we cannot confirm your place until you have paid your deposit!
You can choose the shifts you prefer a few weeks before each festival and we will confirm your shifts in advance, so you know when you will be volunteering and can plan your festival schedule!
Shift preferences are allocated based on deposit payment date, so the earlier you pay your deposit, the more likely you are to get your top shift preferences!
If there is anything you would like to ask or you would just like to chat with us about volunteering, the easiest way is to...
You can connect with us @hotboxevents on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn
If you would like to chat with others who have volunteered with us before head to our Facebook Group and Forum
On Facebook and in our Forum you will find new and returning volunteers chatting about what it is like to volunteer at festivals, arranging to share lifts, asking and answering questions about volunteering at festivals and making friends with other volunteers!
If you have not volunteered at a festival before and are wondering what it is like, check out some of our staff and volunteer interviews!
In the interviews you will get to hear from volunteers who have joined us talking about how they found their shifts, how they felt they were looked after by the Hotbox team, what it was like volunteering solo for the first time, taking on more responsibility year on year and progressing from a volunteer to staff role, and even how the experience and confidence gained has helped with career progression away from festivals!
Another way to see what volunteering is like is to check out some of our festival photos!
In our festival photo galleries, you will find thousands of photos covering our festival volunteering history over the past twenty years!
If you are thinking about volunteering but not sure about going alone, please don't worry! Every year more than half of those who volunteer with us do so on their own the first time and then return year after year to meet up with friends they have made whilst volunteering!
If you have specific questions about volunteering at festivals try our festival FAQs!
Our festival FAQs are regularly updated and packed full of answers to the questions we are usually asked, plus lots of handy hints and tips about volunteering at festivals.
We usually send an email newsletter about once a month, if you would like to keep up to date you can subscribe!
If you would like to drop us an email it's info@hotboxevents.com
You can reach our office by phone on the numbers below...
Tel: 01252849600 (UK) select option 2 for Hotbox Events
Tel: +441252849600 (International) select option 2 for Hotbox Events
We cannot wait to welcome you to the Hotbox Events team for an amazing festival filled summer 😊
