Norwich Beer Festival is organised and staffed entirely by volunteers, many of whom take a week’s holiday to be there. The only paid staff are those employed by Norwich City Council involved in managing The Halls, and the caterers providing the food.
Volunteers, who don’t need to be CAMRA members, are needed at all public sessions of the beer festival, Monday to Saturday, and also for setting up, on the Saturday and Sunday before the festival, and take-down on the Sunday after the festival.
There are various different areas where we need volunteers. The most popular is work on bars, serving customers, but we also need stewards (who can drink alcohol in moderation), front door staff and people to work in Staffing, behind the scenes.
Please see our Important Information for Volunteers page for documents and other information relating to volunteering at the Festival.
Benefits of working at the Festival
We provide free snacks during each session we’re open to the public, a hot meal between sessions if you’re working all day, and free beer or cider (within reason) while you’re working (except SIA-badged stewards and anyone driving of course).
There are several opportunities to dress up during the week, if that’s your thing, with Where’s Wally Wednesday, Hat Day on Thursday and the Fancy Dress Party on Saturday – the theme for 2023 is anything 1980s!
There’s a party after closing on Saturday night, with free pizza and plenty of beer, and if you work on setup we provide fish & chips or similar for lunch. For those working more than 3 hours on take-down on Sunday, there’s a free roast dinner and a couple of pints in a local pub, after we empty the Halls, at around 4.30-5pm.
Then a couple of weeks after the Festival there’s the Staff Party, with a buffet and a range of beers and ciders, all free. And in the summer a Staff BBQ at a local pub, with again free food and a pint.
If you’d like to volunteer, the Staffing Form will be posted here as soon as we have it ready.
And if you’d like to get involved in planning the festival, from about February each year, please contact organisers@norwichbeerfestival.org.uk – we’re always looking for volunteers to take the Festival forward!