Download Festival is the second largest music festival in the UK calendar after Glastonbury. It is being held between the 9th and 15th June 2020 at Donington Park, Castle Donington, Derby. Headliners this year include Kiss, Iron Maiden, System of a Down, Deftones, Korn and a number of other acts.
The Download Festival is a rock music event that draws massive crowds that take over the Donington Park race circuit for an entire weekend. There are lots of opportunities to volunteer at Download but competition is fierce. You’re going to have to move quickly and decisively if you want to secure a spot!
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There are lots of positions made available but they tend to go very quickly. Volunteering opportunities at Download Festival are handled by Hotbox, a third party. Other organisations also have volunteering opportunities and are included below.
There are all kinds of volunteer positions at Download Festival. Much depends who you end up volunteering with.
Hotbox volunteers will be assisting with directions, helping set up tents, carry luggage, answering questions about the festival, working with fire, medical and safety staff, marshalling, fire watch and generally helping out across the festival. There will also be the obvious litter picking and cleaning tasks.
Charity Concierge volunteers act as taxi drivers and taxi ground crew to make sure everyone can get to where they need to be.
Attitude is Everything and Festaff provide marshals, stewarding, checking tickets and wristbands, serving, front of house, campsite management and a huge range of general tasks around the festival.
As you can imagine, there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes and volunteers will be needed almost everywhere to keep things moving smoothly. If you have specialist skills such as being a paramedic, fire training, doctor, sound engineer or something else, you may be given priority. Make sure to mention it in your application.
If you want to volunteer at Download Festival, you can apply directly to the organisations that manage volunteering. Each will have an application form you will need to complete in order to be considered.
To volunteer at Download Festival, you must be available to work the entire duration of the event. You need to be over 18 and be able to complete at least 3 eight hour shifts in return for free entry into the festival. You may also need to attend a period of training before the event.
You have the opportunity to select a preference when you sign up to volunteer but there are no guarantees you’ll get the role you apply for. Each organisation tries their best to give you what you want but it isn’t always possible. If you apply for a volunteer position at Download Festival, be prepared that you may not be doing exactly what you wanted to do.
Like many volunteer positions at popular events, you need to move quickly to secure a place. Take note of what day applications opened in previous years and plan to get in there quickly. If you have special needs are applying to volunteer with friends, the earlier you apply, the more likely you are to be able to work together.
