Saturday, May 16, 2026
Summer must be just around the corner as it's time to select your Forbidden Forest 2026 shift preferences!
There are 11 different volunteer shift patterns to choose from at Forbidden Forest this year.
You have until midday on Wednesday 20th May to select your shift preferences, please make sure you have submitted your preferences before this date, as after this, shifts will be allocated based on availability.
Following 20th May it will take us several days to process shift preferences and allocate shift patterns for everyone joining us at Forbidden Forest.
Once we have allocated your Forbidden Forest shifts, we'll send another email letting you know it's time to login and find out your shift pattern and start planning your festival schedule!
If you're joining us at Forbidden Forest with friends and would like to have the same shift pattern, please ensure their name and email address are listed in the Friends section of your PAAM profile so we can ensure you have the same shift pattern!
Don't forget to check that your friends have listed your name and email address in their Friends section too!
Please also make sure that you don't have any friends' names from previous festivals still in your friends list as this can slow down the shift allocation process if we're searching to match you with volunteers who haven't signed up this year!
You'll then need to make sure you and your friends put your shift preferences in the same order.
This is your last chance to update the Friends section of your profile before Forbidden Forest shifts are allocated!
To choose your Forbidden Forest shift preferences you need to:
You can log back into your PAAM account and change your order of preferences at any time until shift preference selection closes.
Once we've allocated shift patterns, your shift pattern will show on the Overview page of your PAAM account.
Please note, we are a very small team at Hotbox HQ so whilst we're working hard to allocate shifts as quickly as we can there may be some delay in responses to emails and messages! Whilst we're busy allocating shifts you can drop into our Facebook group for help and advice from our previous staff and volunteers!
Shift preference selection can be a little overwhelming - especially if it's your first time joining us - as there are so many different shift options to choose from! We've listed our top tips for working out your order of shift preferences below:
For further information about how shifts are allocated please read the information within the shift planner PDF.
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, X, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok and YouTube
If you would like to chat with others who have joined us before, head to our Facebook Group
Here 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 these 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 who are keen to join us but nervous about coming alone, so we promise you're not...alone! We're a very friendly bunch and if there's anything we can do to reduce your anxiety, please get in touch! You can also join our Facebook Group to make friends with others before the festival. Within this group you will also find links to some volunteer-led WhatsApp groups that have been set up!
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, as well as handy festival hits and tips.
We usually send out an email newsletter every month or so. If you would like to keep up to date with our news and festival happenings, please 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
