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How to Volunteer Your Way Into Every NYC Summer Festival

By Emilie Ruscoe | May 29, 2015 4:25pm | Updated on June 1, 2015 7:57am

Festival season is arriving in New York City! If you neglected to set aside the stacks of cash that a hot ticket can sell for in this town but you still want your outdoor concert fix, no need to worry. As long as you're willing to put in some extra hours and a little elbow grease, there's a good chance you're golden.

Here's your definitive guide to working the festival circuit as a volunteer.

► Governor's Ball: Friday, June 5th through Sunday, June 7th at Randall's Island Park (Ft. Drake, Lana Del Ray, and Weird Al)

GovBall is right around the corner, and its megastar lineup ensures that volunteer spots are in high demand. Most of their volunteer programs are full, but they're still seeking capable people to join this year's Clean Vibes crew, which keeps festival environs fresh and facilitates sustainable waste management throughout. It's not glamorous, but neither is waiting on line to buy expensive beer from a truck, which is what you would have been doing as a non-volunteer.

► Mountain Jam, Thursday, June 4th through Sunday, June 7th at Hunter Mountain (Ft. The Black Keys, Robert Plant and Alabama Shakes)

This classic and alternative rock-oriented four day festival is a three hour bus trip north of New York City, and in exchange for working two days, volunteers get a camp site and meals during their shifts (which can be scheduled to accomodate the schedule of sets you want to catch).

► Northside Festival: Monday June 8th through Sunday, June 14th in Williamsburg, Greenpoint and Bushwick (Ft. Neko Case, Best Coast and Sleigh Bells)

Volunteering at Northside involves a mandatory volunteer orientation and either two full days or four half days of work, in exchange for which volunteers receive a Premium badge (which retails for $315). Northside alums also note that the volunteer corps tends to be quite a hookup scene, so if you're looking for love in Brooklyn...

► The Clearwater Festival: Saturday, June 20th through Sunday, June 21st in Croton-on-Hudson, New York (Ft. David Crosby, Ani DiFranco, Angelique Kidjo and Bela Fleck)

This festival benefits the Hudson River advocacy and conservation nonprofit founded by the late Pete Seeger, and he headlined annually until his death last year. It's accessible by MetroNorth, the volunteer meals always include a substantive vegetarian option, and it is famously family friendly.

► Warm Up 2015 at MoMA PS1, Saturdays from June 27th - September 5th in Long Island City (Ft. Samantha Urbani, Boy's Noize & Cut Copy)

The sweaty, international dance and art scene in the MoMA PS1 courtyard costs $20 for day-of admission. Commit to volunteering for a minimum of five Saturdays and you'll get in to other ones for free as well (not to mention free admission to MoMA, MoMA PS1 and other cultural institutions for the summer and a MoMA store). The art world is great at perks.

And of course, take full advantage of your free summer concert options, but don't let their free-ness keep you from offering your services. Central Park Summerstage, Celebrate Brooklyn, River to River fest, Lincoln Center Out of Doors and Afropunk Fest all need passionate and competent volunteers to make their work possible, and they all make for the same kind of memorable experiences that you'd be getting if you traded your volunteer work for admission.