Festivals do not notice the large staff shortage in the hospitality industry. On Paaspop there is even a waiting list this year to work behind the bar. For 17-year-old Nelle de Veer and 23-year-old Hannah Cox it is the ideal side job. They don’t have to buy an expensive festival ticket, experience it anyway and even have a pocket money. “Much more variety than in the pub.”
Working behind the bar at festivals is extremely popular among young people. “On Paaspop, 630 employees are behind forty bars at the festival every day,” says Barhoofd Menno of the Bas-Events company, which controls the catering staff.
“We have a waiting list for Paaspop. In total, 6.5 thousand people work for us. The average age is between 18 and 23 years,” he adds.
The 17-year-old Nelle is working behind the bar for the first time this weekend at a festival. “I worked in a cafe for this, but pouring coffee is very different from working at a festival. The change seems to me the best. In a cafe the work is often the same and the same guests come,” she says.
“In a cafe you have regular working days and times.”
“At a festival you experience the cozy atmosphere and there is a lot of variety of music.” Working at festivals for Nelle can also be better combined with her exam year at school. “I am now in a quiet school period that allows me to work a lot. If it gets busier, I can schedule myself when I want. In a cafe you have regular working days and times.”
Hannah works for fun at festivals, in addition to her permanent job at a municipality. “The atmosphere mainly attracts me. When Flemming performs on the Apollo internship, I am behind the bar,” she says.
When Hannah worked at a festival for the first time two years ago, she had no experience in the hospitality industry at all. “People with more experience take you in how it works. By doing it, you get the hang of it. It is hard work when it is busy, but at quiet moments you get the festival atmosphere well,” she says.
Around seventy percent of Bas-Events staff have no experience in the hospitality industry for their first working day. “That is not a requirement when you start with us,” says Menno. “You start with the issue of drinks and counting coins. After working a few times, you can grow to pouring drinks and tapping beers, but also the supply of the bar and eventually even bar head.”
“Sometimes there is a little more stress.”
Menno thinks festivals are a good learning school for other sectors in the hospitality industry. Yet he also sees many differences. “At festivals, bar employees are confronted with larger masses when it is busy than in a pub or cafe. Sometimes there is a little more stress involved,” he says.
In addition to that stress, there is also room for relaxation. “Sometimes bar staff can enter the festival site in consultation after working,” Menno concludes.
Festivals versus ‘normal’ hospitality
According to Koninklijke Horeca Nederland (KHN), it is difficult to say how many people move on in the hospitality industry after they have gained experience at festivals. “It may be that working at festivals at employees fuels a flame to look for a (side) job in hospitality on a structural basis. Conversely, we also see employees who are going to work at a festival for a variety,” says a KHN spokesperson.
Is working at a festival or a good learning school for other cateringabans? “Both sectors are enormously versatile, but dealing with guests and also ensuring fast, careful services is something that we encounter on both sides and everyone in its own form,” thinks KHN.