I traveled to New Orleans 4 times to enjoy JazzFest but I’m embarrassed to say I hadn’t participated in BottleRock right here in Napa until last year. Given my love of far-away music festivals, I thought it would be fun to volunteer backstage at BottleRock. But they don’t take volunteers. So instead they hired me for $20/hour to work last Memorial Day Weekend in Guest Services. It was exhausting and fun. Two of my 3 work shifts were at the Guest Servics booth where the most popular question was “where is the closest bathroom?” and the weirdest question was “where is the secret Monkey Shoulder Whiskey speakeasy?” (answer: look for the orange porta-potty). For one of my shifts I assisted at the free water bottle refilling station. Since the faucets turned on automatically whenever someone places an empty bottle under them, you wouldn’t think my job would be that tough. But I became the first line of defense when someone tried to wash themselves or drink directly from the faucet. Yes, they paid me to do this while enjoying a front row seat for all the crazy things that people at music festivals ask and do would have been sufficient compensation alone!
In addition to a paycheck, I got a t-shirt and ballcap, parking and food vouchers, plus the opportunity to stay and enjoy the music acts and food and booze booths when I wasn’t working. Festival highlights for me were seeing Pink rehearse her aerial twirls before the gates opened and watching Metallica wow the crowd of already diehard fans.
I’ve volunteered… err, applied… to again work Guest Services for this year’s BottleRock Napa from May 26-28, 2023. To learn more about this year’s lineup, visit www.bottlerocknapavalley.com/. If you’re interested in joining me backstage, details about an upcoming job fair are in the graphic below.
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