No, I wasn’t breaking through the fence – I was attending as a festival steward with Oxfam. You pay a deposit at the price of the festival ticket (returned when shifts are completed satisfactorily) and work three shifts during the weekend. And when you’re not volunteering, you can enjoy everything the festival has to offer.
In front of the Pyramid Stage 2013 before the crowds arrive (Photo: Supplied)
I signed up for my first Oxfam festival (Glastonbury 2013) that March, not knowing what I’d let myself in for, or even who was playing (it was the year they’d finally booked The Rolling Stones, it would turn out). Seven festivals stewarded (Glastonbury 2013-2017, Reading 2013 and Bestival 2014) is a sign in itself that I absolutely loved my first Glastonbury with Oxfam.
You find out your allocated shift times when you arrive onsite – an example shift pattern that I had at my first Glastonbury is:
9:45pm-6am Wednesday-Thursday overnight 1:45pm-10pm Friday 5:45am-2pm SundayThe Oxfield, Glastonbury 2017 (Photo: Supplied)
You stay in the Glastonbury Oxfield, a designated area for stewards. It’s not too noisy and while still not quite home comforts, there is a communal tent where it’s easy to make new friends, as well as tokens for free meals and even showers.
I’ve had great fun stewarding alongside friends – you can request to synchronise shifts with them – but stewarding solo can also be very rewarding. I’ve gone to some festivals knowing no one else stewarding but found groups of people who were happy for me to join their camp. Some of my favourite memories have been with people I met that weekend or even during a shift – running to the Pyramid Stage with some other stewards, when our shift ended at the exact same time Foo Fighters’ set was starting.
Alec Evans in the crowd for Liam Gallagher’s Beady Eye before his shift starts in 2013 (Photo: Kiel Egging)And it wouldn’t be an account of Glastonbury if we didn’t mention the weather; you’ll sometimes be on shift in the open air. In 2014, there was a massive burst of thunderstorms resulting in the temporary closure of the major stages and 2016 was an exhaustingly drizzly and muddy one. I wasn’t on shift in the 2014 storms thankfully, but walking out into a torrential downpour in 2016, after a 5am alarm call, to go to my shift, was one of those moments where I did question why this was something I chose to do for fun. Those two years, hearing Metallica play songs from their Ride The Lightning album and Adele singing “Set Fire To The Rain”, it felt like art imitating weather.
Never turn up on shift without a raincoat (Photo: Supplied)But character-building at worst, Oxfam festival stewarding is such a nice experience that after trying, I’ve never really wanted to buy a Glastonbury ticket as normal.
More information on Oxfam Festival Stewarding and how to get involved – Glastonbury is fully booked for 2025 but other festivals are available – can be found through the Oxfam website.
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