End of the Road Festival,
9th September ~ 13th September
My last festival of the summer and the first one I actually signed up for.
I chose this little festival down in Dorset because a friend of mine really wanted to go but didn't want to go alone, so the easiest and cheapest option was to... volunteer!
This was the first time that I wasn't camped with the other stewards, nor did we have our own facilities other than a medium sized marquee with the comms guys and a little kitchen where for £2 you could have access to hot water, bread, tea, soup and general snacks. Most of this was gone on the second day, I did manage to get a couple of bags of crisps and a roll which made up for the £2 but was a little bit of a shock compared to 3 free meals from Oxfam.
However the 'chicken guy' with his free wings and a whole chicken with potatoes (for 2 people) for £10 was a welcome change from the over priced festival food I had experienced so far.
I got allocated 'Main and Gardens' which is basically the Arena of this festival, I felt a little guilty having a more coveted position considering I actually knew very few of the bands and basically had a front row seat for all of my shifts.
Guard the Pond!
Yes that was my main job, guarding the pond/pool, it was apparently very deep and as part of the festival license it had to guarded and patrolled whenever the public had access to the arena. It was actually a pretty ok job, hang around an ornate garden with a grotto and a statue of Poseidon for 5 hours a day, occasionally telling the naughty bar staff that they weren't allowed to be in there (never had a rude comment from these guys, just a generally lack of knowledge that they shouldn't be there) and generally listening to the radio to laugh at what people were talking about and get the scoop on bands who had missed their ferry from Bestival.
I am glad this was my last festival of the summer, not only because I had totaled 3 weeks of Tent Living, but because 'briefing' consisted of a ten minute group meeting just outside the Stewards' Tent, now compare this to the 3 hour event in London that I had to attend and by had to I mean it was recorded and if we didn't then we couldn't steward at all that summer. This plus my 2 festivals worth of experience really helped me to be pretty confident in what I was doing.
Also a big thumbs up for the stewards wristbands at End of the Road, pink silk, it's like they knew just how to make me question my allegiance to the Dutchband wristbands of Download...
So an uneventful end to an eventful summer of free festivals, a lot of spending money and a lot of miles on my Mini's clock.
So I am officially a 2nd year of Events management and I already have my next stewarding role lined up.
Check back soon for the continuation of my summer of volunteering!
However the 'chicken guy' with his free wings and a whole chicken with potatoes (for 2 people) for £10 was a welcome change from the over priced festival food I had experienced so far.
I got allocated 'Main and Gardens' which is basically the Arena of this festival, I felt a little guilty having a more coveted position considering I actually knew very few of the bands and basically had a front row seat for all of my shifts.
Guard the Pond!
Yes that was my main job, guarding the pond/pool, it was apparently very deep and as part of the festival license it had to guarded and patrolled whenever the public had access to the arena. It was actually a pretty ok job, hang around an ornate garden with a grotto and a statue of Poseidon for 5 hours a day, occasionally telling the naughty bar staff that they weren't allowed to be in there (never had a rude comment from these guys, just a generally lack of knowledge that they shouldn't be there) and generally listening to the radio to laugh at what people were talking about and get the scoop on bands who had missed their ferry from Bestival.
I am glad this was my last festival of the summer, not only because I had totaled 3 weeks of Tent Living, but because 'briefing' consisted of a ten minute group meeting just outside the Stewards' Tent, now compare this to the 3 hour event in London that I had to attend and by had to I mean it was recorded and if we didn't then we couldn't steward at all that summer. This plus my 2 festivals worth of experience really helped me to be pretty confident in what I was doing.
Also a big thumbs up for the stewards wristbands at End of the Road, pink silk, it's like they knew just how to make me question my allegiance to the Dutchband wristbands of Download...
So an uneventful end to an eventful summer of free festivals, a lot of spending money and a lot of miles on my Mini's clock.
So I am officially a 2nd year of Events management and I already have my next stewarding role lined up.
Check back soon for the continuation of my summer of volunteering!
