Thursday, June 5, 2025
We hope you're looking forward to joining us at Download Festival next week!
If you haven't already spotted Download Festival volunteer shift patterns have been confirmed! You can view your shift pattern in your Hotbox Events PAAM account in the same place where you selected your shift preferences!
If you've only recently selected your shift preferences your shift pattern may still be pending, we're allocating shift patterns daily so check back tomorrow so see which shift pattern you have!
If you haven't already you can now login to order your meal vouchers!
Download Festival's meal vouchers can be used at staff catering between Wednesday 11th June and Monday 16th June and are offered at a discounted price compared to normal food prices onsite.
Meal vouchers at Download Festival are not day or meal specific.
Please note Download Festival meal vouchers must be pre-ordered!
We've uploaded a sample menu to the Hotbox Events PAAM Portal to give you an idea of the kind of meals staff catering will be serving.
To order your Download Festival meal vouchers:
The deadline for pre-ordering meal vouchers is 4pm Friday 6th June 2025.
The Hotbox compound will house a marquee with tables, chairs, and kettles, providing 24-hour access to hot water, tea and coffee, and you're of course welcome to use the kettles for making pot noodles/porridge pots etc. You can also go off-site to do a supermarket run once you have signed in at the festival.
We will be providing some tea, coffee, milk and sugar, although please note we will not be providing disposable cups this year to reduce our environmental impact at the festival. You can purchase a reusable insulated keep cup from the Hotbox office in the staff campsite or you're welcome to bring your own to the festival.
Also, if you tend to drink a lot of tea and coffee, please bring some extra supplies as ours won't last forever!
Arrival at Download Festival is changing this year.
When you first arrive at Download Festival you'll head to Hotbox accreditation where your Right to Work in the UK documents will be checked and you'll sign in on the Hotbox system.
The only acceptable ways to prove your right to work in the UK are:
After your Right to Work documents have been checked and approved you will be directed to a separate accreditation desk run by the festival's accreditation team, where you will receive your festival wristband and parking pass (if required). You will need photographic ID to show to the festival's accreditation team. If you're using a passport to prove your right to work in the UK this is the easiest option. If you're using a birth certificate/proof of NI number you will need to bring another photographic ID document to prove your identity at accreditation, such as a driving license. A driving license is not proof of your right to work in the UK!
If you fail to bring the correct documents to prove your right to work in the UK you will not be admitted to the festival site and you will need to go home to collect the correct documents. There will be no exceptions to this rule so please ensure you have the correct documents before you arrive!
Arrival information, including the gate you need to enter the site via can be found in the PAAM Portal.
Please make sure you check out the Info Pack before you arrive! There's lot of useful documents to read and familiarise yourself with before the festival to ensure you have the best time possible at the festival!
Please don't forget to bring documents to prove your right to work in the UK to the festival.
The options for this are:
We cannot accept photocopies or photographs! We are legally required to see the original documents in person at the festival. We have a safe in the Hotbox office where we can keep documents during the festival if you would prefer not to store them in your tent.
A driving license is not proof of your right to work in the UK.
Every year volunteers arrive with their driving license as proof of right to work in the UK and unfortunately need to be asked to head back home to collect other documents to prove their right to work in the UK. Please don't let it be you!
We're receiving a lot of emails and messages in the lead up to Download Festival next week. Many questions can be answered in our website FAQs, or in the Info Pack in the PAAM Portal. If we're not able to get back to you as quickly as we would like to, you can pop into our Facebook Group for information and advice from our other Download Festival staff and volunteers!
If there is anything you would like to ask or you would just like to chat with us about, the easiest way is to...
You can connect with us @hotboxevents on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn
If you would like to chat with others who have joined us before, head to our Facebook Group
On Facebook you will find new and returning staff and volunteers chatting about what it is like to join us at festivals, arranging to share lifts, asking and answering questions about working at festivals and making new friends!
If you have not joined us at a festival before and are wondering what it is like, check out some of our staff and volunteer interviews!
In the interviews you will get to hear from those who have joined us talking about how they found their shifts, how they felt they were looked after by the Hotbox team, what it was like working solo for the first time, taking on more responsibility year on year, and even how the experience and confidence gained has helped with career progression away from festivals!
Another way to see what joining us is like is to check out some of our festival photos!
In our festival photo galleries, you will find thousands of photos covering our festival history over the past twenty years!
It's totally normal to be anxious before coming to a festival, particularly if you're coming solo! We get hundreds of messages every year from people wanting to join us but nervous about doing it, so we promise you're not alone! We're a very friendly bunch, so if there's anything we can do to reduce your anxiety please get in touch! Try joining our Facebook Group to make friends with others before the festival - there are even a few WhatsApp groups that have been set up too!
If you have specific questions about joining us at festivals try our festival FAQs!
Our festival FAQs are regularly updated and packed full of answers to the questions we are usually asked, plus lots of handy hints and tips about working at festivals.
We usually send an email newsletter about once a month. If you would like to keep up to date you can subscribe!
If you would like to drop us an email it's info@hotboxevents.com
You can reach our office by phone on the numbers below...
Tel: 01252849600 (UK) select option 2 for Hotbox Events
Tel: +441252849600 (International) select option 2 for Hotbox Events
