Volunteer Roles

The setup period is a lively time with a tight-knit team where you see the festival take shape from the get-go. As part of the setup crew, you’ll help construct and decorate the festival. Under the guidance of a location manager and theatre groups, you’ll be involved in tent pitching, barn clearing, cable laying, and generally moving things around. Even if you’re not Mr or Ms Muscle, you can still make yourself useful by painting signs, crafting decorations for the Festival hub, and assisting with crew and volunteer catering.

Setup continues right up until the festival’s opening day, as there’s often a flurry of last-minute tasks. If you fancy switching teams during the festival, a quick chat with your sub-coordinator will let you decide whether to spend an additional day on setup or move straight to your festival team.

There’s a ‘soft setup’ phase from Tuesday 28th May to Friday 31st May, focused mainly on sign painting, office and volunteer desk decoration, and other assorted tasks. From Saturday, 1st June, we ramp up to constructing the Festival hub and theatre locations, meaning more heavy lifting and construction work.

After the festival winds down, you and your team will dismantle the festival grounds and theatre locations over four days, leaving the island as spotless as we found it. Mainly working outdoors and covering the entire island, you’ll be part of a small, close-knit team ensuring the smooth and sociable wrap-up of Oerol. A great BBQ will be thrown for all breakdown volunteers!

Brand new this year is an Artists, Professionals, & Press Desk at Terschelling’s harbour. Here, arriving artists, professionals, and press will check in. Your job is to warmly welcome them and help them on their way. You’ll be a linchpin in the Festival web, ensuring they hop on the right bike or into the correct car, distributing the appropriate wristbands & meal vouchers, and keeping Oerol’s producers informed of any changes.

We’re on the lookout for hospitable people who can communicate clearly, stay cool under pressure, and tackle the flurry of activity that comes with each arriving boat. A decent grasp of English and computer savvy are also big pluses.

NOTE: To make this role your own, we ask that you’re available for at least 7 days.

During the setup and the festival, hundreds of people work for Oerol. The office in Midsland is the beating heart of the Oerol organisation. It sees a daily parade of volunteers checking in, locals with queries and requests, and theatre makers and artists with specific questions. In this role, you’re the go-to at the office or volunteer desk, helping people out.

The volunteer desk is where all volunteers report before starting their tasks, making you the first point of physical contact for volunteers! You’ll provide all volunteers with information, ensure they receive the correct items (festival wristband, T-shirt, possibly a discount card for shows, etc.), and – crucially – keep all the administration in order.

Besides desk duties, you’ll work closely with the Oerol office staff, collectively looking after the organisational heart; this includes answering/redirecting calls, laminating, distributing post, and watering plants.

We’re after people who love giving everyone a warm welcome, appreciate structured and precise work, and are comfortable using computers. It’s a highly social role, involving plenty of interaction with fellow volunteers, volunteer coordinators, and other members of the Oerol organisation.

For those wondering if these were different roles: With the introduction of an Artists, Professionals, & Press Desk at the harbour this year, we’re combining the original two roles at the Oerol office (volunteer desk & press + artists desk) into a new, unified role. You’ll rotate through different duties during your shift, allowing you to experience the organisation from the inside out.

NOTE: A minimum of 7 days availability is required to truly embrace this role.

During the festival, there’s a lot of shuttling around of people (artists and guests) and lunches. As a driver, your job is to ensure everyone and everything arrives at the right place at the right time. Familiarity with Terschelling, from Arjensdune to Doodemanskisten, and from het Duinmeertje Hee to the Hoornse Bos, is essential. As a driver, you’ll see the whole island and meet loads of people. Often, you’ll be the first island contact for our guests: hence, we’re seeking hospitable, friendly, and cheerful drivers!

NOTE: For this role, you must have held your driving licence for at least 3 years and be a confident driver! Availability for 5 days or more is preferred.

As a Variety volunteer, you’ll encounter a wide range of tasks. One moment you’re welcoming the audience to shows, the next you’re ensuring street theatre isn’t obstructed by cyclists and cars. You’ll be in close contact with your sub-coordinator, who will fill you in on your next day’s duties, where you need to be, and who you’re working with. If you enjoy variety and fancy a sneak peek behind the Oerol scenes, opt for the Variety Team!

From early morning to late at night, you can visit the Festival Hub De Deining at West aan Zee during Oerol. De Deining offers various food and beverage outlets, programming, and exhibitions. The festival hub is divided into de Vallei and het Strand. This buzzing spot seeks individuals eager to ensure everyone feels at home at the festival heart. Sound like you? Two roles are available for the Festival Heart:

Festival Hub Team
As part of a tight-knit team, you’ll ensure that the festival hub always looks its best. Duties include collecting glasses, managing entry, rinsing glasses, tidying the terrace, guiding the public within the festival hub, and managing the misparked bikes area. Fancy being at the heart of the festival, welcoming visitors against a backdrop of fabulous music programming? Want to ensure the festival hub always looks stunning and all visitors feel welcomed? You’ll fit right in with this team!

Hospitality Worker Festival Hub
As a hospitality worker, you’ll be behind the bar, ensuring all visitors have access to a cold beer, a refreshing cola, a hot coffee, or a meal. Tasks you might encounter include pulling pints, serving snacks, keeping terraces tidy, and making coffees.

There are several bars at the festival heart, and you can indicate your preference. If you already have specific expertise, that’s a plus! You can choose from the following bars:

• Hospitality: De Deining – Bars: Includes the Fountain Bar and the Stage Bar. If you want to be in the middle of the festival hub with a view of the music, choose this team!
• Hospitality: De Deining – Special: Includes all the special bars; the wine bar, the coffee bar, the craft beer bar, or the cocktail bar. If you have knowledge of any of these delightful drinks or want to acquire this knowledge, sign up for this team! You can indicate in the registration form if you have a preference for the coffee bar, cocktail bar, craft beer bar, or wine bar. If you have no preference, you can also indicate that.
• Hospitality: De Deining – het Strand: These are all the bars on the beach part of the festival hub. So if you want to be close to the sea – sign up for this team! There’s a beach bar and a cocktail bar.

At One for the Road, you assist with catering for all staff, artists, and guests. A rewarding role where you make about 700 hardworking colleagues smile daily with a delicious lunch/meal. You’ll help with meal prep, serving, and washing up. So, if you’re keen to bring smiles with a hearty plate of food, don’t mind a dishwashing stint, and have fabulous music playlists for washing up time, sign up for team One for the Road now!

Help wandering Oerol visitors find their way to the correct campsite, theater location, or festival hub. You know the route to the most beautiful spots of the Expedition projects and inform guests about the coolest programming in pubs and restaurants.

In addition to general information, you’ll also be the point of contact for questions about ticket sales and the distribution and sale of festival wristbands. Visitors can approach you with questions about ticket sales, Oerol wristbands, and a colleague may also come to you with questions about volunteer tickets.

Note: For this role, being comfortable with computers and technology is crucial! You’ll also receive a wealth of festival information. To fully embrace this role, we require a minimum of 7 days availability. You’ll receive a brief training before your first shift.

Oerol merchandise is sold at various points across the festival. This includes specially designed clothing, posters, bags, etc. We’re searching for friendly and enthusiastic volunteers to sell visitors a beautiful Oerol memory. Accuracy is vital, as is being comfortable with a smartphone – our card machines are quite similar. Additionally, you should enjoy honing your sales skills and possibly sharing your tips and tricks with colleagues. “Yes, who wouldn’t want a fab Oerol shirt? And yes, the weather might turn, so I’d go for the jumper and that hat looks smashing on you!”

Oerol ticket sales are online, meaning tickets need to be scanned. The Scanrunners team distributes scanners across the island to the various venues. You’ll scan tickets, assist with any technical questions during the lead-up to a show, and then cycle to the next location. You’ll mostly use your bike, but if venues are far apart, you’ll get an electric bike for your shift. In short, if you love cycling, want to see all the locations, sign up for this team!

As a sub-co, you’ll assist the volunteer coordinators in managing volunteers. You’ll oversee a fixed team, being their primary point of contact.

Before the festival, you’ll touch base with each team member over the phone to get acquainted, provide encouragement, and offer information. You’ll also fill in (and keep updated) the roster received from the volunteer coordinators. During the festival, you’ll organise daily meetings for your team and plan enjoyable team outings. Plus, you’ll attend a daily meeting with one of the volunteer coordinators.

So, if you’re super sociable and fancy leading volunteers, are flexible and think on your feet, and are keen on a bit more responsibility while making Oerol even more fantastic for your team, this role is for you! Important: You’ll need to upload your CV when filling out the application form.

Oerol books camping spots at various sites on Terschelling for all volunteers. To ensure a smooth stay for these volunteers, we need a host. As a host, you’ll be the point of contact for both volunteers and the staff/artists at the campsite. You’ll greet everyone on arrival, ensuring they feel right at home. If volunteers cause any disturbances, we’ll look to you to address the issue first. If that doesn’t work, the volunteer coordinators are there to support and solve the problem, but we rely on you to flag it.

This role requires you to be firm when necessary while keeping the campsite atmosphere enjoyable. As a camping host, you need to be available for the entire specified period. You’ll be there as the first volunteers arrive and wave them off at the festival’s end.

You won’t have fixed working hours. You’ll be busiest just before and at the start of the festival, but as it winds down, everyone will have settled in. It’s a highly social and enjoyable role, as you’ll meet loads of volunteers.

We have two camping hosts per site, so you can take turns.

During setup, a large team of volunteers, builders, and site managers works on building the Festival Hub. Working hard builds up quite an appetite, and to ensure that everyone gets a tasty lunch, we’re looking for someone who can provide this lunch on-site. Think of fresh salads, delicious sandwiches, and occasionally some soup. So, if you enjoy providing lunch for a group of people, sign up for this role! Oerol will arrange the groceries, and you can work with the location manager to create a menu.