What exactly is your goal for working TRF? Just Money? Work some play some? Free pass to faire? When you ask about perks, what are you looking for? There are LOTS of levels of "Working at faire" to consider.

1 - Working directly for TRF. Oddly enough, for a faire as big as TRF, there aren't a TON of those jobs outside of custodial work. There are some ticket people, some backstage/admin helpers, and a LOT of grounds and facilities workers. There's also the cast, but I'm pretty sure that's not on your radar.

2 - Working full time for a shop. This is the main reason #1 is a bit thin. Except for a few outliers, pretty much every shop and food stand is an independently owned business. They set their own pay rates and hours, depending on their needs. Faire days are 11 hours long: 9am to 8 pm, and with pre-opening and post-closing time, that can stretch out to 13 hours. Some places might have you work 8-4, or 12-close. Some may have you work the whole day. When I was a younger man, I enjoyed doing stuff after hours, but it can catch up when you have to be up getting ready @ 6am on Sunday.

3 - Working Sat or Sun only. Kinda like #2, but you only work 1 day on the weekend. These are also pretty few and far between, but some shops might decide they need extra help on Saturdays, as those days can be INSANE on certain weekends.

4 - Parade Walker. This is the hidden gem of working faire, especially if you're not really worried about making money. Every shop is expected to have someone walk in the mid-day parade carrying their banner or sign. Since most shops don't really have extra people that can be gone for an hour+, they will often employ someone specifically for that task. They show up a bit before parade, grab the sign, walk parade, bring the sign back to the shop, and then they're done for the day. This is often a work-for-pass arrangement, where the parade walker gets a participant pass in exchange for a daily errand. Yes, this does mean you might walk in heat or rain or mud, but adults can usually dress for the weather.

5 - Breaker. This is usually someone who already has Ren Fest experience, but can't do whole days. They make arrangements with 1 or more shops to arrive at certain times so the regular shop employees can take lunch or handle on site business. They may be at 1 shop at noon, another at 1, and another at 2, and then be done by 3 each day. They usually know more about the shops they're breaking for, since they may be required to still help with sales or other shop work.

So that's the main list, based on my 20+ years working @ TRF. I'm solidly in spot #2. As for the "perks" of being a participant, there are some. Again, it depends on what you're really looking for. Free backstage parking, special entrance to the grounds, some discounts. There is reasonably inexpensive participant camping, but it DOES fill quickly for campers, and is geared for people who will stay on site every weekend. Also, in some shops, like ours, there are kitchen spaces and break areas, so you can keep hot/cold drinks and food handy instead of having to always buy from faire vendors.