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I totally get this. For years working Glastonbury was not an option for me because I enjoy Glastonbury as complete freedom from everything, and needing to turn up for shifts changes that irrefutably. That said, I volunteer now despite the fact that my current job is the hardest I’ve worked in my life. I’m a children’s social worker and never come out with less than a 50/60 hour week and the rest of time worrying about it. Volunteering at Glastonbury still puts me in a completely different headspace, even when I have those moments when I still do odd bits of CP as part of my Oxfam role (like when I asked a family with a newborn and 2 toddlers (no ear defenders) to move from front of stage just before Ferocious Dog came on at Beautiful Days. They came back with a line about my stupid tabard not entitling me to tell them what to do with their kids & I told them my IRL job & they looked pretty sheepish! I remained kind, telling them how much I respected people for bringing their kids to festivals and how lovely it was see, but I just needed them to move from there - awkward but we got through it) The one thing I have noticed is I don’t get back from festivals any more tired from working than not working, because I drink less and generally take it all a bit steadier because I’ve got to turn up for shifts not feeling like death. I actually recover quicker when Volunteering! I’d go with the thought that a change is as good as a rest. You do get a different festival, but not necessarily a worse one, and definitely better than none at all.

It depends what you are doing but to some extent you do still feel part of the festival. I really did whilst doing a road crossing with people coming in, & traffic needing directions. Not so much at Stickleball. It’s definitely best to have the attitude that your shifts are part of your festival though. That really helps. I tend to just let them tick by if they are dull. On my last Glastonbury I did discover that taking some paracetamol helps with the aching feet towards the end of a shift.

It depends on your supervisor but they do like us to be looking lively Tbf. I love Glastonbury, and I love that Oxfam is now a regular way in for me, but I think it might actually be the worst festival to work for Oxfam. There aren’t many, if any, others where the shifts are quite so dull! Lots of regular Oxfam stewards will do anything but Glastonbury! you get priority in future years by doing one other - I recommend it.

Last year I was on a vehicle/pedestrian crossing on Wednesday afternoon which was really hard work in the heat and dust, but flew by & was kind of enjoyable watching everyone battle in with their stuff and giving them encouragement. My morning and overnigh was at a vehicle gate on the far side of the site - over an hour to get there or back even with the minibus & unbelievably dull when we got there. I thought the night shift would never end! Its hard but the perks of being on site early, having good camping faVilifies & crew bars are the upside. That and actually being able to go!

I think that particularly for volunteering, it’s quite a good thing when persistence pays off. Of course there are people who are persistent and it still doesn’t work, but those that aren’t that arsed, have given up & those that are committed, are still in with a chance. @chestwig- if you are still looking, you are still in with a chance!

I think that as soon as you get the 2nd place you ring up and ask to be shift partners because the option to do it on the form has gone. There are a lot of single volunteers so last minute swap arounds to accommodate this aren’t complex. I’d say to anyone who has still missed out and is determined, to keep trying. These duplicates will need to come back up and in the final couple of weeks before the festival people do drop out due to illness & other last minute emergencies. I worked with someone on early shifts in 2019 who only got his place the week before the festival AND got earlies!

Scrapyard from about 10pm. We act on instructions from security so it’s not our judgement, although it is part of our role to alert security if we can see a problem developing. The scrapyard is built from shipping containers so it’s not like a tent with stretchy sides & lots of ways out in an emergency. In this case, we were told that our door was an exit only, so that numbers coming in could be managed at one door so that it didn’t overfill quickly from several points. One thing we did do was go into the venue and ask people to move from the back to the front a bit as it was looking fuller than it actually was at the entrance end of the venue. So no one could come in through our door, but crew thought they were special. The punters would beg, usually accept that they would need to queue for a bit at the other door, occasionally dodge under an arm or behind your back as someone came out. We did have a moment (When Gold Dust played), when every passer by wanted to be in the area and it got a bit hairy but other than that, despite being off their faces, the public were lovely. Crew would physically barge you out of the way and could be really vile.

Absolutely true. The only people who tried to muscle past us when we were limiting venue capacity at Boomtown. Treated us with total disdain and seemed to think that somehow being crew exempted them from causing, or being in, a dangerous crush, & that they were above being instructed by us to do anything. (Tbf a few of the punters were also dodging past us occasionally but they weren’t dickheads about it!)

Priority apply in about February & the public a week later. You can usually cancel at no charge until just after resale day, & after that’s there’s a small admin charge, until 6 weeks before the festival when you could lose the whole deposit.

You don’t sign up as a couple (or group) but once signed up you can link your profiles to be put on the same shifts. You will almost always be in the same location (especially a couple rather than a group) but they will at the very least put you on the same shift pattern so you can enjoy your downtime together. if you have the time I’d say go for it this year. Oxfam opening to the public has started to be a ‘Ticket Day’ level of bunfight the last couple of years so it’s worth having priority. The extra days on site and the crew bars open up a whole new side to all the festivals too.

It is absolute carnage with everyone of their nut as you say …..but I have never had shifts go quicker than at Boomtown! It’s slightly terrifying and absolutely brilliant all at the same time. You’ll love it! Do it! x Also - although there are some quiet shifts - loads of the shifts at Boomtown are right in the midst of the action which is much more fun than Glastonbury where you are usually miles out on gates and crossings.

To be honest I thought the Shelter camping was the best spot I’d had in years because it is so close to all my favourite areas of the site - Avalon, T&C & Acoustic. Since the SE corner etc has existed, & Wedt Holts camping disappeared, there’s no where nearer that end of the site. The SE corner noise didn’t bother me because it’s a consistent buzz which, once you adjust, drowns out intermittent shouting & banging which I find far more disturbing when I’m trying to sleep. I’d back up - great showers and loos, & a nice cafe/bar type effort for on site downtime.

You’ll be fine. You will soon get to know tent neighbours and shift buddies & there is a crew bar pub crawl on Tuesday night which definitely helps loosen everyone up! Welcome aboard!

When I worked for Shelter only one bar ended at 5am and that was Stonebridge. None of the others went anywhere near that late - ending about midnight.

If you are free for the right dates, there are definitely spaces for 2 festivals with Oxfam this year which would give you priority to volunteer for Glastonbury (& all the other festivals) next year.

That’s a lot of questions about dodging shifts for someone who isn’t planning to dodge shifts. The bit about ‘going back to the Avalon’ is a bit unclear to me. Do you mean the Shelter campsite or the Avalon area of Glastonbury? Avalon bars aren’t linked to the Avalon area of Glastonbury, in fact, that area is more WBC. shelter/Avalon bars run bars right across the site - Glade, Stonebridge, Acoustic etc… Your wristband will have a QR code on it which will be cancelled as soon as you miss a shift so you won’t be able to go back to the campsite and/or get back into the festival. Other than that, I don’t think people get ‘hunted down’ but you lose your deposit and are banned by ALL of the volunteering organisations for future years. When people dodge shifts it really does make it harder in everyone else. Especially if a group who were placed together go walkabout as that can leave a bar really short staffed while they work out which other bar they might be able to pull staff from. Shelter shifts are hard work (as all of the volunteering is). The bars can be quite chaotic which makes it harder, but you are in amongst the festival and there’s a good team spirit which keeps you going. I’d recommend it.

I only started a couple of years ago and I’ve found it fine. There’s definitely a core of people who’ve been doing it for years that know each other really well, but they’re friendly enough. I’ve not even seen ‘scorn’ on the FB group tbh.

Booked to go to Parklife in case my Oxfam shifts at Glastonbury clash with Raye & Aitch.

Nothing in the headline slots that blows me away but….. Really happy with that. Plenty I want to see already although we are booking Parklife for a couple of weeks before to make sure we don’t get too upset if our shifts clash with Raye.

We aren’t solo but booking up for this now. We are working for Oxfam at Glastonbury so we decided we couldn’t risk missing Raye! It would ruin my Glastonbury if she was in and I couldn’t see her so decided to see her a couple of weeks earlier so I can be a bit more fatalistic about her scheduling at the big one! So we are almost literally going just for Raye, but I’m also looking forward to Aitch and some other mainstagers as well as the general dance vibe of the other stages.

You obviously have a thought about a few people you’d like to see, but try not to plan too much. When I went with Shelter for my first volunteer experience, I not only missed loads whilst on shift, I completely changed a lot of my plans in the rest of the time too. There was time when I was still right up to party, but there were also definitely times, like a few hours after shifts, when my feet hurt & I didn’t want to walk far, and even wanted to go for something where I could sit down for a bit. I remember watching Billy Bragg in Leftfield for a bit, and going to see The Mavericks in Avalon instead of Flaming Lips at The Park. ……..BUT….I quite liked that. I liked that I went a bit more random than usual. I liked that my shifts made me stop planning and it took me back to my early Glastonburies when I would just see what I found. Over the years I had gradually got more and more into planning and scheduling, and it was actually really liberating to just say ‘I’ll see what I see’….& now I do Oxfam every year because that’s how I like it. I really do think that when you choose volunteering it’s good to to see your shifts as part of your festival, and accept & enjoy what is left. …..& The Mavericks were bloody brilliant and I would never have seen them otherwise!

Nor me really. Somehow you just can’t get checked in unaccompanied with Shelter. You arrive on the coach, park up and people come onto the coach to put your wristbands on. I remember having to walk a fair way after getting dropped off by the coach as well. They just don’t seem to have any parking whereas the Oxfield has parking in the next field. You can also only camp with Shelter but you can take a live in vehicle with Oxfam.

Bristol is far nearer to Glastonbury than London and most people will have to travel in the general direction of Bristol to get to Glastonbury anyway, but imagine the frustration of living in the south west and having to get to London for a pick up? Fares to London are also the most expensive from most of the country. if there’s only one pick up point then it does make sense for it to be Bristol. However, they need plenty of pick up times going into late afternoon/early evening to enable as many people as possible to get to Bristol on the day and avoid having to pay out for a stopover.

We were there and decided to get the last train out of there! Filatorigat here we come!