SweetWater 420 Fest is a local music and arts festival in Atlanta sponsored by SweetWater Brewing Company. This year I was very excited to volunteer at the festival and see what goes on behind the scenes.
It was fairly easy to sign up to volunteer, they call it a ticket swap because you get free admission into the festival when you're not working. I had to complete two 6 hour shifts over the three day festival. My friend Ashley volunteered with me and we were able to sign up for the same shifts on the sign up sheet, so it was really nice to be able to do it with someone you know.
Both of my shifts were at the ticketing/will call area on Saturday and Sunday morning. This was nice because then I was able to go off and see all of the bigger bands and explore the festival after my shifts.
They have real paid staff to handle most of the important aspects of the festival, so I felt a little underutilized. We basically handed out maps and spoke with people informing them as to what was going on, that Centennial Olympic Park was closed and where to go to pick up tickets. It really wasn't hard work, but it was really cool to see how everything came together and how much work it took to just get people in the door.
I also got a chance Sunday morning to help with the VIP area of the festival when they were a little short staffed in that department. I cleaned and decorated tables at the VIP bar and helped run inventory to restock the area. It was much more exciting and I got to see how they keep track of everything like all the supplies that serviced the entire festival.
I would definitely recommend volunteering to anyone that wants to go to 420 Fest for free, but don't get your hopes up and think that you'll be super involved in the running of the festival. I do feel that I got a behind the scenes look at the festival, but I don't think I contributed to the event in quite the way I had been wanting to. If I do it again next year, I would sign up for a different part of the festival where I could do more and really feel like I contributed.
Be on the lookout for a second post all about the festival itself and the bands!!
xx Kristen
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