Volunteer Opportunities at Tacoma Freedom Fair
Most of the jobs listed below are filled in shifts all day July 4th; others are clearly needed before and after the event day. Volunteer shifts generally are scheduled from 6 am – Noon, Noon – 6 pm, and 6 pm – midnight. One or two areas must report earlier or work later than those shifts – please inquire about this when you contact us. We would like to have volunteers work a four-hour shift but longer is welcome.
Access Control Team - Responsible for checking credentials at sites that require an invitation, badge or other credentials for admittance.
Action Team – These are the movers and shakers of Freedom Fair! Action team members assist festival staff in the set-up of all equipment, signs, banners, and other resources before the event starts. During the event, team members maintain the venue, and after the event, return all equipment and resources to their proper locations.
Activity Assistant - Assist in making activities or event areas run smoothly. This includes helping to setup and cleanup of the area and keeping it clean during the event. (Family Fun Zone, Pole Vault Meet, Car Show, Helicopter Landing Area, & Hospitality)
Admissions Team – Greet all visitors to the festival and show them where to deposit their voluntary admission fee.
Exhibit Assistant - Responsibilities include helping to greet and place an exhibitor then assist in protecting the display from damage and answering questions about the exhibit.
Hospitality Team:
Before the event, coordinate all benefits offered to event sponsors, to include mailing out VIP invitations, arranging for event catering, and ensuring sponsors logos, etc, are published in all appropriate locations.
During the event, greet guests as they arrive for the reception, checking their names off the guest list, or adding their information to the guest list. Host VIP/Sponsors at the Reception on Les Davis Pier, answering questions and directing them to other event activities. Maintain reception area, replenishing food/beverages as necessary, keep the area clean. After fireworks, gather and remove trash and help remove equipment from pier for pick-up.
Information Booth - Assist the general public and festival participants by staffing an information booth and answering questions about the event and providing directions.
Master of Ceremonies - Responsible for introducing performers, reading sponsor credits and making announcements. Work with the Stage Manager and sound technicians to help make things go smoothly. Serve as greeter and answer questions for the audience as needed. Help to keep the stage and area safe and clean.
Misc. - For the truly adventurous, allow us to place you.
Morning-After Clean-up Team - This group walks the waterfront and Old Town area to pick-up litter and return the waterfront to the community in a condition better that we found it. Help with any left over tear down projects and returning things to where we got them.
Office Help - At times during the year we will need administrative assistance with data entry, mailings, filing. Answer the telephone in the event office and deal with questions asked by the general public and vendors as needed. Run errands as needed.
Sales - Sell event merchandise and provide general information to the audience.
Security Team - Under the supervision of the Safety Director, Security Staff will aid in crowd control, answer questions, assist the audience and control access to parking areas.
Stage Managers - Responsible for activity on and behind the stage. This includes making sure the stage is set up for the performance, decorations and banners are in place. Stage managers should watch for and greet the performers as they arrive and assist them with loading and unloading of equipment as needed. Be sure that water is available for the performers at all times and that they know were to park, where to find the restrooms, and how to exit the area when they depart. Assist the sound technicians as needed but don't get in their way, help keep the performance schedule on time (work closely with the Zone Manager) and the area safe and clean.
Technical Support - Assist the event staff with technical assignments as needed. (Please let us know about any special skills you have that may be helpful to the event.)
Vendor Management Team - Responsibilities include greeting vendors as they arrive at the festival and directing them to their assigned booth location, and assisting the vendors to speed the unloading process. Part of the job is getting the vendors to move their vehicles to the assigned parking area a soon as they unload so other vendors scheduled to arrive later will have room to unload. We need people to provide a high level of customer service for the vendors by maintaining contact with them from set-up to tear down. They appreciate having someone to keep an eye on their stuff when they move their cars, get something to eat or leave to use the rest room. Vendor Management volunteers will provide instructions and supervision to ensure rules are followed. At the end of the day the vendor management team will help the non-food vendors move merchandise to their cars because they will not be able to pull vehicles onto the street and into the crowd. Volunteers will also need help collect report of sales forms and make sure vendors do not leave boxes or litter in their booth area as they clear out.
Volunteer Center - Greet the volunteers and sign them in. Help direct the volunteers to their job assignment and answer questions. Help make them feel welcome and appreciated.
Zone Managers - Zone Managers are in charge of seeing to it that all event activities happening in a designated area of the festival go as planned. This includes maintaining the security of the area, looking out for the safety of the audience, supervising volunteers, keeping the area clean and insuring that signs and banners are posted correctly. Zone managers help direct vendors to the correct setup location and cars to the correct parking areas. They also assist performers and other participants in getting to the correct area and supervise the setup of booths, exhibits, or other activities scheduled in the assigned zone. Look for and report problems to the command center.
Year-round Volunteer Opportunities:
The Tacoma Events Commission produces three events a year: Freedom Fair on July 4, Orting Pumpkin Fest in October, and Gray Sky Blues Music Festival in April. Our volunteer requirements are similar for all events; if you are interested in being a crucial member of our volunteer team for other events, please get in touch!
We also have on-going volunteer opportunities throughout the year, including administrative/office help, logistics team (help us maintain our equipment and facilities), and planning committees. If you would like to learn more about these on-going opportunities, contact us at today!
For more information on volunteering, click on one of the links below: