Wednesday, September 6, 2023
We've just touched down after a whirlwind summer and we wanted to say a huge thank you for joining us at Camp Bestival this year!
We hope you've all managed to get some well-deserved rest and have dried off and cleaned up from the downpours we experienced!
Both Camp Bestival Dorset and Camp Bestival Shropshire were a huge success this year so whether you joined us as a volunteer, paid steward, or part of our staff team, thank you for making them such special festivals!
There were lots of new faces in the Hotbox crew which has been lovely to see! We know for many it was your first festival or first time working at a festival, so we really hope you enjoyed it, and we'd love to welcome you back!
The weather was certainly testing at times, with the arrival day at Camp Bestival Dorset one of the wettest arrival days we've experienced for quite a few years! You should all be super proud of yourselves for bearing up against the weather and making it through the week, even with a few soaked sleeping bags and broken tents along the way! Fortunately, Camp Bestival Shropshire boasted better weather conditions this time around, with sunny days perfect for taking a trip paddleboarding or swimming in the lake!
We can't not mention all the extra bits and special activities you got involved in throughout the festival, from stewarding the fancy dress parade and exclusion zone for the fireworks, to providing extra customer service assistance and ticket checks at new gates. Your enthusiasm and friendliness towards the festival goers was incredible and we know it will have made a big impact on their Camp Bestival experience!
We spoke with so many of you throughout the week who had arrived on their own and instantly made friends with those around them. This was lovely to hear, and we know from experience many of these will become lifelong friendships!
The feedback we've received so far from the other onsite agencies, festival organisers, security team and the public about our Camp Bestival crew has been amazing to hear. Everywhere you were working on the festival site, we've received feedback about how smiley, approachable and helpful you all were so again, a huge thank you from us for working so hard to make sure everyone at Camp Bestival had the best time - all the problem solving, incident reporting, kit carrying and direction giving you did is so appreciated! 🙏
Your messages to us on socials and email about working with us at Camp Bestival Dorset and Shropshire have been fantastic to read! Please tag us in your social posts, photos and videos from the festival as we love seeing them!
If you enjoyed your week with us and have a few minutes to send over a paragraph or two for our staff and volunteer feedback page, please email this to info@hotboxevents.com
Please also attach a photo of you at Camp Bestival if you can so this can be added to the Hotbox website!
Your feedback is a big help to those thinking of joining us in in future years; giving an idea of what working at a festival with Hotbox Events is like, so please do get in touch if you can!
We're already planning for next year and your suggestions are always taken into consideration; many of which help us to improve both our service to the festival goers and the experience for our staff and volunteers. We're always up for changing things to improve the experience! 😊
So, if you do have any comments - good or bad - please don't hesitate to get in touch. We realise nothing is perfect so please don't be afraid of having a moan if there is something you'd like us to take into consideration for 2024!
Deposits are returned in full within 30 days of the last day of the last festival you applied to each summer.
Therefore, if Camp Bestival Dorset was the last festival you applied to this year, your deposit cheque was posted out on Monday 21st August!
Deposit returns are sent as cheques to the address in your Hotbox Events PAAM Profile – if you've moved house or changed address since you first signed up now is the time to update the address in your PAAM Profile!
If you joined us as a paid steward and haven't done so already, you can head to your PAAM Profile and fill out your timesheet and payroll information.
If you're registered self-employed and would prefer to invoice that's absolutely fine. You don't need to fill out the timesheet in your PAAM Profile but instead please pop over a PDF invoice using the below invoice checklist to payroll@hotboxevents.com:
Invoice checklist:
If you would like an invoice template, please let us know.
Applications to join us at our 2024 festivals will open in Early 2024 – we hope to see you again next year! ✨
If there is anything you would like to ask or you would just like to chat with us about, 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 joined us before head to our Facebook Group and Forum
On Facebook and in our Forum you will find new and returning staff and volunteers chatting about what it is like to join us at festivals, arranging to share lifts, asking and answering questions about working at festivals and making new friends!
If you have not joined us 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 those 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 working solo for the first time, taking on more responsibility year on year, and even how the experience and confidence gained has helped with career progression away from festivals!
Another way to see what joining us 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 history over the past twenty years!
It's totally normal to be anxious before coming to a festival, particularly if you're coming solo! We get hundreds of messages every year from people wanting to join us but nervous about doing it, so we promise you're not alone! We're a very friendly bunch so if there's anything we can do to reduce your anxiety please get in touch! Try joining our Facebook Group to make friends with others before the festival - there are even a few WhatsApp groups that have been set up too!
If you have specific questions about joining us 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 working 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
