Go to Glastonbury

How I did it: My friend had already worked as an Oxfam steward at Glastonbury and Leeds in previous years, so the following year I applied to join him.

If you volunteer to work for Oxfam, you'll get your ticket
price refunded to you. At the time it was almost impossible to get
tickets for Glastonbury, though I understand that it's now easier as
festival attendance has cooled off. Anyway, stewarding got us a
guaranteed place and a nice campsite, which was high up and thus
avoided the floods that decimated other people's experiences. Also a
shower (ice cold, but still appreciated by those of us with flowing
locks) and some meal tickets.

Lessons & tips: I almost selected Not worth doing, but decided it would be churlish. It
was roasting hot and I had a lot of trouble sleeping, which led to a
lot of stress about whether I'd be able to hack my work shifts over the
following days. This coloured my experience a fair bit, but that's a personal thing - in general I'm glad I went. Got drunk and saw some good bands, though I'm not sure I can remember who any of them were. Wandered round some of the mad corners of the site, including the bit with all the fires. Met a guy who claimed to have co-founded the festival. Watched a bit of a documentary on battery farming, bizarrely. Does that sound like your cup of tea? If so: Glastonbury. Just kidding - it's a great festival, and now that I'm thinking about it I'm wondering if I should go again!

Learn to sleep in noise and discomfort. This is true of any festival, of course.

Resources: You need to put down a couple of references as they take it fairly seriously, so it helps if you're in employment or have an advisor of studies at uni.

Oxfam give preference to stewards who have been before, which was the case with our friend, and ask who you'd like to share shifts with - as we put down our friend's name, it's possible that this helped us get a place, but I'm just guessing.

Jan 23, 2009, 05:25AM PST | 0 comments