Become a Festival Volunteer

You'll love it!!!

A large part of the success of the Surry Hills Festival lies with the passionate enthusiastic volunteers who give so generously of the time in the six months leading up to the Festival and on Festival Day. Approximately 100 volunteers contribute their time, skills and expertise to the Festival each year.

Volunteers get to experience a great team spirit, and the reward of knowing that their investment has been part of raising awareness and financial support for the community service of the Surry Hills Neighbourhood Centre.

Previous Volunteers had the following to say about their highlights on Festival Day:

• "Great crew. Food and volunteer welfare system was excellent."
• "I really enjoyed the 'Gold Coin Donation team..."
• "Congratulations on a very well coordinated event, including providing for breaks and meal vouchers for yummy food. Thank you for the opportunity to participate."
• "of all the events I have volunteered with, it seemed to be the most smoothly run."

What Volunteer Opportunities are available in 2008?

Volunteer Opportunities are available in two categories - Pre Festival and Festival Day.

Pre-Festival:

Volunteers are already working on the Surry Hills Festival, with pre-festival volunteer roles available in the last 6 weeks. These include:

Pre-Festival Administration: Assistant to Festival Director, Logistics, Sponsor liaison, Band & Artists Liaison, Community liaison, Site area management, etc.
THE PRE-EVENT ADMIN TEAM IS NOW FULL

Pre-Festival Street Marketing & Promotion (March and April): Delivering posters & programmes to local businesses/universities.

Festival Day:

Bump In Team: 6.00am - 10.00am

Traffic Marshals assist the flow of traffic through the park during Bump In of stalls. They allow stallholders to enter the park during their allocated correct set up time, and direct them to their general stall area.

Stall Area Marshals assist stallholders to identify their specific stall area within a section of the park. They ensure that stallholders unload their vehicles and remove the vehicle from the park within the allocated time frame BEFORE setting up their stall.

Dog Show Assistants: 9.00am - 11.30am
THE DOG SHOW ASSISTANTS TEAM IS NOW FULL

The Dog Show Assistants provide support to MC for the Surry Hills Dog Show off, collecting Gold Coin registrations for Dogs entering the Show.

Gold Coin Team: 9.30am - 1.30pm OR 11.30pm - 3.30pm OR 2.30pm - 6.00pm

The Gold Coin Collection team is becoming one of the most popular volunteer opportunities at the Surry Hills Festival. These volunteers are the primary face of the Festival and have a highly rewarding role. They greet Festival goers at all entry gates to the park, provide general information to Festival goers, hand out Festival programmes and receive the Gold Coin entry donations which are a fund raiser for the community services of the Surry Hills Neighbourhood Centre. Gold Coin collectors will give each person a sticker to indicate that they have donated, so that individuals are only asked to donate once during the Festival.

Gold Coin Collectors work in teams of two people (minimum) and up to eight people - so it is an excellent opportunity to volunteer with a group of your friends, or to make new friends!! This year, we're aiming for a team of 40 Gold Coin collectors at the gates throughout the day, so why not organise a group of people and come and volunteer together.

**New role for 2008 festival** Gold Coin Spruiker: 9.30am - 1.30pm OR 11.30am - 3.30pm OR 2.30pm - 6.00pm

We've created a new volunteer role for the 2008 festival - Gold Coin Spruiker. If you have a great sense of humour, love being in the limelight, and you are happy to stand at the front of the festival gates and promote the merits of giving generously to the Surry Hills Neighbourhood Centre, then this role is perfect for you. The Gold Coin Spruikers will have the fun task of encouraging festival goers entering the gates to give generously to the waiting Gold Coin team.

Photographers: 6.00am - 10.00am, 10.00am - 2.00pm, 2.00pm - 6.00pm 00pm
VERY LIMITED VOLUNTEER ROLES AVAILABLE

Festival Photographers will be given a brief by the Festival Director, and asked to capture images fo the Festival that will be suitable for use in future Media releases and Festival publicity.

Stage Management: 9.00am - 2.00pm, 2.00pm - 6.00pm
THE STAGE MANAGEMENT TEAM IS NOW FULL

Stage Managers & Stage Assistants are responsible for hosting bands & artists, managing stage plots and ensuring that each Festival stage runs to schedule (experience in stage management or event management is essential.)

Benefits of Volunteering at the Surry Hills Festival

• Flexibility: Volunteers will be asked when they are available on Festival Day, so that they can be rostered on for their convenience
• Breaks: Volunteers will be given appropriate breaks throughout their shift(s)
• Training: Volunteers will receive training in their job, including safety training.
• T-shirt: All Festival Day volunteers will receive a T-Shirt which will identify them on the day.
• Volunteer Thank you party: Volunteers will be invited to a Volunteer Thank you party to be held during the week after the Festival.

Expectations of Volunteers

• All volunteers are required to complete a formal application, and to sign on and off when they come on duty. This is to ensure they are covered by our insurance.
• Volunteer Training Session: Volunteers will be required to undergo training before Festival Day in their specific duties, and to ensure that they are familiar with the safety requirements of their tasks and the relevant parts of the Risk Management Plan
• The main responsibilities of a volunteer, apart from doing their assigned jobs, are to have fun and work safely.

How do I become a Volunteer?

All volunteer spots have been filled, but you are invited to come and enjoy a wonderful day at the festival!

Photographs by Amy Mergard, William Newell and Mike Salon