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General Information 

Volunteer Arrival Date: Wednesday 6th August 2025

Volunteer Departure Date: Monday 11th August 2025

Shifts: No more than 3 x 8 hour shifts – one of these shifts could potentially be on Monday, meaning departure may not be until 5pm. Please take this into account when applying & making travel arrangements.

* Decor team shifts are different.

Deposit: £280 (refundable)

Camping: Crew camping available

Catering: One meal token per shift

*  Please read the below descriptions on the different roles available before applying.

Applications form opens 10th February 2025

Apply here

Applications close on 21st April, and those successful applications will hear back by 12th May. (If you have not heard anything back by then unfortunately your application was unsuccessful.)

Contact: volunteers@houghtonfestival.co.uk

These role profiles are designed to give you a good idea of what it will be like volunteering with us, however due to the ever changing nature of festivals, our volunteer team is expected to be flexible and therefore roles are subject to change or adaptation to meet the festival needs at any time.

Festival volunteering is great fun, but it’s also physically demanding. The majority of our volunteer roles will require you to be on your feet for the duration of your shift.

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Roles and Responsibilities

 

Campsite Stewarding

Our Festival Stewarding Team are the eyes and ears of the festival, responsible for maintaining the best experience for festival-goers, with a major focus on friendliness and helpfulness.

This role includes:

  • Stewards will be positioned in the campsites to help maintain a pleasant experience, and ensure festival-goers are able to seek assistance and report any issues in these areas.

Gate Team

Our Gates Teams are the first point of contact for all festival-goers on arrival – it’s up to us to give them a warm welcome and set a positive tone for their day!

This role includes:

  • Welcome Team: Stewards will work at the entry points and routes to the event, ensuring festival-goers know where and how to enter the event safely and quickly.
  • Ticket Scanning: Stewards will be responsible for scanning festival-goers’ tickets when they enter the festival, as well as redirecting issues and queries to the relevant location/people.
  • Wristbanding: These stewards will work with the ticket scanners to wristband festival-goers.
  • Queue Stewarding: Stewards will be responsible for helping to manage queues at points of entry to the festival. This includes directing people to the correct queues for their ticket type, directing the crowd to the designated queuing area and ensuring general welfare is available at the perimeter of the site.

Decor Team

You will be supporting the creative production team, to install the design and decor across the site and stages. Please note this role has different working dates for the build and break of the festival.

  • Build dates: Arrive Sunday 3rd August to start Monday 4th till Thursday 7th August.
  • Friday 8th - Sunday 10th: time off to enjoy the festival
  • Break dates: Monday 11th & Tuesday 12th August

* Catering: 3 meal tokens each shift

Karmie

You will be located at The Orchard - the wellness area of the festival assisting the stage managers in the running of the area, including the wellness schedule, managing guest access to classes, tidying the dome / cleaning equipment used, hosting the sauna desk, tidying the Orchard grounds furniture etc.

Green team

We made a commitment to be an environmentally responsible festival and we need your help to reduce campsite waste and the number of tents left behind. You will mostly be located in the campsite where you’ll actively contribute to sustainability efforts of the beautiful Houghton Festival site.  Help us reduce waste, promote recycling, encourage campers to take their tent home and create a greener & cleaner festival for everyone to enjoy.

Artist Liaison

Accreditation Assistant

To help organise all artists' accreditation packs including wristbands, car registrations, signing people into the festival, being there to assist with any questions artists have on arrival and being a constant point of contact throughout the festival.

The responsibilities for this role are:

  • Making sure when updating files on the system you input the information correctly
  • Making sure that people entering the festival have the correct accreditation (e.g. giving an artist the correct artist wristband and not a production band)
  • Being firm but friendly
  • Listening to the radio and responding accordingly

Artist Liaison Assistant

Based within a team on a stage, you’ll be assisting the Artist Liaison (AL) with tasks they need help with; being helpful backstage, helping load in/out any equipment for artists arriving to the stage and help with distribution of artist riders.

The responsibilities for this role are:

  • Being reliable as this means with your assistance the AL Manager for your stage can teach you about the running of a stage and managing artists
  • Carrying out all reasonable tasks that you have been asked to do (e.g. ordering and collecting food for artists.) 
  • It is your responsibility to ensure all artists are happy and looked after.
  • Ensuring your area is tidy and presentable at all times.
  • Collecting items from the rider store and putting together the riders (e.g. cases of water, crates of beer, snacks etc.) 

Logistics Assistant

Working as part of the Logistics team alongside Artist Accreditation. As a Logistics Assistant, you will be required to assist the Logistics Manager in ensuring all artist transport runs smoothly.

The responsibilities for this role are:

  • Confidence in using a radio and excellent communication.
  • Using your initiative and being trustworthy.
  • Being a constant point of call for all artists.
  • Problem solving.
  • Building rapport with buggy drivers and our on/off site drivers.

Runner

Being there to offer a helping hand in a variation of roles depending on what area or stage needs additional attention.

Please note this role has different working dates. Arrival on the 3rd for a start on the 4th.

The responsibilities for this role are:

  • Carrying out all tasks efficiently so that you can help in other areas as soon as one task finishes
  • Be adaptable, flexible, positive, up for problem solving.
  • Good at taking instructions.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • How old do I need to be?

    To volunteer at Houghton Festival you must be 18 on the day you are required to arrive on site for your first festival. We also welcome older and more experienced individuals. It’s great to have a variety of skills and to learn from each other while enjoying the festival together.

  • Do I pay a deposit?

    Yes you need to pay a £280 refundable deposit. This is the cost of a festival ticket, which acts as a bond to ensure that you attend and complete all your responsibilities onsite. 

    Your deposit will be returned to you 4 weeks after the festival. This deposit will be returned if you attend all your shifts satisfactorily. This means checking in at the volunteer hub before your shift, attending and being on time for all your shifts, and returning any tabards or radios. 

  • I am not from the UK. Can I volunteer?

    If you are from the Common Travel Area (UK, Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man), are an EU/EEA citizen holding Settled or Pre-Settled Status, have European Temporary Right to Remain, or have a Working Holiday Visa, you have the right to volunteer in the UK. If you hold a different visa or immigration status, you need to check if you have the right to volunteer before applying.

    UK immigration rules allow visitors from the EU to undertake volunteering provided it lasts no longer than 30 days in total. We are unable to support volunteer visas.

  • Why do I need to provide a reference?

    Like when applying for any job we require all our volunteers to provide a referee. This cannot be a relative but we will consider a college lecturer, employer or someone who knows you in a formal capacity. Your referee will be emailed for a reference. 

  • My friends are camped in the public area. Can I join them?

    We are afraid not. Space is limited and allocated based on how many tickets the festival has sold. In addition, we need to ensure your welfare while volunteering. You can of course go and visit them when you are not on shift.

  • What happens if I breach the terms that I have signed up to?

    We hope you have an enjoyable and safe time at Houghton Festival. We want you to have fun and fully embrace all that the festival has to offer, however we do ask that you enjoy yourself responsibly to ensure your safety as well as that of your fellow volunteers, the public and the staff while on-site.

    Any breach, such as absconding, not turning up to a shift or unruly behavior will not be tolerated and will mean that you will be evicted from site thus forfeiting your deposit.

    Remember the lovely volunteer management team are based in the volunteer hub and are your first point of contact if you are unable to make a shift for whatever reason. 

  • Can I bring a live-in vehicle(motorhome/caravan)?

    Yes! But you must specify this on the Transport section of your profile.

    Once sited, your live-in must remain static for the duration of the show, to minimise unnecessary vehicle movement in our campsite. If you leave the site in your vehicle you may not be allowed back in.

  • What should I bring?

    You will need to provide your own camping equipment such as a tent, airbed and sleeping bag.

    Make sure you have clothes suitable for extreme weather conditions, hot and cold / rain. We recommend always bringing a raincoat, wellington boots and a warm jumper as well as a sunhat and sunscreen. We can provide emergency ponchos, earplugs and sun cream if needed.

    The festival takes place mid August in the UK so expect all weather types and the evenings can be cold so it’s essential to bring layers if you are working in the evening.

    Don’t forget your travel mug and water bottle.

    Bring some good footwear. You need good solid shoes, boots or wellies to wear on shift.

    Please check the website information page for detailed information regarding restricted items.

  • What facilities are there?

    The volunteer hub is where you go to check in each day along with it being a place to chill out before or after your shift. There is a tea and coffee station, phone charging points and a chill out area. 

    You have access to crew toilets & facilities in your volunteer campsite.

  • How do I cancel my places if I can't make it?

    There is a cancellation deadline of 6 weeks before the festival.

    If you need to cancel your place before the cancellation deadline you won’t be charged a fee, but after the deadline with no valid reason you will lose all the deposit. 

    If you have valid reason and can provide evidence you will be charged an admin fee of £20. 

    To cancel, please email us with ‘CANCEL’ as the subject heading to volunteers@houghtonfestival.co.uk with your details, and the reason.

    * Changes to your work schedule, holidays and if your friends are no longer able to make it, are not accepted as valid reasons to cancel, so please ensure that any time is booked off work and confirmed before applying to avoid disappointment.

  • How to I get into the festival?

    When you arrive you need to follow the signs to the accreditation office where you will check in to receive your wristband. You will also go through the on-site health and safety questionnaire and be given your tabard. 

    You will be required to wear your high vis at all times on Wednesday and until the site goes live on Thursday. After that you will only need to wear your tabard whilst on shift.  

    Accreditation will direct you to the volunteer hub where you can check in, collect your shift times & locations, site maps and meal tokens etc. Team onsite briefing & locations will be confirmed at this time too. 

    Once you have checked in, you will be able to pitch your tent.

  • What is an onsite-briefing?

    This is where you will be given all the information you need about the festival and your role, and covers specific aspects of your role. The briefings will vary depending on the roles but may include things such as ticketing systems, locations of welfare & medical, how to check in people to wellness classes etc.

    If you have been allocated a supervisory or shift leading role you might need to attend extra briefings. 

  • Can I volunteer the same shifts with my friend?

    We do our very best to make sure you’re on the same shifts, but it can’t be guaranteed. Make sure you arrange your shift partner before signing up, and have their full name, and date of birth.

  • When can I leave?

    As soon as you have completed your final shift, handed back your tabard and given us your bank details so we can process a refund where applicable.