Festivals

[gordontech]

However, if that chief LX is still out there thinking 'I want him' then I wouldn't complain

 

 

 

HA, if you think based on this conversation thats going to happen then your naive. But I wouldn't complain either matie :)

[Richard CSL]

As an outsider I would say this whole thread has been very negative for the poor lad, yes he started with an overconfident statement, but remember it is the ones that push and shine a bit that end up getting somewhere,

 

The youth are to be encouraged, especially those that show interest and willing. So is there nobody here that can put this enthusiastic young lad into the right direction with some company names and better still, names of people in that company, after all what better for the young lad to phone up and say, "somebody on blue room recomended I speak to you".??

[David Lee]

He has been told the best routes to follow - approach hire companies and look at smaller festivals which is what he is doing.

 

I would never recommend a person that I do not know

 

in response to drive and motivation I find that over confidence is the worst thing in this industry. It can lead to people being put in a situation they cannot resolve with a tight deadline approaching.

 

Just my 2p.

[Jivemaster]

http://www.sidmouthfolkweek.co.uk/index.php?page=stewards

 

http://www.whitbyfolk.co.uk/Stewards

 

http://www.broadstairsfolkweek.org.uk/broadstairs-workforce.htm

 

Three links to festivals that rely on volunteers where you will learn a LOT about the heavy side of festival work.

[gyro_gearloose]

The youth are to be encouraged, especially those that show interest and willing.

I would suggest that the first thing that anyone interested in backstage work should learn is what the job actually entails. Something I've seen many times before is when new staff are taken on as casuals they seem to think that they will be hanging out backstage with the stars, or that they'll be able to play with all the cool lights. It often comes as a bit of a shock to discover that the job, even in a small venue like ours, mostly involves starting early and/or finishing late, and moving big heavy boxes on and off trucks.

[ImagineerTom]

...and I'd second that by pointing out that you know how you /think/ it's going to be working at a festival; well that's completely wrong; It's dirtier, messier and harder than you imagine, you will not be working with the band/stage/genre you actually want to be at (so you miss all the fun bits of the festival) the facilities and resources are terrible and you will be expected to be incredibly accommodating and work absolute miracles with NO RESOURCES in the middle of a thunderstorm whilst a premadonna "artist" is screaming at you. You need to learn some skills in a traditional venue so that you're equipped to cope with the festival experience first otherwise you'll drown.

[timsabre]

It's dirtier, messier and harder than you imagine...

 

This is so true. It looks very exciting from the outside but often you get the most boring and/or unpleasant jobs to do.

My first festival I was tasked (several times) to help rescue people's belongings which had been dropped/thrown into a toilet cess pit.

 

At least on a small festival you can get put on a wider variety of jobs, which helps.

[Jivemaster]

XX Years ago I was a venue manager for one of the festivals I linked above. That meant supervising the venue for everything from Artistes to portaloos from 9pm til 3am then being available all day for works events form rehearsals generator fueling to the honey wagon. In my spare time I had a free pass to the rest of the festival! Work all night be there all day enjoy the rest! Oh! on the last day the event finished at 3am and the marquee was moving to it's next job at 6am so that was a long night to clear up.

[kerry davies]

Just as an offshoot from this, how many of those who work events regularly actually get to enjoy the artists?

 

I remember managing a gig with Amy Winehouse, Scissor Sisters and Ash and apart from a chorus from each to make sure they weren't actually on fire, the most time I spent listening to any artist was telling Trevor Nelson he was a fool to get lost and "No, you can't have an extra half hour."

 

There are very few artists I actually pay to see and would never, ever work a gig with Ry Cooder because I would die if I missed his set because the bogs were blocked or the crew bus was on fire.

[RichM]

Just as an offshoot from this, how many of those who work events regularly actually get to enjoy the artists?

 

I've never "enjoyed' (in the way most people would understand/use the term) any artists I've engineered/crewed. If I'm engineering an act I'm busy mixing with everything that entails, if I'm stage crew I'm usually running around patching the next act to go on.

[Tezzachs]

 

Look at Broadstairs, Sidmouth and Whitby festivals. These run on volunteer labour and certainly Whitby used to accept volunteers under 18.

 

 

Broadstairs dont use any volunteers under 18, its stated on the 3rd line of their form.

[Jivemaster]

Whitby certainly used to have an application form for young people 16 or17 y.o. as stewards. With the possibility that chaperones could be needed MOST places have problems engaging people before their 18th birthday.

 

In several cases the OP may need to chose a location that will accept a lone young person unless they can find a place where their parents can and will do their daily care.

[fraggle]

Gleek, et.al.

 

As most people here have noted, your age limits your current opportunities because of all the pesky rules and regulations that are around these days regarding insurance and supervision etc. But as was also mentioned, without a personal recommendation you'd unlikely to be put up for a job on a "Big Festival". Most of the suppliers in this area would more than likely want you to demonstrate your skills in their warehouse or similar prior to be letting out representing them in a field.

 

However, don't stop asking, as often as not you get a break by being the person who's available and then not screwing up and as was also mentioned, someone who's enthusiastic for the job can be an asset and to be encouraged.

 

Your best options would be to look for so work further down the ladder so to speak at smaller events. Some of the crewing companys like Stage Miracles or Showstarts (to mention but a few) may be in a better position to take on casual labour than the supply companies and this would be a good way to get to see what goes on without having to be immediately responsible for the show.

 

As some of the others have said talking to the people you're working with and crucially, working hard and actaully being useful will encourage them to want your help and hence consider getting you to be part of the team.

 

As a general "offshoot", big festivals today are a long way removed from the bunch of people with guitars in a field, as an example the last Glastonbury festival main stage was essentially 3 nights of a live TV broadcast featuring U2, Coldplay and Beyonce infront of 80,000 people. In that context its unlikely that any of the planning meetings will involve the phrase, "lets get that young lad who posted on the Blue Room involved" - no offence :)

 

Festivals these days much more resemble the comment,

 

"expected to be incredibly accommodating and work absolute miracles with NO RESOURCES in the middle of a thunderstorm whilst a premadonna "artist" is screaming at you"

Few newcomers these days seem to be so enthusiastic for the "standing in the pouring rain at the back of a truck" aspect of the job, I imagine too that pulling a FoH snake thought a muddy tunnel in the dark is not on the syllabus of most technical theatre courses, and I assume Kerry was only checking the artists weren't on fire because they'd not filled in the council pyrotechnics application 3 months in advance.

 

Finally, its a little disheartening to have to advise a clearly intelligent and enthusiastic individual that its not practical to get them invoved. Because that's exactly how I and most of my contemporaries ended up here. Whilst I understand the ins and outs of the new industry order that has emerged over the last few years, it surprises and saddens me that despite there being more live events than ever these days and more opportunities to train in our industry, I still see the same old faces year in year out.

 

Our industry, I beleive desperately needs a steady stream of new blood, we need to be able to find the mechanisms to be able to give people practical experience to compliment their academic acheivements. But prospective Chief LX's of the future also need to realise that the bulk of the job involves loading trucks, pushing boxes, pulling cables and a whole load of other menial tasks that are a million miles away from mixing up your favourite shade of pink on the new Hog4.

 

 

However, if that chief LX is still out there thinking 'I want him' then I wouldn't complain

 

I imagine that if such a person happened to be reading, they might say something like the above ;)

 

Regards,

 

F.

[LXbydesign]

Well, you wanna try white gloving it then fraggle :P

 

hehe

 

No, its quite right all of the above. The festival world is a dirty, smelly, high pressured, no love for money gig - BUT .....you will make life long crew friends and hopefully that will open out your 'network' and find more work from it.

Even if you end up on a smaller local festival and spend 3 days wearing the same pants for no money other than a free access ticket and some food / drink for the duration. Whats the harm in that ? You get to see all that goes on, help out the crew when needed. If you do a good job, your get remembered and so for next year your hear something like "ahh remember 'bob'. he was alrite. helpful lad. lets ask him back for next year and put him on the stagecrew'

 

You do that - do a good job - next year they make you one of the ASM's etc . And so it goes on.

 

Even if you only 'hasstle' one company, you stick with it and they like you and by the time your 18 your be a fully fledged paid crew member and but that time known and repected so then your get better jobs on the gig

 

Good Luck

[ImagineerTom]

Just to add - ALL but 1 of our crew on the bigtops business are crew we've met working on festivals with them working in another department (general crew, stewards, infrastructure) who were always friendly and helpful and when we needed some extra bodies they were the ones we thought of first and who have remained with us ever since gradually working their way up the ladder. For years we took on staff from other sources who entered the company near the top and all but one of them didn't last a season whereas the good, friendly helpful people who started at the bottom have all now got careers with us they love. I get the impression that's fairly standard across all sectors in the Festival business; get the lowest job you can, prove you're part of the team and people will reward you for it.