Festivals Employment: Hiring for WE Fest

home	frequently asked questions

JOB DESCRIPTIONS

Scroll through the descriptions below or click a job or topic.

Beer Camping Event Staff Gates Parking

Sanitation Task Force Tickets Ushers We B Green

Pay rates -:- Shift times

IT DOESN'T HAPPEN OFTEN, BUT...

Everyone hired to work at any festival should be aware that it's sometimes necessary to move people from one position to another, regardless of what position they were hired to work in. Most times it's temporary, (to help cover overloads happening in one area or another), but sometimes it's permanent. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen, and all employees must be prepared to go wherever people are needed.

POSITIONS WE DON'T FILL

We don't do the hiring for emergency medical services, security, backstage production, bartending, or any food services positions, and don't provide contact information or refer individuals to those service providers.

We have no "pre-fest" jobs (set-up, etc.) so we don't hire anyone to work before the festival. PLEASE DON'T SHOW UP EARLY.

BEER POURERS & KEG HAULERS

Beer Pourers serve beer in concert area booths, alternating between pouring, serving customers, and helping out with other beer booth jobs.

Keg Haulers handle kegs in semi-truck trailers behind the beer booths, unhook tapper hoses from empty kegs and hook them up to full ones. Heavy lifting is involved.

index

CAMPING

Camping Staff: Front:

Work at the campground entrance.

Check in people.

Exchange tickets for wristbands.

Assist campers after campground is settled.

Camping Staff: Back:

Spot campers at campsites.

Circulate through the campground assisting campers.

Help maintain campground's infrastructure; check water tanks and toilets, and communicate any problems.

Assist with clean up as needed.

index

EVENT STAFF

This Event Staff assists with managing pedestrian and vehicle traffic to assure everyone's safe movement around the site. Event Staff people are stationed at walkway intersections, or service road entrances and crosswalks, guiding people and vehicles along their way.

This job frequently entails spending long hours in the sun, and requires the ability to pay close attention to the actions of everyone around you.

Second and third shift pay rates are higher than most others: $8.00 second; $9.00 third.

index

Gates

Greeter: Welcome, direct, assist people, help ensure food and beverage containers are empty prior to entering concert area.

Checker: Check wristbands, help ensure food & beverage containers are empty.

Exit Gate: Watch exit gates, assist exiting concert goers, help Greeters & Checkers occasionally.

index

PARKING

Park vehicles, direct vehicle and pedestrian traffic.
Maintain fire lanes and exit paths, assist concert goers.
Parking can be a hot and dusty job, but it too pays better than most: $8.00/hour.

index

SANITATION

Keep bathrooms clean and swept.
Keep paper supplies well stocked.
Help ensure fixtures keep operating properly.
Higher than average pay rate starting at $7.50 per hour all shifts.

index

TASK FORCE

The Task Force works where they are needed in the campgrounds and the concert area, helping to keep things running smoothly by responding to changing crowd and staffing circumstances. Task Force members must be Past Employees with experience in areas like Camping, Gates, Beer, Event Staff and Parking. If you're a Past Employee with some of that experience who likes to work and doesn't mind moving around, the Task Force may be right for you.

index

TICKET SELLING

Prior experience with handling money and balancing cash drawers a big plus in all Ticket Sales positions.

Admissions: Sell concert wristbands and food and beverage tickets at ticket booth.
Food & Beverage: Sell food and beverage tickets from booths at locations in and around the concert area.
Pre-fest: Sell wristbands outside of ticket booths prior to concerts.
Camping Cashiers: Sell or exchange camping and concert tickets for camping/concert wristbands, sell food and beverage tickets at campground entrance booth.
12-hour shifts (1 & 2).

index

USHERS

Box Seat Usher

Directing people to their box seats.
Maintaining order in the area in front of the stage.

Reserved Lawn Seating Usher

Directing people to their seats.
Maintaining order in the lawn seating area.

Note: When it comes to making your "top three job choices" on the application and getting the position you want, be aware that Box and Reserved Lawn Seat Ushering jobs are among the "most popular" positions. Most of those positions are filled by people who have worked here in the past.

index

WE B GREEN

The We B Green team handles recycling at the Soo Pass Ranch recylcing stations. There are both paid and volunteer positions. All WE B Green employees are encouraged to camp together during the event, at a designated area adjacent to the recycling station in each campground.

Volunteers are required to be available for six five hour On-Call shifts beginning Tuesday before the Festival and ending Sunday with take-down. Volunteers receive free camping and concert admissions, t-shirts, and one meal per day.

Employees work four 10 hour shifts, plus Training on Tuesday and take-down on Sunday, receive free concert admission and camping, t-shirts and one meal per day.

Volunteers and Employees help educate campers and concert goers about the We B Green program, reward them with We B Green Bucks, and collect and sort recyclable materials at We B Green recycling stations in the campgrounds.

If you would like to apply for an Employee position choose "We B Green team" as your top job choice on the application where it asks you to list your three top job choices.

If you would like to volunteer, click here and follow the directions you'll find for contacting the We Be Green Volunteer Coordinator.

LivGreen Magazine published a story about our 2009 WE B Green project. Click here if you'd like to read it.

index

Note: This is the end of the "Jobs index" section. The pay rate and shift time information below applies to all the positions the Employment Office hires people to fill.

PAY RATES

The basic pay rates are the same for almost all positions:

$7.25 per-hour first and second shift;

$7.50 per-hour third.

The following are some exceptions:

Event Staff is $7.25 first, $8.00 second, $9.00 third shift.

Parking is $8.00 per hour.

Sanitation is $7.50 per hour first and second shift.

Festival employees also receive an event t-shirt and a concert wristband.

Some employees also camp free as part of their employment.

Employee camping: There are three main things to be aware of when it comes to employee camping:

1) You must live 50 miles or more from Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, in order to receive an employee camping pass.

2) You need to camp in the designated employee camping areas. Non-working friends with camping passes can stay with you, but you can't use your employee camping passes to stay with them in another campground.

3) Camping Staff and Camping Cashiers camp or park in the campground in which they're assigned to work.

See the frequently asked questions for details.

index

SHIFT TIMES

Festival employment is divided into two categories: camping and concert area.

Camping consists of Camping Staff and Camping Cashiers.

All other positions are in or near the Concert Area.

Anyone hired to work in a Camping-related position needs to plan to be at Soo Pass Ranch one or two days earlier than people working in Concert Area positions.

There are three, eight-hour Camping Staff shifts. These times are approximate. The actual shift times are set by Camping supervisors and managers:

First shift - 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Second shift - 3:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
Third shift - 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.
Camping Staff people put in five shifts at WE Fest, starting the Tuesday before the festival.

Camping Cashiers work in two 12-hour shifts. These times are also approximate. The actual shift times are set by Camping Cashier and Ticket Office supervisors:

First shift - 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Second shift - 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.
Camping Cashiers tend to work two or three shifts.

In almost all cases there are two Concert Area shifts:

First shift - 1:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Second shift - 6:30 p.m. to closing (usually around 1:00 a.m.).
Most Concert Area Staff work three shifts.

You will receive information specific to your particular job's shift times if you are hired, but this should give you a general idea for the "shift preference" box you will be asked to check on the application.

home -:- job descriptions index -:- frequently asked questions