Volunteering at the Festival

Are you a social person and enjoy meeting many different people? As a host, you'll be the first person the audience meets at the venue. The audience host's most important task is to make the audience feel welcome, be helpful and knowledgeable about practical information including entrances, seating, toilets and wardrobe. The shifts will take place both indoors and outdoors - anywhere where the Festival is present.

We need many sociable and service oriented audience hosts. Where the audience is, the hosts are!

Do you enjoy a day that is varied, and want to experience different sides of the festival?

The work of a festival assistant suits versatile people who enjoy varied missions. The work load and content will vary from shift to shift, but the most important is to be present and available for new tasks. Festival assistants should be quick on their feet, always looking for solutions, enjoy helping out, know the city well, and appreciate both hectic and less busy shifts. Anything can happen during a festival!

As festival assistant, one should also be available for shifts before the festival period. There are many things to prepare when the Bergen International Festival is getting ready to make its mark on the city.

Do you know the Festival well, and enjoy talking to people? The information hosts are tasked with manning the Festival information and accreditation stand, which handles accreditations and answering questions from the audience, volunteers, press and artists. The information host's task is to answer questions and to pass on inquiries to the right people.

An information host must enjoy talking with many different people as well as getting to know the whole Festival programme, venues and contact persons. Language skills are essential, and knowing both Norwegian and English at a high level is important.

This volunteer group often fills up quickly, and we recommend that you sign up for other volunteer roles as well.

Are your language skills at a high level, and do you know the city well? As artist contact, you are responsible for hosting and being the contact person for the Festival's Norwegian and international artists. The artist contacts make sure that the artists' meeting with the Festival and the city is the best possible. The artists should feel welcome, safe and informed from arrival to departure, and it's the artist contact's task to make sure this happens and to be the artists' link to the administration. An artist contact must be available both in person and on the phone during the artist's stay, and language skills in Norwegian and/or English is a prerequisite.

Previous experience in the role is highly valued. This volunteer group often fills up quickly, and we recommend that you sign up for other volunteer roles as well. Relevant candidates will be contacted for a short interview.

For many students, the Bergen International Festival coincides with a busy exam schedule. There are still many students who wish to volunteer with us, so it's now possible to become a student volunteer! You'll work 10–15 hours instead of the regular 20–25 hours, and receive one free ticket instead of two. Otherwise, the perks and tasks are the same.

You can now sign up as a Student volunteer, just check the box in the sign up form!