Festival volunteering
Join us this summer
Join us at major UK festivals and events this summer, helping deliver vital services and inspiring others to support our work.
We have spaces available at Boomtown and Smoked & Uncut (Lime Wood and the Pig at Bridge Place), and are recruiting to the waiting list for all other festivals (including Glastonbury).
2022 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 are subject to change and/or cancellation.
Smoked & Uncut
We're excited to launch a new partnership with Smoked & Uncut and Belu, taking volunteers to four food-focused festivals over the summer – perfect if you're looking for a smaller or slightly more relaxed volunteering experience!
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'll 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, cleaning showers and touch points around the site, as well as collecting litter and making sure as much as possible is recycled.
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 – 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 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 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, and we'll confirm these with you nearer the time.
Camp Bestival (Dorset)
As Camp Bestival is a family-focused festival, you're welcome to bring your children too! Every child (or pair of children) will need to be accompanied by two guardians, both of whom must be WaterAid volunteers. Email us on [email protected] and we'll let you know more about how this works.
Other festivals
Currently we're trialling the option to bring children to Camp Bestival in Dorset only (not Shropshire). Unfortunately you won't be able to bring children or other dependents to any other events this summer.
Priority status for 2023
We want to honour the commitment of our volunteers who join us at multiple festivals.
So, if you volunteer with us at two or more festivals this year, or if you’ve volunteered at five or more in the past five years, you’ll benefit from priority status for our 2023 volunteer team – including Glastonbury! This won’t guarantee you a place on our team next year, but it will mean that we’ll process your 2023 application first.
How to apply
Applications are open for Boomtown and Smoked & Uncut (Lime Wood and the Pig at Bridge Place), and for the waiting list for all other festivals.
We'll be in touch with you as soon as possible if we're able to offer you a place at your chosen festival(s).
The application form and process is the same, whether you're applying for a festival where we have spaces available, or for the waiting list. We assess every application based on relevant skills, experience, and existing support for WaterAid – so please take the time to complete the form carefully, and let us know why you'd make a great addition to our team!
If we offer you a place, you’ll need to pay a deposit (the amount varies depending on which festivals you’re attending), which will be refunded in full, provided you meet the terms and conditions.
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.
COVID-19
We know that festival volunteering may still look slightly different this summer, but we’re working hard to ensure that the experience is just as special as in previous years – and, of course, that it’s as safe as possible for everyone.
We’re following government guidelines closely and making sure we consider the impact of COVID-19 at every stage of our planning process. We'll provide all volunteers with extra training to help you stay safe, as well as enhanced support and welfare measures on-site.
Contact us
If you have any questions, check out our FAQs page, or contact us by emailing [email protected] or calling 020 7793 4594 – 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.