When Lou volunteered at The Big Chill

Lou volunteered at last weekend’s Big Chill Festival in Herefordshire with the purpose of seeing a major outdoor public event from the inside.

 Lou said “I wanted to volunteer at the Big Chill for various reasons, the main being to get out of my comfort zone in producing typically smaller, indoor events.

On arrival to the festival I received a brief from the organising team and I was delighted to be nominated as a CAT Team Leader for the five days.. (Camping Assistant Team).

Shift activities include a range of tasks from supporting customers on arrival to the festival with moving equipment and setting up tents to providing information on arena times. Unbelievable how much collateral petite under 18 girls need for a weekend!

The overnight shift was brilliant with constant situations to resolve as the festival goers returned from the arena to their tented homes.. J some were just funny and some, more serious.

Being on radio comms taught me a few pointers on anticipating and reacting to situations on such as huge site and remembering to report minor issues rather than typically sorting it yourself as most event managers would instinctively do. Awesome acts I did see were the Chemical Brothers, Nenah Cherry (Buffalo..What..!) and Calvin Harris.

Being on “the other side” has many pros and only a few cons. I didn’t love my two man tent which although was a convenient pop up style, developing a system to get dressed without touching the roof of the tent  which was usually damp was like rhythmic gymnastics at stupid o’clock each night, bore off. The drop box toilets..lets move on.  

I love the whole experience and even patrolling fields usually led to something to sort out. The range of types of people who volunteered led to a great mix and team vibe.  

In closing, I am converted. CAT Team Leader OUT.”

 

holland alexander. Events Management, Marketing and PR. Leicester and London Studios