Where to Find Festival Jobs in the UK: Every Platform and Agency
Volunteer schemes, paid staffing agencies and job boards, all in one place. What each one costs, how it pays, and how to pick the route that fits you.
Last updated: July 2026
How festival work works
There are three genuinely different ways to get a job at a UK festival, and it helps to know which is which before you start applying. You can volunteer as a steward through a charity or crew organiser and earn free entry in exchange for a couple of shifts. You can be paid an hourly wage by a staffing agency that supplies bar teams, stewards and security. Or you can find work directly through a job board, or through an employer who hires their own crew. This page separates all three so you can pick the route that fits.
A quick reality check on money. Volunteering does not pay a wage. You give up a set number of shifts, usually two or three eight-hour shifts, and in return you get a festival ticket you would otherwise have paid for, plus a crew campsite and food or hot drinks at some events. Paid agency work does pay by the hour, but you work more of the event and see less of it. Neither is better; they suit different people at different stages.
At a glance
Every route below is a real, current option. Volunteer platforms give free entry for shifts, agencies pay a wage, and boards connect you to employers directly.
| Route | Type | Pay model | Best for | Applications open |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PeakWave | Job board | Free, employers message you | Being found without applying | Any time |
| Festaff | Volunteer crew | Free entry, refundable deposit | Popular UK music festivals | Early each year |
| Hotbox Events | Volunteer and paid | Free entry or hourly wage | Volunteering then going paid | Early February |
| Oxfam Festivals | Charity volunteer | Free entry, three shifts | Stewarding for a cause | Spring |
| My Cause UK | Charity volunteer | Free entry, refundable deposit | Volunteering for a charity | Early each year |
| WaterAid | Charity volunteer | Free entry, four shifts | Glastonbury water and welfare | Spring |
| Showsec | Paid agency | Hourly wage | Stewarding and security | Rolling |
| Peppermint | Paid agency | Hourly wage | Festival bar work | Spring to summer |
| Ethical Staffing | Paid agency | Hourly wage (Real Living Wage) | Stewarding, bars, gates | Rolling |
| HAP | Paid agency | Hourly wage | Bar and steward roles | Rolling |
| Event People | Paid agency | Hourly wage | Event and festival crew | Rolling |
| Festivall Staff | Paid agency | Hourly wage (Real Living Wage) | Festival and event crew | Rolling |
| Edinburgh Festival Jobs | Job board | Hourly wage, employer-paid | Edinburgh Fringe roles | Feb to Apr |
Volunteer platforms
Volunteer steward organisers recruit thousands of people every summer to check wristbands, staff campsites, run information points and keep sites safe. You almost always pay a fully refundable deposit up front, which comes back once you complete your shifts, and you get in free. These are the main ones.
Festaff
Festaff works with more than thirty of the UK's leading music festivals and recruits volunteers for stewarding, wristbanding, ticket scanning and information roles. You typically commit to two eight-hour shifts across the event, and the cost is a small admin fee, around £15 or £10 for some London and Leeds events, plus a refundable deposit that is returned after your shifts. Confirmed partner festivals include Kendal Calling, Isle of Wight Festival, Boomtown and Creamfields. Find it at festaff.co.uk.
Hotbox Events
Running since 2003, when it staffed its first Leeds Festival, Hotbox Events recruits both volunteers and paid stewards, which makes it a strong route if you want to start as a volunteer and progress to paid work. Volunteers pay a fully refundable deposit that covers as many of its festivals as you like in a year, and applications usually open in early February. It is one of the larger and longer-established crew organisers. See hotboxevents.com.
Oxfam Festivals
Oxfam runs one of the biggest charity stewarding programmes in the country, taking volunteers to festivals such as Reading, Leeds, Latitude, Boomtown and Boardmasters, and it has long organised stewards at Glastonbury. Volunteers work three eight-hour shifts in exchange for free entry, and receive training in areas like accessibility and welfare. Your time supports Oxfam's anti-poverty work rather than a company's profit. Apply at festivals.oxfam.org.uk.
WaterAid
WaterAid's festival volunteering is focused on Glastonbury, where it brings hundreds of volunteers each year to run water refill points and support the sanitation, hygiene and clean-up teams. Volunteers typically work four six-hour shifts and stay in a dedicated WaterAid campsite with showers and a welfare space. It is a good option if Glastonbury is your target and you are happy with practical, hands-on roles. See wateraid.org.
My Cause UK
My Cause UK is a not-for-profit that places volunteers at festivals and, in return, donates to a charity of your choice without you having to fundraise. You pay one refundable deposit that covers all of its events, and work a maximum of three eight-hour shifts. Since 2015 it has donated over £300,000 to more than 900 charities. Find it at mycauseuk.com.
How the deposit works
The deposit is not a fee: it is a returnable bond against your ticket. Complete your shifts and it comes straight back. It exists so organisers can trust that volunteers will actually turn up and work, because a no-show leaves a gap on a rota that keeps a festival safe.
Paid staffing agencies
If you want a wage rather than a free ticket, staffing agencies are the route. Festivals contract them to supply bar teams, stewards, security and hospitality crew, and they pay you by the hour. Many also cover entry and accommodation as part of the deal. You will usually work more of the event than a volunteer does.
Showsec
Showsec is one of the UK's established event and venue security specialists, providing crowd management, stewarding and SIA-licensed security across festivals, concerts and sporting events. Most steward roles are casual and customer-facing, you need to be over 18, and the company is known for training and a clear route from steward up to supervisor and management. Pay is an hourly wage. See showsec.co.uk.
Peppermint
Peppermint is one of the UK's leading festival and event bar operators, running bars at events including BST Hyde Park, Camp Bestival, Mighty Hoopla, All Points East and Rewind. It recruits bar and hospitality crew for the summer season through its work-for-us page, and is a good fit if you have bar experience or want consistent festival bar work. Pay is an hourly wage. See peppermintbars.co.uk.
Ethical Staffing
Ethical Staffing supplies event crew for gates, box office and accreditation, internal and external stewarding, and hospitality and bars, and has worked at festivals including Boomtown, All Points East and Glastonbury. It is an accredited Real Living Wage employer, so pay sits above the legal minimum. It is worth a look if fair pay and conditions matter to you. See ethicalstaff.co.uk.
HAP
hap Solutions Group supplies temporary staff to festivals, stadiums, arenas and hospitality venues across the UK and Ireland, recruiting bar staff, stewards and hospitality crew. Perks at many events include free festival entry, campsite accommodation and food, and it runs quick online interviews to get you booked in. Pay is a competitive hourly rate. See hapgroup.co.uk.
Event People
Event People is an event staffing agency that supplies crew for festivals and outdoor events alongside sport, hospitality and conferences, and has worked on major fixtures such as the London Marathon and Silverstone. It draws on a large pool of event staff and provides on-site management, so it suits people who want to build a career across many kinds of events, not just festivals. Pay is an hourly wage. See eventpeople.co.uk.
Festivall Staff
Festivall Staff, run by The Occasionall Group, is a nationwide festival and event staffing agency that hires paid crew for festivals and festive events across the UK. It has paid at least the Real Living Wage since it started, and you apply and pick up shifts through its own FestivApp app. It suits people who want paid, flexible event work rather than volunteering for entry. See festivallstaff.co.uk.
Job boards and marketplaces
Boards and marketplaces let you find festival work without going through a single organiser, either by browsing listings or by being found directly by an employer.
PeakWave
PeakWave is free for both workers and employers, permanently, with no placement fees or subscriptions. Instead of firing off applications, you build one profile and festival and event employers browse and message you directly. The same profile also covers ski, yacht, watersports and summer work, and you get live conditions tools and a courses directory alongside. It is the only route on this page where festival employers come and find you. You can create a free profile in a few minutes.
Edinburgh Festival Jobs
Edinburgh Festival Jobs pulls together the recruitment pages for the Edinburgh festivals in one place, covering venues such as Assembly, Underbelly, Pleasance and Gilded Balloon across the Fringe, the International Festival, the Book Festival and the Tattoo. The 2026 Fringe runs from 7 to 31 August, and major venues typically recruit between February and April. Roles span bar, front of house, technical, box office and venue management, with most paid roles around the UK National Living Wage of £12.71 an hour and up. See edinburghfestivaljobs.com.
Facebook groups
A lot of festival work, especially last-minute crew shifts and cash bar cover, gets posted in Facebook groups before it reaches any board or agency. It is worth being in the right ones for the events you are chasing.
Where crew talk first
We keep a curated directory of seasonal work Facebook groups, including festival volunteer and crew communities, so you can join the groups where roles get shared first.
Which should you use?
For most people the honest answer is to combine routes and to think about progression. A huge number of festival workers start as a volunteer steward, learn how a site runs, and then move into paid agency or bar work the following year. Organisers like Hotbox Events even span both, so you can grow with one company. If you just want to get to a festival cheaply, volunteer through Festaff, Oxfam, My Cause UK or WaterAid. If you want a wage, apply to a staffing agency such as Showsec, Peppermint, Ethical Staffing, HAP, Event People or Festivall Staff. And if you are aiming at a specific scene, use a board: Edinburgh Festival Jobs for the Fringe, and PeakWave to be found across festivals and every other season.
PeakWave is the only option here where festival employers can find you, rather than the other way around, and it is free for both sides. For a UK-wide view of what is hiring this summer, see our roundup of festival jobs in the UK for 2026, and to plan which events to target, browse the guide to UK festivals.
This is one of a set of platform guides. If you work other seasons too, see our guide to every seasonal job platform and, for warm-weather work, the guide to summer job platforms.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get a job at a UK festival?
There are three routes. You can volunteer as a steward through a crew organiser such as Festaff, Hotbox Events, Oxfam, My Cause UK or WaterAid and get free entry in exchange for a few shifts. You can be paid an hourly wage by a staffing agency such as Showsec, Peppermint, Ethical Staffing, HAP, Event People or Festivall Staff. Or you can find work directly through a board like Edinburgh Festival Jobs or by building a PeakWave profile so employers message you.
Is festival volunteering actually free?
Almost all volunteer crew organisers ask for a deposit up front, but it is fully refundable once you complete your shifts. Festaff also charges a small admin fee, around £15, or £10 for some London and Leeds events. In return you get festival entry you would otherwise pay for, and at many events a crew campsite and food or hot drinks. So the net cost is usually just the admin fee, if there is one.
Do festival stewards get paid?
Volunteer stewarding through Oxfam, Festaff, My Cause UK or WaterAid is unpaid: you get free entry rather than a wage. If you want to be paid, you go through a staffing agency such as Showsec, Ethical Staffing or HAP, which employ stewards, bar and hospitality crew on an hourly wage. Hotbox Events runs both volunteer and paid roles, so it is a good bridge between the two.
When do festival job applications open?
Volunteer applications tend to open early in the year, with Hotbox Events opening in early February and others through spring. Edinburgh Fringe venues such as Assembly, Underbelly and Pleasance usually recruit between February and April. Paid agencies recruit on a rolling basis through the season. Apply early, because popular festivals fill on a first-come, first-served basis.
Can I get festival work with no experience?
Yes. Volunteer stewarding needs no experience and includes training, and paid agencies such as Showsec, HAP and Ethical Staffing recruit and train stewards and bar staff from scratch. A common path is to start as a volunteer, learn how a site runs, then move into paid agency or bar work the next season.
How does PeakWave fit in?
PeakWave is a free profile where festival and event employers find and message you directly, so there are no applications to fire off. It is free for both sides with no placement fees or subscriptions, and the same profile also covers ski, yacht, watersports and summer work, plus live conditions tools and a courses directory. It is the only route here where festival employers come to you.
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