Sunday, May 24, 2026
We're so excited to kick off festival season with you at Forbidden Forest!
If you've not already spotted it, your shift pattern has now been confirmed!
You can view your shift pattern on the Overview page of your PAAM account.
If you didn't select shift preferences before the deadline your shift pattern won't have been allocated yet. Check back in a few days to see your shift pattern.
Meal voucher ordering for Forbidden Forest is now open!
We'll be using trader vouchers at Forbidden Forest again this year.
Traders vouchers can be pre-ordered at a discounted rate of £10 per voucher and can be used at any of the traders onsite.
Please note, the traders will only be operational when the festival is open to the public from Thursday 4th to Sunday 7th, therefore you may wish to plan for this and bring food with you for dinner on Wednesday 3rd and breakfast on Thursday 4th. We will have kettles in the marquee in the Hotbox compound which you can use for hot water for pot noodles, porridge pots etc.
To order your Forbidden Forest meal vouchers:
The deadline for pre-ordering meal vouchers is 3pm Wednesday 27th May.
Please note that trader vouchers are non-refundable as we are required to pay for them in advance of the festival.
Please take some time to check out the Training Portal in your PAAM account as there's lots of useful documents to familiarise yourself with before the festival.
These including your Forbidden Forest Info Pack which contains arrival instructions, along with the gate you need to head for when you arrive at the festival.
Please don't forget to bring documents to prove your right to work in the UK to the festival.
The options for this are:
We cannot accept photocopies or photographs! We are legally required to see the original documents in person at the festival. We have a safe in the Hotbox office where we can keep documents during the festival if you would prefer to not store them in your tent.
A driving license is not proof of your right to work in the UK.
Every year volunteers arrive with their driving license as proof of right to work in the UK and unfortunately need to be asked to head back home to collect other documents to prove their right to work in the UK. Please don't let this be you!
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, X, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok and YouTube
If you would like to chat with others who have joined us before, head to our Facebook Group
Here 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 these 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 who are keen to join us but nervous about coming alone, so we promise you're not...alone! We're a very friendly bunch and if there's anything we can do to reduce your anxiety, please get in touch! You can also join our Facebook Group to make friends with others before the festival. Within this group you will also find links to some volunteer-led WhatsApp groups that have been set up!
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, as well as handy festival hits and tips.
We usually send out an email newsletter every month or so. If you would like to keep up to date with our news and festival happenings, please 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
