Volunteer for this year's EFG London Jazz Festival!

Join our team of volunteers for EFG London Jazz Festival 15 – 24 November 2024!

We’re looking for some enthusiastic and committed people to join our volunteer crew! We are London’s biggest city-wide music festival and bring together established stars and emerging talent, reflecting the vibrant traditions of jazz and illustrating its diverse and exciting contemporary forms. You can check out the full programme at EFG London Jazz Festival.

Each year we work with an amazing team of volunteers on the delivery of the Festival. You will be a part of a buzzing team delivering Europe's biggest pan-city music festival, as we take over the capital for 10 days in November. The volunteers are an essential part of the Jazz Festival team, and with roles across Production, Marketing, Development and Creative Engagement, there is something for everyone. In addition to your role, you have the opportunity to make new friends, gain valuable insight into the inner workings of the live music industry and attend events with a diverse line-up showcasing global stars and emerging talent.

Whether you are someone with passion for live music and events and a taste for organisation or if you are just interested in trying something new and connecting with people – we have several volunteer roles available. Please check the list below to find out more.

Our goal is to make this experience as meaningful as possible to our volunteers, and although we’d love to work with you all, spaces are limited, so we are not able to accommodate everyone who applies.

Time commitments

We ask volunteers to be available for as much of the Festival as possible with a minimum commitment of three days. Volunteer shifts and roles can vary from the length of a show to a full day. Availability for the social media volunteer is slightly different as this requires some pre-Festival shifts, detailed below.

Within this time there are opportunities to volunteer in five separate areas of the Festival. Volunteers will be assigned to one of the following teams throughout the Festival. There may be some cases where you are able to take roles across more than one team, but this is not guaranteed. If you have a strong interest in more than one role please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate.

On the application form you will be able to select a first, second and third preference as there will be limited spaces on each team.



OPPORTUNITIES:

New Role! Social Media Volunteer (run by the Marketing & Communications team)

Positions available: 1

We’re looking for an enthusiastic and committed person to join the Marketing & Communications team as a Social Media volunteer. Reporting into the Marketing & Communications Manager, the role will involve scheduling social media posts to go out across the Jazz Festival, supporting with content on our website and social channels, copy writing and capturing content across the Festival.

A lot of Marketing’s work happens ahead of the Festival starting, so you will be required to be available for 3 days in the two weeks leading up to the Jazz Festival (most likely Thu 7, 12 & 13 Nov, but dates may change) and you may also be required to support the team during the Jazz Festival (15-24 Nov) on socials and capturing content at our events.

Volunteering will provide valuable insight into working in live music and events and offer the opportunity to attend shows for free. 

If you have experience editing / uploading photos and videos to social media, please mention this in your application and let us know what platforms you’re most familiar with.



Production & Backstage Volunteers (run by the Production team)

Positions available: 20-25

Please note that not all the production shifts will involve technical work – a lot of the time you will be helping our artist liaison team to look after the artists in a pastoral way.

There are various tasks within the production volunteer team and you will have the opportunity to do a mixture of these. Tasks include working with our Show Managers to support artist liaison and backstage catering, including general runner-work, meeting and greeting, and logistics support. The workload will vary a lot from gig to gig, so being flexible, patient and happy to do all tasks big and small, are all characteristics we are looking for. A big part of these roles is just being a friendly presence that artists and their teams can always come to with questions.

You may also be working with our Transport team to support artist ‘meet & greets’ at airports and train stations.

You may be required to be available the day before the Festival begins, on Thu 14 November, to help with artist meet and greets. During the Festival (Fri 15 – Sun 24 Nov), you will be required to be available for at least 3 days. The shifts will generally start from between 9am-12pm and will finish no later than 11pm. Exact shifts will be confirmed closer to the Festival.

Production volunteers will be working on live music shows and our Creative Engagement programme. If you have a particular interest in Serious’ Creative Engagement work, please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate.



Creative Engagement Volunteer (run by the Creative Engagement team)

Positions available: 1

We are seeking one volunteer to join our Creative Engagement team during the festival, acting as an all-round helper / runner / assistant working directly with the Serious team. You will need to be available on Wed 13 November for a specific briefing at the Serious office in Bethnal Green, and then be available for 15, 16, 17, 23 and 24 November (all dates). On these dates, our CE team has multiple events, workshops, rehearsals and shows taking place, so you can expect to be moving around town checking in on different projects, seeing things come together, offering support where needed and reporting back to the team. Please keep the above dates held in your diary if applying for this role.



Show Reporters (run by the Volunteer Coordinator)

Positions available: 20-25

You will be representing Serious by attending and writing short reports of selected shows throughout the Festival to provide coverage and feedback to the Serious team.

You will be required to attend at least 4 events throughout the Festival period.

You will be given a ticket to the show, and a brief to follow in terms of what to write as a report. We ask for reports to be sent to our Volunteer Coordinator or uploaded to an online folder, ideally on the night of the event or if not, then by the following day at midday latest - this is an important part of the role, as the reports are shared around the Festival team quickly. These reports are used as extra eyes and ears across the Jazz Festival, to support our Programming team who need to know how our shows have gone but can’t be in 5 places at once!



Development & Hospitality (run by the Development & Partnerships team)

Positions available: 3-4

The Development team manage relationships with current and prospective funders and sponsors of Serious. You will be working closely with our Development team to represent Serious and help with the running and logistics of our receptions across the Festival.

You will be supporting the Development team across various hospitality events and receptions where we engage with our sponsors and donors. Your role will involve supporting the setup of our receptions, helping to manage guest lists for our invited guests and making our guests feel welcome at our events.

Inter-personal skills and an openness to meet new people would be valuable attributes.

You are required to be available from around 4pm for at least three dates during the Festival period. The exact days of the receptions are still to be finalised, so getting a general understanding of your availability during the Festival period is useful in the meantime.



How to Apply

If you would like to apply to volunteer for the EFG London Jazz Festival 2024 please complete this Volunteer Application Form or print the form and return the form via post to the address indicated on the form. 

Deadline for applications is Monday 30 September 5pm BST

Please note all those applying must be 18 years old or over.

There will be a Volunteer Briefing Session on Wed 6 Nov at 6-8pm, 3 min walk from Moorgate station (full address to be confirmed in due course). It’s a great chance to meet each other and the teams running the festival, and raise any queries you may have from the team leaders. We encourage all volunteers to attend where possible, but attendance is not compulsory.

Serious and EFG London Jazz Festival embrace diversity of all kinds. We are keen to create a volunteer force that is representative of wider society and therefore encourage applicants of all ages over 18, ethnicities, nationalities, socio-economic backgrounds, gender identities and physical and neurological abilities. We’re a motivated team with a mission to ensure music is accessible for all and would love to hear from like-minded individuals.

We will be able to reimburse the cost of a travel within London and a reasonable evening meal.

Please note that spaces to volunteer at EFG London Jazz Festival 2024 are limited which means that sadly not everyone applying will be allocated a role. Roles will be allocated on a combination of applicant suitability and a first come first served basis.



Important dates for your diary

• Mon 30 Sept 5pm: Deadline for applications. Late applications will not be accepted.
• Mon 7 Oct: You will have heard by this date if you have been allocated a role. We aim to get back to everyone who applied by Tue 15 Oct, thanks for bearing with us.
• Date TBC, but likely Thu 10 or Fri 11 Oct: online info session, run by the Volunteer Coordinator.
• Wed 6 Nov 6pm: Volunteer briefing session, 3 min walk from Moorgate station (full address to be confirmed in due course). Please try as hard as possible to attend this as it is a really important part of the scheme.
• Fri 15 – Sun 24 Nov – EFG London Jazz Festival dates. All shows will be during this period.

Future Projects

As well as producing the EFG London Jazz Festival, Serious programme a huge variety of other music-based events throughout London and around the UK. Volunteers who enjoy their time working with us for the Festival are encouraged to build upon this experience and join us in a similar capacity throughout the year.

Thank you and good luck!