Anyhow: if you, or someone you know, fancies a cheap holiday and padding out their CV with work experience in a genuine international context, my friendly neighbourhood festival is looking for volunteers. Terms, conditions, advantages, etc, are as follows :-
- 12-17 July
- just outside the town of La Châtre in the centre of France, about 2.5hrs south of Paris (specifically, in the grounds of the Château d'Ars)
- nearest railway station : Châteauroux ; nearest airports Tours, Limoges, Orly, Charles-de-Gaulle
- two shifts of three hours work per day, 13-16 July (the other two days are for setting up, taking down [no limit on spending longer before/after])*
- the "working day" runs from 0930 to 0530 depending on position, shifts can be any time within that range
- positions available:
== Ticket office (0930-0100)
== General reception (0930-0100)
== Access control (0930-0330)
== Bar staff (1000-0430ish)
== Grill staff (1000-0000ish)
== Behind-the-scenes catering (0930-2230ish)
== Instrument storage* (0930-0430)
- two proper (three-course) meals a day (13-16 July) + extra free drink
- free camping (basic)*
- free entry to all festival acts/activities (subject to working hours)
- ability to speak French is useful but not necessarily required (depends on the position; crash course in essential vocab available on demand)*
* Instrument storage is my area of responsibility, for which I'm given half the castle, and I'm a hard task master
... but we also have one of the best performing teams and possibly the highest level of "job satisfaction" out of all of them. However, I also mentor/babysit some Irish and British volunteers working in other areas, will certainly help with the language if needed, and can go so far as to supplying accommodation (i.e. a tent! 
) and reference for your next job interview. If I have big enough bunch of misfits (4-10), we set up our own mini-village in the campsite. The festival (crappy website here) is dedicated to traditional music, dance, and the making of acoustic instruments (see video here), but that's almost irrelevant: what we really need are people who aren't interested in going to every dance, every workshop and every concert, but who want to actually work ... and have a damn good time doing so.
Any questions? You know where to find me.
).
