VOLUNTEERING FOR THE FESTIVAL
Volunteers can contribute to the festival in many ways. We need volunteers in the spring to help prepare the grounds for the summer festivities. This year our Spring Clean-Up dates are April 26, May 3 and May 17. These are all Saturdays and we’ll be working from 8 - 4. You can come and go when you wish, using our sign-up sheet to record your hours.
During the festival, volunteers staff the ticket gates and T-shirt booth, shuttle festival attendees, manage the parking lot, and do many other jobs. Working 12 hours (4 of which must occur during music performances on the main festival weekend) earns a volunteer a free festival pass (camping and music) and early entrance to the campground!
To sign-up as a volunteer, please fill out the form below.
The Darrington Bluegrass Festival has a long history of being completely volunteer run!
In addition to our Board of Directors, we rely on volunteers to make our festival possible.
Volunteering FAQ’s
Can I get a free ticket or free camping if I volunteer enough hours?
Yes! You can earn both a free weekend pass for the music AND a free campsite if you volunteer for three separate 4-hour shifts (12 hours total). One of these three shifts MUST be during performance times on the Friday, Saturday or Sunday of the music festival. You also get early entrance to the campground — you may arrive on Thursday July 10 or Friday July 11 before it opens to the public on July 12.
Do I have to work during the music part of the festival in order to get a free ticket?
Yes, you have to work at least one 4-hour shift during the music hours of the festival weekend to earn a free ticket.
What if I can’t volunteer for 12 hours?
If you want to volunteer for 4 hours on one of our music festival weekend days, you can attend the rest of that particular day for free. See signup link above for this option.
Volunteer job details:
Backstage Food Assistant — Drive a golf cart to and from the Concessions Kitchen, delivering food to and from backstage, help with serving and with food prep if you have a food handlers permit. People with this permit are preferred for this job.
Camping Gate — Be a cashier, checking in folks arriving for camping. Must be comfortable with numbers, since you will be figuring out how much to charge for extra camping days, for RVs versus car campers, for numbers of people needing music passes, etc. We will have calculators for you to use. This is a busy job on Friday, so the time will fly by, but you should be comfortable with a hectic pace.
Dog Duty — This job is for someone who likes dogs, but also is willing to enforce our rules. Dogs must be on leash at all times, especially in the audience areas. We may mark a dog area, or maybe let them be anywhere except for on the concrete pad in front of the stage. That is TBD. You would be walking the grounds, meeting the dogs and owners, picking up any poop you see, etc.
Garbage Shuttle — Drive a golf cart around and collect filled garbage bags from the smaller cans and move those full bags into the dumpsters. Pick up litter, check the recycling bin, etc. Also check for camping stickers on all vehicles parked in the campground.
Golf Cart Driver — Shuttle people to and from the parking lot to the amphitheater or campground. A good job for friendly folks who have been long time attendees of our festival.
Parking Lot — Help folks find a good spot to park and keep the cars lined up for efficiency and easy departure. There will be orange cone markers to mark the rows, but guidance into spots will be very helpful.
T-shirt/Merch Sales — Work in the Merch Booth, selling gear to customers. Bonus if you are experienced with using Square credit card scanners.
Ticket Gate — Be a cashier at the walk-in ticket gate. This can be a busy job, with some pressure as the line forms. Multiple volunteers will be in the booth at one time. All should be welcoming and informative while also being efficient and accurate.