Become a backcountry festival volunteer
Tour group leaders.
The festival is about education and inclusion. That means we want to introduce as many new people to the backcountry, and at the same time, train up and give working experience to aspiring, upcoming guides so we want to throw on as many tours as we have volunteers.
On Friday we want to offer half day tours. Saturday and Sunday will be a mixture of both half day and full day tours. That means we need a total of 30 volunteer tour group leaders. You can volunteer for one day or multiple days.
The minimum requirement for tour group leaders are:
AST1
First Aid
Tour leaders will work in groups of two, with seven participants per group. The touring areas around the mountain will be divided into five areas and we will have region/area coordinators in each who will support the tour groups. The region coordinators will be equivalent to ski guide accreditation (AV-Ops 1 / Wilderness FA) and ready on standby to assist where and when required. We are also calling out for region coordinators. We will have a capacity for around 150 participants per day. Let us know if you are a season pass holder so we can assign you to areas that is easier with lifts such as Mt Loch.
You’ll be working with Simon Murray from Mountain Safety Collective who knows the Hotham backcountry like the back of his hand. He’ll be giving volunteers a collection of Gaia GPS routes and photos of the Hotham backcountry tour lines for you to follow and test run before the festival weekend.
You will be invited to a private Facebook group chat with all the other tour volunteers for support and comradery. We encourage you to test out the tours with others, so think of this FB group chat as a Tinder for backcountry tour buddies.
Hands on festival jobs.
Outdoor Bar
The outdoor bar is a popular highlight of every festival! We’d love to have a crew of volunteers who don’t mind a bit of physical labour. You’ll be helping out with set up, decorating and assisting with the overall organisation on the Saturday night.
See video of 2019 outdoor bar from Crepe Collective to see what needs to be done on the day.
On Sunday, we need a couple of volunteers to help the committee pack down and clean up the site so we can leave it in the same condition as it was before the bar.
General ‘all hands on deck’ work
Many hands make light work. There are so many little jobs across all the venues, and multiple dates/times that we would love an extra pair of hands here or there. Here are some of the various tasks you could be doing, even a few hours would help the festival out:
Speakers - setup room, IT support for speakers with Power point presentations, ushers to check festival registration tickets.
Workshops / Classes / Competitions / Demo Village - provide assistance to volunteers running their session.
Photographer / Videographer to capture & share festival moments and help promote the festival for next year. Experience managing social media is a plus!
Marketing & Communication.
Social Media
Our Instagram and Facebook content doesn’t create itself! Our social platforms are one of the main ways we deliver important information to our audience, and promote the brands and vendors that make the festival possible. We’re looking for someone to handle our social channels, so if you have creative flair, initative, and a keen eye for detail apply below!
Copywriting
If you have a way with words and an interest in creating engaging newsletters and press releases, we need you!
We connect with journalists and publications and keep our newsletter subscribers in the loop leading up to the festival, so we need a wordsmith to help us get the word out.
Poster Distribution
We have 200+ posters that need to be distributed and put up around Hotham and surrounds. This role suits someone who is a Hotham seasoner and lives in the area/up on the mountain.
Merchandise
The folks love our festival and want a souvenir to remember their experience! We are looking for volunteers to help design clothing, stickers and other relevant merchandise to sell to our festival participants (and raise money to help fund festival costs at the same time)! You will also work with local business printers to get the merch created, and delivered to Hotham to hand out to festival folks.
Event management.
Join the Event Committee
We are recruiting new volunteers to join the core event committee. If you want to be in the centre of all the backcountry festival action or want to gain event management experience, then we have a spot for you!
Insurance, Risk Management Plans
Do you have experience writing risk management plans and induction protocols? You will assist in the development, maintenance and implementation of an effective Operational Risk Management Framework. We would love someone of your experience to help us get event insurance to cover all the volunteers in the festival.
Grant Application Writing
We are seeking an enthusiastic and experienced volunteer to research and submit grant applications to government and community organisations on our behalf so we can receive funding to pay for necessary costs to run a backcountry festival and support volunteers for out of pocket expenses.
Logistics coordinator
With 300+ attendees each year, there’s some behind-the-scenes work that goes into securing venues, vendors and transport for ABCF. If you’re organised, have great attention to detail and are a stellar communicator, we want you on our team!
Business opportunities.
Outdoor Bar
If you are a local food vendor who would like to be part of the Backcountry Festival outdoor bar, send us a message.
Please note it’s a ski-in outdoor bar. No electricity will be available. There is Telstra and Optus reception at the site so you can operate Square payment. There will be a designated bump in time on Saturday for all bar stakeholders to meet at the car park, and a Hotham snow truck will transport equipment to the site for you. Reverse will happen for bump out on Sunday.
See video of 2019 outdoor bar from Crepe Collective to understand what conditions you’ll be working in.
Demo Village
If you are a brand with product or services to showcase and want to be part of the Backcountry Festival demo village, please get in touch with Gavin Bufton gavin.bufton@backcountryfestival.com.au
Sponsorship
Are you a brand interested in getting your product or services in front of a targeted backcountry audience?
We would love cash donations to help with necessary costs such as insurance. We will certainly promote your goodwill to our email database and social channels.
The festival also greatly appreciates products/gift vouchers/discounts to raffle off or giveaway to attract volunteers and festival participants to register and attend the event.
Get in touch with Amber to discuss how your brand can get involved with the festival amber.deveridge@backcountryfestival.com.au
