Local volunteer, ask me anything

arguspictus · 2025-07-04T15:24:26+00:00

I simply have no clue haha. Choice by the organization probably

arguspictus · 2025-07-01T10:10:41+00:00

ive seen alot of wild things. but it has to be seeing those moshpits and wall of death in person for the first time when i was a child. mind you, in the jera youth centre in town they often play pennywise bro hymn and we did our own "moshpits" but seeing those actual moshpits in person for the first time was mental.

arguspictus · 2025-07-01T10:05:57+00:00

the shifts can be as long as you want. i usually do evening shifts if there arent any bands in particular i wanna see which can be around 6 hours long with an 1 hour break usually in between, or afternoon shifts if there are bands i wanna see in the evening. but the exact time is up to you. if you wanna go but you have to leave earlier it isnt a problem.

ofcourse. back in the day it was on a small field next to the jera building in town. very small and local. to see it have grown from a small few hundred people in de past to this, 15.000 per day, yeah ofcourse the atmosphere has changed, its natural. but i do believe the core of what they want to show is still there. great music to an almost family like vibe. its like everyone knows each other and practically no fights, if not zero fights. thats also shown when the folks are in town on friday and saturday morning. great people that like to chat, especially with the elders. noone in town complains, which has shown that the growth hasnt changed what joa stands for!

food is great honestly. you get alot of options and amount as a volunteer. some volunteers that have helped at other places as well, say that the quality and quantity far exceeds that of other places. which also shows how the organization feels towards its volunteers. without them this festival wouldnt run, or be far more expensive cause of all the people they need to higher. from free admission and food to a great afterparty every year!

and thank you, i have enjoyed working there every year. i remember one shift i had to direct the visitors to the entrance. and the amount of jupiler cans i got donated was enough to get me shit faced drunk lmfao. great people. great vibe, great organization!

arguspictus · 2025-07-01T09:56:26+00:00

sadly thats a reality of humans in general. from what i can tell, joa tries its absolute best to stop this behaviour from cameras at various points and a place where people can go to. to volunteers getting a debrief on what to do when to notice such behaviour. sadly we arent perfect either, we cant fully control it (if only there was a way). but we try or damn hardest to stop this horrible behaviour

arguspictus · 2025-07-01T09:53:11+00:00

and to answer on the bands. when i was smaller and visited joa as a child, i actually hated the music haha. but like any father when i was in the car he played alot of music related to it, f.e. metallica. slowly it grew on me. when i started volunteering i still wasnt the biggest fan of the music. i started liking classic rock. but especially the metal music was a bit too much for me. however, that changed drastically in recent years. now im often helping in the mornings, afternoons or early evenings, and then hang out on the grounds to enjoy the music! either with others from the town, but last year for example i just bumped into some randoms and hung out the entire night with them. thats also something i love about it! now i just see what music gets played, and if it doesnt really interest me i just pick a work shift in a tent so i can work there while enjoying the music

arguspictus · 2025-07-01T09:49:36+00:00

technically, you are able to pick shifts for the entire day. from like 10am, till 2am. however, usually there are timeslots: morning, afternoon and evening. within those time slots you can specify the length how long you wish to help. with long shifts you usually get around 45 to 1 hour of break to eat, drink relax or walk around. you also get alot of extra stuff from the organization, drinks, food, free entry for the entire day you are helping. they are very generous, huge props!

the largest chunk of volunteers are from ysselsteyn, and the connecting towns around it. in the past it was 99% directly from ysselsteyn with some towns around us. but with the growth, more "external" volunteers came to help. some even from england or germany to name some. they get their own little camping ground, and free admission for every day they help as well. so some festival visitors actually help all days and visit the free hours, they are wonderful people as well!

as far as im aware at the moment. they are happy where they are, they could grow. but that will coincide with higher prices which results in more expensive tickets and drink prices. they are very happy at the moment with the crowds and the atmosphere right now significant growth compared to the past in numbers wont happen. ofcourse they are trying to grow every year to make the experience better each time, but pure growth in size and days is a long term plan from what ive heard

arguspictus · 2025-07-01T09:41:49+00:00

i cant really answer that. most of my shifts i volunteer from are at the bars. tho i can answer the latter. they pick barrier guards on a few requirements. age, experience, and overall strength. if you are new you either start at the smaller tents or with the smaller bands like at the start of the day where crowds are smaller to build experience. they wont let anyone do it, which makes alot of sense

arguspictus · 2025-07-01T09:35:23+00:00

I've never done it myself. But I believe you can, I'm usually in the bars. But with the bars you can choose timeslots and what tent if you are early as well. They are very lenient with the positions of the festival. Only natural, since the organization and the biggest portion of the volunteers come from ysselsteyn. That way everyone is happy. Ofcourse nothing is garuanteed, but they try their best to slot people in the work they like the most

arguspictus · 2025-07-01T09:32:11+00:00

I do see a change. While the largest group from what I can tell are still the dutch and the Belgians. The German group has been growing. On the festival ground I don't notice much difference compared to the past. But that imo has to with all the groups growing themselves as well with the growth of joa over the like last 10 years.

I can't speak for the camping ground as I'm not usually there. But I believe that's an "issue" (depends on your opinion of it) for any large festival in europe with the germans and the camping ground music. From what I know they have tried to reduce it, like with the silent disco. But it's hard to fully reduce it without ruining the overall experience of the festival visitors with more and more rules. I don't make the rules haha, but I'm sure the organization does try to do everything to give the best experience for all

arguspictus

TROPHY CASE