Crew for festivals and events, direct
CrewPool is a live list of people who build, run and strike events for a living - tent and marquee crews, bar staff, stewards, riggers, drivers, litter crews and site hands. Every profile shows what they have done before, what they are willing to try, their tickets, how far they travel and whether they are free on your dates.
Post the job and we text the nearest available people that minute. They reply, you pick, you ring them. The last job posted on CrewPool filled in 4 minutes.
Festival staffing without the agency markup
Festival staffing through an agency adds 15-30% to every crew wage - for a 10-person build crew over 3 days, that is hundreds of pounds of dead overhead. CrewPool is the direct route: post your festival staffing requirements free, we text crew who match your location, dates and skills, you pick who you want and pay them direct at the rate you agree. No agency, no markup on wages, no commission on placements. Crew for festivals, build crew, bar staff, stewards - the full festival staffing range in one list, searchable by location and skill.
Crew for festivals - finding them without an agency
Crew for festivals fall into two broad groups: build crew (on site before gates open - stages, fencing, power, structures) and on-event crew (bar staff, stewards, catering, litter crew during the public days). Both need recruiting 4-8 weeks before the event and both go through the same production contractor network. CrewPool lists both types of crew for festivals across the UK, searchable by postcode and distance, skills and availability. Post what you need free and the relevant crew for festivals get a text with your job details and a one-tap yes/no. No agency in the middle.
Festival staffing, direct
Festival staffing through a traditional agency adds 30-40% on top of every wage - the same worker costs you more and the agency controls the relationship. CrewPool is a different model: a live list of festival crew across the UK, searchable by skill, postcode and availability, where you post a job free and the nearest available crew hear about it immediately. You agree pay direct and ring them yourself. Festival staffing without the agency margin.
The list covers the full festival staffing mix - build and strike crews (fencing, marquees, stages, electrical), on-event service (bar staff, stewards, campsite and gates), specialists (lighting, AV, plant, CSCS) and crew chiefs. Filter by the role, your site postcode and your dates to see who is actually available for your festival.
Festival staffing costs vary by role - general build crew agree around £100-£150 a day, bar staff £100-£140 a day or £13-£16 an hour, stewards £100-£140 a day, crew chiefs and supervisors £180-£280 a day. CrewPool adds nothing on top: festival staffing here costs exactly what you agree with the worker. Compare that to the typical agency festival staffing markup of 30-40% on every day rate.
Event crew hire
Event crew hire is the process of finding and booking event crew for your event without going through a staffing agency. On CrewPool, event crew hire works direct: post your job free, we text the event crew nearest your venue who are confirmed available for your dates, you pick from who responds and ring them yourself. Event crew hire through CrewPool adds no agency markup - you pay crew at the rate you agree with them, and they keep all of it. The same event crew that staffing agencies mark up by 25-40% are on CrewPool, available direct.
Event crew hire on CrewPool covers the full crew range: build and strike crew, bar staff, event stewards, catering crew, site crew, drivers, specialist crew (lighting, AV, rigging, CSCS) and crew chiefs. Filter the list by your venue postcode, your dates and the skill set you need - you see only the event crew who are confirmed available for your event. Most event crew hire requests through CrewPool receive first responses within minutes of posting.
Event crew hire in Leeds
Event crew hire in Leeds peaks in August when Reading and Leeds Festival at Bramham Park draws on the same North and East Yorkshire crew pool that works Tramlines in Sheffield and the corporate marquee circuit through summer. Event crew hire in Leeds for Bramham Park covers build crew (staging, fencing, power) contracted 3-4 weeks before the festival, on-event crew (bar staff, stewards, catering and site crew) recruited 2 weeks before, and strike crew immediately after the event closes. Outside festival season, event crew hire in Leeds covers Utilita Arena gig nights, corporate events at the Corn Exchange, Royal Armouries and Cloth Hall Court, and the December party circuit. Add the job to CrewPool free and event crew near Leeds get a text immediately.
Event crew hire in London
Event crew hire in London is the single largest market on the CrewPool list. BST Hyde Park (June), All Points East in Victoria Park (August), Notting Hill Carnival (August), Wireless and Field Day all hire event crew from the same London and home counties pool. Festival staff hire in London typically opens 4-8 weeks before each event for build crew and 2-4 weeks out for on-event festival staff. Year-round event crew hire in London covers the O2 Arena, Wembley, Alexandra Palace, the ExCeL and Olympia trade show circuit, and a dense corporate marquee calendar across the home counties. Post what you need on CrewPool free and the festival staff nearest your London site hear about it immediately.
Event crew hire in Manchester
Parklife at Heaton Park (50,000 per day across two days) is the anchor for event crew hire in Manchester every June, drawing build crew, bar staff, stewards and catering crew from across Greater Manchester and the North West. AO Arena and Manchester Arena concerts, the Warehouse Project at Depot Mayfield, and corporate summer events across MediaCityUK and the NOMA district keep the Manchester crew calendar busy year-round. Browse CrewPool's Manchester crew - stewards, build crew, bar staff and catering crew available for single-day or multi-day briefs.
Post your brief free on CrewPool. Filter by skill, dates free and radius from your Manchester site or venue. Message crew direct - no agency in the loop, no 25-40% placement surcharge. Rates are agreed between you and the crew: stewards £100-125 per day, build crew £110-140, bar staff £90-115, experienced crew chiefs £140-190. Browse Manchester event crew on CrewPool.
Event crew hire in Bristol
Bristol is one of the UK's strongest festival cities. Event crew hire in Bristol covers NASS at the Bath and West Showground in Shepton Mallet (35 miles from Bristol, the UK's biggest action-sports and urban music festival, June, 20,000 capacity), 2000 Trees at Upcott Farm near Cheltenham (July, 5,000 capacity - popular with the Bristol crew circuit), Lakefest at Eastnor Castle Ledbury (August, 10,000 capacity), Bristol Balloon Fiesta at Ashton Court Estate (August, 150,000 visitors across 4 days - the largest free balloon event in Europe, needs bar and catering crew), SWX Bristol and O2 Academy Bristol for year-round arena event crew, Clifton Pavilion and We The Curious for corporate events, and the December light trail circuit at Westonbirt Arboretum.
Post the job on CrewPool and we text the nearest Bristol-area crew who are confirmed available. Typical Bristol rates: build crew £110-180/day, bar staff £95-130/day, stewards £100-125/day. Find festival jobs in Bristol.
Event crew hire in Nottingham
Nottingham is a growing event crew hub. Event crew hire in Nottingham covers Download Festival at Donington Park near Castle Donington (June, 100,000 capacity - one of the UK's biggest rock festivals, 15 miles from Nottingham), Splendour Festival at Wollaton Park (July, 10,000 capacity - Nottingham's own headline festival), Motorpoint Arena Nottingham for year-round touring acts, Nottingham Winter Wonderland at Old Market Square (November-December, outdoor event with food and drink stalls needing bar and catering crew), and the East Midlands Conference Centre at University of Nottingham for corporate events.
Build crew for Download Festival are recruited 4-8 weeks before June - the largest single crew hire opportunity in the Midlands. Post on CrewPool and we text the nearest Nottingham-area crew confirmed available for your dates. Typical Nottingham rates: build crew £100-160/day, bar and stewarding crew £90-115/day. Find festival jobs in Nottingham.
Event staffing hire
Event staffing hire covers a broader brief than festival-only: corporate events, exhibitions, product launches, weddings, arena gigs and stadium events all need the same crew types. CrewPool handles event staffing hire for any event type - post what you need, we text the crew near your venue who are confirmed available for your dates. Event staffing hire at scale (50+ crew, multi-day events) works the same way: post once, the relevant crew hear immediately, you pick from whoever responds.
Event staffing hire in London is the single largest demand on the list - Wireless, All Points East, BST Hyde Park, Field Day, Notting Hill Carnival and the London corporate circuit mean there is always someone on CrewPool available near your site. Event staffing hire in Leeds peaks in August around Reading and Leeds Festival at Bramham Park, with the Utilita Arena and the corporate circuit running the rest of the year. Event staffing hire in Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow follows the same pattern: big festival anchors the summer, arenas and corporate fill the year.
How it compares to a staffing agency
An event staffing agency typically adds 30-40% on top of the worker's wage, controls the contact, and sends whoever they have. CrewPool takes no cut from wages and charges nothing to post: the price you agree is the price the worker gets, which is why the same worker costs you less here and turns up happier. You see exactly who you are getting before you ring them - photo, history, confirmed references from companies they have actually crewed for.
What we are not: an employment agency. Workers are not our employees - you hire them direct and agree terms between you. That is the whole point.
Crew for festivals
Festival crewing runs in three phases - the build (fencing, marquees, staging, power), the show days (bars, gates, stewarding, campsites) and the strike. Most crew for festivals are booked by the festival or its contractors in the final weeks before gates. If you are supplying a festival and short of hands, post the dates and the site postcode and the nearby crew hear about it the same minute.
Finding crew for festivals direct means the same worker costs you less and you have a direct relationship - they know you, you know them, and you can rebook without going through an agency. The CrewPool list covers the full crew mix most festival organisers need: general site and build crew, bar staff for concessions and bars, event stewards for gates and campsite, litter and recycling pickers, catering crew and drivers.
Post the role, your site postcode and your dates once. The crew for festivals nearest your site who are confirmed free on those dates get a text the same minute. You see who responds, check their profile - experience, references, tickets, photos - and ring whoever looks right. Most festival crew for an event are assembled within a day or two of posting.
Searching for "crew for festivals" typically surfaces event job boards and worker pages - but you need to hire crew for a festival, not find work yourself. CrewPool is the direct route: the list is searchable by you as the festival organiser or contractor, not just by workers. Crew for festivals through CrewPool are available now across the UK - the pool is strongest in Yorkshire, the North, the Midlands and London, with crew near every major festival site from Bramham Park (Reading & Leeds) to Worthy Farm (Glastonbury) to Cheshire (Creamfields) to Weston-super-Mare (Burnham).
What it costs
Posting is free and there is no fee on wages. As a guide, general event crew around the UK agree £100-£180 a day, experienced build crew and supervisors £150-£250+, bar staff £13-£16 an hour. Each profile carries the day rate the worker is after, so there are no surprises.
Common questions
How do I find crew for my festival?
What types of crew for festivals does CrewPool cover?
What is festival staffing and how does it work on CrewPool?
Festival staffing is sourcing and booking the crew who build, run and break a festival. On CrewPool, festival staffing works direct: post the job free, we text the crew nearest your site who are confirmed available for your dates, you pick from who responds and ring them yourself. Festival staffing through CrewPool adds no agency markup - you agree pay direct and the worker keeps all of it.
How do I find crew for festivals?
Post the role, your site postcode and your dates free - we text the crew for festivals nearest your site who are confirmed available the same minute. You see their profiles (experience, references, tickets, photos), pick who looks right, and ring them direct. Agree pay between you with no agency cut.
Is CrewPool really free for hirers?
Posting a job is free and we take nothing from wages. You unlock contact details for the people you pick, ring them, and agree pay direct.
How fast can I get crew?
Jobs are texted to nearby available crew the minute you post. The fastest fill so far took 4 minutes; same-week fills are normal because the list shows live availability.
Are the crew vetted?
Profiles show verified references - companies they have crewed for confirm with one tap. You see experience, tickets (CSCS, IPAF, forklift, personal licence), photos and how far they travel before you contact anyone. Right-to-work and ID checks stay yours, as they would with any direct hire.
Do you cover my area?
The pool is UK-wide and strongest across Yorkshire, the North and the Midlands, and growing roughly 70 people a week. Post the job either way - if nobody is close enough you have lost nothing.
Hire crew for festivals by region
Crew for festivals and events across the UK - find crew near your site: