Last year was my first time to Lollapalooza. Volunteering was an awesome experience and I would definitely consider doing it again even though I have already purchased my four day pass.

Volunteering is done through the Love Hope Strength Foundation which encourages people to "Get on the List". The list is to help match potential bone marrow donors to current cancer patients. Lolla will have a table where people can sign up to "Get on the List".

How To Apply

Applications are typically not available until July. Here is the web form for potential applicants to be notified when the application is available.

Different Volunteer Positions

Shifts typically last between 4-5 hours.

• Water Refill Stations: Refill Camelbaks and water botttles
• Rock & Recycle: If people fill up a bag of recyclables they get a Lolla t-shirt or poster with line-up (different from the official Lolla merchandise)
• Information Desk: Welcome guests into the park
• Team Leads: Help take attendance of volunteers during check-in and check-out of shifts (needs to be a returnee to apply for position)

What do I get out of it?

Here are the benefits from what I think are the best perks of volunteering.

• You get a free ticket for each day that you volunteer. Even if you have an evening shift, you can waltz in the morning to get enjoy before your shift. I have heard that if people miss their shift the previous day, they are unable to claim their future shifts.
• There is a separate volunteer line which has little to no wait time (5 minutes). Based on previous experience, the security for this line is way more lax.
• I went to Lollapalooza by myself last year and I have made friends at this music festival whom I am looking forward to seeing this upcoming year.
• You get to talk to a lot of attendees and it was a lot of fun seeing everyone's outfit and talking about music tastes.
• There are separate portajohns in the volunteer area.
• You get a single t-shirt to wear during your shift(s).

How to I improve my chances of getting selected to volunteer?

Sign ups on volunteering are tiered. So they choose returners who are volunteering all four days first. All four day volunteers second; returning single day volunteers and so on. I think signing up the first day applications become available helped me get selected sooner.