7 Reasons You Should Volunteer at Roskilde Festival in Denmark

With 175 music acts and approximately 130,000 visitors from all over the world, Roskilde Festival has fairly earned the title of Northern Europe’s largest culture and music festival. Every year at the beginning of July, Roskilde Festival sets its nine stages and for more than a week, music fills the air from morning until late at night. Both established and upcoming artists from Denmark and the international music scene perform for four days at the Danish festival while special events and DJ parties last all day long.

Since 1971 when Roskilde Festival took place for the first time many renowned artists have hit the festival’s stages. Roskilde has always been known for having a strong line-up that consists of emerging bands and the world’s most popular artists. Rolling Stones, Metallica, Rihanna, The Chemical Brothers, Kanye West and Arcade Fire are only some of the festival’s headliners that have performed at Roskilde Festival over the years. This year’s line-up includes Eminem, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Gorillaz, Cardi B and more than 100 other acts. A full-festival ticket costs 2,100 DKK (£247) while the one-day ticket 1050 DKK (£123). However, volunteers get to see all of their favourite musicians for free.

Being one of the largest music festivals in Europe, Roskilde Festival attracts thousands of people from Denmark and other countries around the world who buy a full-festival ticket and set their tents up on the 80 hectares campsite for eight days. Grab the chance to mingle with locals and make new friends. Volunteers have their own campsite that is their home for 10 days, so usually they’re the ones who leave the festival with a big list of new phone numbers.

Roskilde Festival starts at the end of June and runs through the first week of July. Even though it would be a lie to say that since it’s summer the weather will certainly be warm and sunny, there are high chances that it will be. July is the hottest month in Denmark and has approximately 17 hours of daylight. Most of the days are warm and sunny but that doesn’t mean you can be sure that there won’t be rainfalls or showers. The weather during Roskilde Festival is always unpredictable (like the rest of the year in Denmark) but trust us: if you follow other Danes’ leads and bring the necessary accessories along (rubber boots and a waterproof jacket), the weather won’t spoil your fun.

Eight days may be a very short amount of time to learn the secrets of event planning and management but you’ll certainly get an idea of what’s happening backstage at a music festival. Even if you’ve attended many festivals, taking part in the organization and seeing behind the scenes how a music festival is set up is a totally different experience.

There are several positions that need to be filled during Roskilde Festival, so if you decide to volunteer you can choose the job that fits you best from among numerous choices. Volunteers are called to set their tents up a couple of days before the festival begins and complete approximately four five-hour shifts over the next 10 days. As a volunteer, you’ll have access to special lounges where free coffee and cheaper beers will be available while you’ll also have drinks and meal coupons.