Festival volunteering
Festival volunteering
Applications for the 2023 festival season are now open, and will close on Tuesday 21 February.
2023 festivals
Dates indicated are the dates volunteers will need to be on-site, which will usually be one or two days longer than the event itself. All events are subject to change and/or cancellation by the organisers.
What our volunteers do
We deliver a range of essential services, including keeping festivalgoers hydrated, providing our very own compost toilets, and helping to keep the festival clean for everyone – all whilst spreading the word about the life-changing power of clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene.
Water crews
Our water crews play a vital role in keeping festivalgoers happy, healthy and hydrated! Roles can include handing out water, selling water bottles, maintaining and cleaning water refill points, and talking to the public about our work.
Sanitation crews
Our sanitation crews include our Good Loos team, Loo Crew, and female urinal team. You could be keeping toilets clean and tidy, taking donations, and talking to festivalgoers about the importance of decent toilets for everyone.
Hygiene crews
The past two years have shown us all how important good hygiene is – so we'll be helping events stay clean and safe. Volunteers will help keep showers, sinks, and other key touch points around site sparkling clean!
We don’t ask you to choose which crew you'd like to join, but as part of the application process you’ll be able to highlight any skills and experience that will help us allocate the most suitable role to you. Please bear in mind that most of our roles – especially at Glastonbury – do involve cleaning of some kind!
What it's like to volunteer with WaterAid
Festival volunteering can involve rolling up your sleeves and getting stuck in – there's no denying it!
But it's also a wonderful opportunity to come together with a welcoming group of friendly, like-minded people, all passionate about WaterAid’s mission of reaching everyone, everywhere with clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene. And of course, when you’re not on shift, you’ll be able to enjoy the rest of the festival!
Find out more about:
Every multi-day festival has a crew-only campsite with a dedicated WaterAid area. The facilities on offer in the crew campsite will vary depending on the event; we'll let you know more information about specifics nearer the festival. If you have friends or family camping elsewhere at a festival, they won't be able to join you in the crew area, and you'll still need to camp with WaterAid.
You'll need to bring your own camping equipment, and unfortunately we don't have space to accommodate campervans.
We're not usually able to provide accommodation at single-day events.
We provide one full meal per shift worked, either in the form of vouchers to use at the dedicated crew cafe, or an expense allowance to buy food from on-site traders. Each festival has slightly different arrangements, which we confirm with you beforehand.
Priority status
We want to honour the commitment of our volunteers who join us at multiple festivals – so, if you volunteer at two or more each year, you'll benefit from priority status the following year. This won’t guarantee you a place on our team, but it does mean that we’ll process your application first.
If you volunteered with us at two or more festivals in 2022, or if you’ve volunteered at five or more in the past five years, you’ll automatically have priority status for our 2023 volunteer team.
If you volunteer with us at two or more festivals this summer, or if you've volunteered at five or more over the past five years, you'll benefit from priority status for our 2024 volunteer team – including Glastonbury!
How to apply
Applications close at 5pm on Tuesday 21 February.
Applications are not accepted on a first-come-first-served basis; we assess every application based on relevant skills, experience, and existing support for WaterAid. We’ll be in touch with all applicants by the end of April at the latest.
If you’re successful, you’ll need to pay a deposit (the amount varies depending on which festivals you’re attending), which will be refunded in full after your last festival, provided you meet the terms and conditions.
Festival ambassadors
Do you want to take your volunteering to the next level? We're recruiting three voluntary festival ambassadors – focused on volunteer support, campaigns and content, and logistics – to work closely with our team over the summer.
Accessibility
We want to do everything we can to make festival volunteering with us accessible for everyone. Please get in touch with us by emailing [email protected], or by calling 020 7793 4594, if we can help with:
- Setting up a payment plan for your deposit
- Borrowing camping equipment
- Additional help with expenses
- Support during the application process (e.g. with training) and/or at the festival
- Anything else that we could do to support you to volunteer with us.
Contact us
If you have any questions, check out our FAQs page, or contact us by emailing [email protected] or calling 0207 793 4523 – we’d be happy to help!
You can also join the WaterAid Festival Volunteering Facebook group to connect with fellow volunteers, and keep up to date with the latest volunteering opportunities.