Volunteer to be a crew member at HearSay26 [CLOSED]

[THIS IS NOW CLOSED - THANK YOU TO ALL THOSE WHO'VE RESPONDED WITH ENTHUSIASM] 

What is expected of me? 

As we put together our core Crew Teams, we are looking for people who would be willing to volunteer time over the course of the festival. So if you want to get right under the skin of HearSay and are truly passionate about helping make HearSay26 happen -  we want you!

As a member of the Crew, you'll be assigned a role on a specific team. We've got 7 teams this year: Technical, Production & Venue, Welcome, Documentation, Crew Welfare, Street Ambassadors, and Coordination  - see below for more details on each of these.

Crew members will need be in Kilfinane from early Thursday May 7th to Sunday 10th May 2026

(We will also need some crew members to be active earlier in the festival week to help in the final run-in and immediately afterwards so please let us know below if you can also crew outside of the festival dates.)

Crew Members will be expected to be active over the four day duration of the festival with plenty of time off to catch key sessions and build friendships.

 

How will this nourish me?

Joining us as a member of the HearSay26 Crew will be a fun and fulfilling experience.
With your help, HearSay26 will be audio heaven for four days! Your expertise and passion will make sure this not-for-profit initiative can survive and thrive. You'll get to work and laugh alongside some of the most talented people in this beautiful creative audio world.

​Obviously, one of the major benefits is that you will have an automatic place at this year’s festival with a free pass.

But you will also have a great time at the heart of things. We'll have a dedicated crew base again this year - with lots more fairy lights, of course more tea, more chocolate and a special secret treat just for members of the HearSay crew family.

And of course you will still have time to enjoy what only HearSay has to offer - we'll make sure you get to attend events of interest to you. In fact, you will get to experience exclusive crew only events, experiences, and opportunities and of course as much tea as you can drink! 

If you have any queries about HearSay26 or the questions below, or you wish to help out in other ways, please don't hesitate get in touch via crew@hearsayfestival.ie  

HearSay26 Crew Roles

We've got 7 teams as part of the HearSay26 Crew

Read the descriptions of each below to find out which one may suit your skills and experience. We can also mix it up for you so if you would like to mainly help look after a venue and witness powerful session select "Production & Venue" but lets us know in the comments that you'd also like to spend some time meeting and guiding people on the streets as a street ambassador.

1. Technical ​ ​
Activities May Include: Assisting Tech Set Up, Venue Sound Desks, Sound and Equipment, Checks, Audio/Video Feeds of Sessions via Mixing, Managing Installations Tech, Temporary Sound for Pop-up locations, Breakdown of Equipment after, Monitoring Venue Sound Quality,

​2. Production & Venue 
Activities May Include: Venue Preparation and Maintenance, Stewarding, Liaising with Contributors, Session Time Management, Liaising with Participants, Making sure venue hosts are happy, assisting the tech and hospitality crews, Ushering, making things feel magical. 

3. Street Ambassadors
Activities May Include: Chatting to festival participants,  making people aware of what’s going on where, Guiding people around the village, helping find wayward contributors, stewarding, helping out with events, liaising with Open House hosts, helping out and pitching in where needed.

4. Welcome
Activities May Include: Participant sign-in & welcome, Contributor sign-in & liaison, welcome desk during festival, event sign-ups, directions and programme info, give recommendations on what to see and do​​, telephone and point of contact for Festival Coordinators

5. Documentation
Activities May Include: Documenting the activities of the festival - events and context - video, photo, audio,  Photography, Filming, Interviews, Social media, Post-Festival Material Prepping

6. Crew Welfare Activities
May Include: Liaising with Festival Coordinators, Monitoring Crew welfare, Dealing with Crew needs, concerns, questions, ensuring adequate breaks, refreshments are provided, communication with crew, making sure crew members get to key events of interest, planning crew-specific experiences and encounters

7. Festival Coordination
Activities May Include: Overseeing all aspects of Festival Management and Coordination, Health & Safety Coordination, Programming, Dealing with any Changes to Programme, Coordination of Logistics, Coordination of Crew

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