jfaragher

There is sometimes (more often than is acceptable) an issue where the information about reasonable adjustments doesn't get to / isn't really considered by the supervisor for the shift, despite it being discussed prior to the event. This happens because the supervisors are also volunteers, and have a varied amount of experience (and skill) in doing that role. The good supervisors will check their shift sheets before they head out, and if anyone has a RA marking, check with the shift leads what is needed before they get there; the reasonable supervisors will have a conversation with the person with the RA marking about what's needed, and make sure the adjustments are met; the inexperienced / poor supervisors will not know what an RA marking is for / not know that they need to check / not care. It's something that probably needs to be more explicitly discussed in the training I think.

More info on Nozstock, in case anyone is interested. They've been running the festival as a family for 25 years, started out as a small party for friends, and has grown from there. They book a pretty varied line up given the size of the festival, with a few largish headliners and a lot of depth in electronic music. The festival has an incredibly good reputation amongst those who have attended - excellent vibe, good mix of music vs other stuff going on, decent food options, reasonable bar prices etc. And many of those who crew it will happily tell you it's their favourite festival in the UK to work at (me included!) because the festival treats its crew so well. In 2023 they didn't sell out - they rarely sell out to be fair - but ticket sales were down a bit on the previous couple of years, and they lost a decent chunk of money. Coming on the back of not having any reserves after COVID cancellations, this has had a massive impact - it's basically costing the family money to run the show. Because of this, 2024 will be their last year, which is a real shame for such a great show that offered a lot more than a lot of the small festivals that in every provincial town these days. If you have the means and the opportunity, I strongly recommend you catch the last show (and come visit me working on the merch stand)

Does shaping the festival as we know it today deserve any? Also, horses? Big assumption that all the travelling communities are the same as Romany there...

You will find out your shifts one of two ways - either you'll get an email a couple of weeks before if you have early shifts (or a shift on Tuesday night, like a semi-early shift) and need to arrive on Saturday. You'll find out they specifics of where and when on arrival, either on Saturday for the earlies, or Mon / Tues for the main shift.

To fix Shangri-La - move the Truth stage to the far south east (where the supermarket / art stuff was last year) and remove the entrance at that end - so it's more Like IICON, where there's no reason to pass it, its an arena you enter and leave from the back of the crowd. Also, whack some toilets up there so you don't have to go so far to piss. Use the space where Truth is now for a slightly enlarged Nowhere and a few micro venues / vendors. That will stop the crowding when trying to get past where Truth is now and make it easier to get around. Use the current crew only entrance behind Platform 24 to allow people in, so they don't all have to go through UFG. UFG has to stay I'm afraid - it's the last surviving hangout of a lot of the old traveller crews who really invented the SE Corner, and it's important that the festival has a way to honour its legacy and the people who had such an influence on the festival, especially in the late 80's, 90's etc. Also, I know it's tired, but Blind Tiger and Salon are great venues that book a load of underground / smaller DJs - I'd hate to see nothing but big names in the SE Corner - people say there's too much D&B, but UFG is where you find the hardcore, tek, UKG if thats your thing. Needs a bit of investment though, been too long looking the same. I'm also not keen on the "it doesn't add much, get rid of it" kind of discussion - there are lots of niche areas, and a conversation like that could soon spread to things like Cabaret, Permaculture or even parts of the Green Fields - it's the variety that makes Glastonbury unique, and it needs to stay. IICON - change nothing, its an amazing thing that there's a massive stage playing weird underground stuff. There also needs to be a decent soundsystem type stage somewhere, so that I can have my brain melted at 3am by some dub or reggae - RIP the short-lived Green Room, and Samula and Block 9 occasionally booking dub artists.

It'll be after the shop and campaign stuff - I would anticipate next week sometime, maybe the week after. There's no hurry to get it completed though (other than your reference) - things like rostering don't happen until quite close to the festivals.

They may do what they did last year with the Glastonbury places, and hold them back for a second launch / batch - I think they probably do this so that they get a bit of social media hype which helps them fill some of the others.

Honestly, do tell Oxfam if you need adjustments made to your role - they aren't funny about it in any way, and will find something that works better for you. Also, as someone who's supervised, it can be really difficult if someone turns up on shift with a requirement that you aren't aware of / haven't planned for - especially if the shift starts busy and you haven't got enough time to think about how you can arrange things.

In most positions, these won't be usable - you'll be moving about much of the time. If standing for 8hrs is going to be an issue for you, then let Oxfam know, and they'll find a role where you can sit for at least some of it - they're pretty good with making adjustments to people's needs.

1 - Absolutely fine as long as you are sober and functional. Loads of people turn up on very little / no sleep, especially if they've got their morning shift on Saturday or Sunday. Just don't be a miserable f**k, because no-one wants to have to work with someone like that 🙂 2 - Not a problem - you're not tracked going in and out of the campsite. I have been known to leave the campsite at ~0900 and get back around the same time the following day 3 - You can only swap all three shifts at Glastonbury, so this won't be an option. /edit - beaten by Stuie, but at least we're consistent!

I don't think the massive crew bar crawl on the Monday that Oxfam has done in the past helps tbh. Loads of people turning up at Maceos isn't a big deal, because it's always rowdy and busy, but some of the bars like to keep a calmer atmosphere (like Acoustic). I've never had an issue with getting into the bars that allow all crews, but I am a cheerful looking middle-aged bloke who just wants a quiet pint, and I'm sure they can sense that 🙂

Vehicle crews all have EPO so they can use the site roads outside the steel shield I think

The system (quite rightly to avoid overbooking) may hold places which never complete. Also, because of the way the payment system works, it's possible that people may accidentally book two spots (especially if they have multiple people trying for them). These places tend to be dropped back onto the system pretty quickly as the office team resolves them during the morning.

To be fair, I'm rarely in bed before 4 am most days, so the night shift doesn't bother me. Getting up for the morning shift though, especially as I'm usually part of the shift lead team as well, so starting at 0445... I've been lucky a couple of years and had A shift though, so got that out of the way on Wednesday.

You are right, I'd forgotten having to queue twice...

They had them at registration last year, as far as I recall, but they were recording the names against the wristband IDs (they were Easy Pass Outs), so they could definitely 'block' them so you couldn't get into the festival if they wanted to.

Lots of people go on about how volunteering is better than being a ticket-holder, but it's not for everyone. The reason I do it is because I'm guaranteed to be able to get to Glastonbury, and it saves me a lot of money - if I had the money and a guaranteed ticket I probably wouldn't volunteer if I'm being honest. Having said that - being at Glastonbury and having to work a bit is better than not being there, and there are some decent perks to volunteering like having the secure camping with showers, (slightly) better toilets, reasonably priced catering (and some meal tickets), being able to come on the Monday (and park right next to the crew camp in the case of Oxfam) and getting access to the crew bars scattered around site. /edit - and if you're the slightest bit sociable, you'll be fine on your own. Whilst sometimes seeming a bit cliquey, the volunteers are in the whole a decent bunch, and happy to make new friends.

Yeah, the sensible work around was to give you the kit to do your own scrape of a pill or sample from a bag, and just give them the sample so they never had "posession" of the rest. The issue is solely one caused by the Home Office who have decided to make it more difficult (and enforced it being necessary) to get a specific (expensive, lengthy process) licence to test on site. They've chosen to increase the likelihood of harm from drug use at festivals, basically.

The van thing for Glastonbury came up on the Oxfam WhatsApp group earlier this week, and it was broadly well received. I'm a van person, and it kind of makes sense to me - they have issues with the number of vans at Glastonbury so a small disincentive won't hurt, those coming by public transport are more likely to be impacted by cost-of-living stuff* etc Also worth noting that a lot of the volunteer agencies at Glastonbury don't allow their teams to bring live-ins at all. *Yes, of course there are exceptions to this, but generally van people are going to find £35 less of a burden that the students / low waged who typically use public transport.

Nozstock?

BD has a massive number of returning volunteers each year - it usually goes really quickly, though not sure it's gone in priority before. Second (I think) time I did it after several years of doing supervising / shift lead, I was told that I wouldn't get a supervisor role as all of the supervisors had been doing it for years (if not decades)

From the Oxfam Email: I'd just give it a bit longer I guess.

There was something about this in the latest email - because of the change in payment provider, it might take a few minutes for the deposit to register on the Oxfam system. Either wait a bit, or if you've paid multiple deposits, Oxfam have said they'll sort out refunds automatically ASAP.

Yep. Or if you've got a load of pairs on specific positions, pick one (reliable looking) person - or two if you've got enough spare - to go from postition to position, sending people off for their breaks, and covering them whilst they go. Like all management, the trick is to make it someone elses problem delegate effectively.

Just because you don't have much to do a lot of the time, doesn't mean the role isn't needed. Some positions are just there in case a problem arises (like an evacuation, or a medical), some are there just to keep an eye on stuff, some are there just so that there's someone visible to make customers feel more secure / have someone to ask questions. And yeah, stop complaining, even if your shift is boring, it's what got you into the festival innit.