What to pack to work a festival

Wear boots

A festival build site is mud, gravel, scaffold clips and steel pins. Trainers get you turned away at the gate on most jobs. Sturdy boots with a steel or composite toe are the standard on build and strike, and a good ankle saves you when you carry staging or walk uneven ground for ten hours.

Break them in before the job and pack a spare pair of socks.

Hi-vis and gloves

On a live build site hi-vis and decent work gloves are the norm. Plenty of site managers won't let you past the gate without hi-vis, because vehicles and forklifts move all day. A rigger glove stops rope burn, splinters and cold steel.

Check whether the job supplies PPE or expects you to bring your own. Pack gloves either way.

Layers, waterproofs and a head torch

UK festival season runs roughly April to October, and you can be hot at midday and cold at 3am on the same shift. Pack layers you can add and shed rather than one big coat. Build carries on in the rain, so a proper waterproof matters.

Load-ins and strikes run after dark, so a head torch keeps both hands free. If you work the cold end of the calendar, read event work in winter first.

Water, power and ear protection

Take a refillable bottle. Tap points are scattered and bottled water adds up over a weekend. Carry a power bank, because your phone is your schedule, your site map and how the crew chief reaches you.

Pack ear protection for anything near stages, generators or power tools, and sun cream for long days in the open.

Camping kit and paperwork

If the job includes crew camping, bring your own tent, a sleeping bag rated for cold nights and a roll mat.

Bring photo ID and your right-to-work documents. Employers must check you can legally work in the UK before they take you on, and turning up without them can cost you the shift. If you hold a forklift, telehandler or first aid ticket, pack the physical card. A verified ticket moves you onto better-paid tasks than general labour.

For how the money lands by role, see event crew day rates and how much festival crew get paid.