Working at the Hay Festival

The Festival is run by a tight team who’ve worked together for between five and 15 years. It is – like Tony Benn’s famous description – a bit like gathering for Christmas, with new family joining every year.

Help as a steward

All the Festival events are stewarded by teams of between four and ten. The main job is to make sure the audiences are safe and happy before, during, and after each event.

Stewards work shifts of three to four hours. It’s voluntary but fun and you’ll make lots of good friends.

If you are interested in stewarding at Hay Festival 2013 in Wales, you can complete our online form to let us know which parts of which days you would be available to help.

If you have any queries, please email Jan, our Deputy Head Steward.

Apply as a Steward

Working in the box office

The Box Office takes on extra staff in April, during the run up to the festival. The Box Office team are the first point of contact for the public once the brochure is published. You need to be calm, good on the telephone, confident with computers and enjoy working with the public. Flexibility, a sense of humour and rhino-hide help. Very long hours and fair pay.

There are also opportunities for working in the Box Office during the festival week only. You need to have local accommodation and be able to travel to the site daily.

For enquiries about working in 2013, applications will open in February 2013: please email Penny after this date.

Apply as an intern

Our Green Room and Press internships last for the duration of the Festival, and both are unpaid. We try to take on local interns as well as those from further afield.

Green Room interns at Hay Festival help out with a wide range of jobs including stage management assistance, hospitality in the green room, meeting and greeting authors and manning reception desks. Hay Festival covers accommodation and food for the duration; you would need to get yourself to and from Hay.

Press Office interns are based in the Press Office on site, working with our PR company. They help with tasks such as greeting and helping journalists, answering enquiries, collating press received and facilitating interviews with authors and performers. Again, accommodation and food are covered but not travel to and from Hay.

Applications for internships at the 2013 festival are now closed. Please check back later in the year for details on how to apply for the 2014 festival.

Join the site crew

Fred Wright looks for site crew to assist with the construction of the festival site in the weeks running up to and after the festival has finished. The 2013 team will be recruited from January 2013: please visit this page then for more information.

Work with concession-holders

Concession-holders (e.g. food and drink stands) on the Festival site recruit for short-term employees in the run-up to the Festival.

Waiting and bar staff are required for Graze Restaurant. Experience essential, good rates of pay depending on age and experience. Email Marje Smart or call 02920 851 997 to apply.

Domestic and cooking help required for a full household throughout the Festival. Good rates of pay. Tel: 01497 831 428 or email revelguest@gmail.com

The Zero Waste Team are looking for volunteers to be recycling champions at the Hay Festival this year. In return for 2 x 2.5 hour shifts you will be entitled to free entry to an event of your choice (subject to availability), free camping and some delicious refreshments! More information...

Experienced bar staff required for the Alhambra tapas bar in the Spanish Tourism tent. Good rates of pay offered depending on age and experience. For more information email jack@hungrycommunications.co.uk or phone 07769 327 344.