Behind The Scenes At A Festival

A few months ago, my sister mentioned to me that the team in her current summer job were recruiting more staff for their food truck at Camp Bestival in Dorset. Her summer job entails travelling around to various festivals in the UK, to serve food to the festival enthusiasts!

Jeco Bowl, owned by life-long best friends Jess and Emily; created the all vegan and gluten free food truck that offers pancakes, smoothies and acai bowls. They travel around the UK with their gorgeous, beach themed trailer (inspired by their travels to Australia), and provide customers with delicious, fresh food and drink. Festivals include; Boomtown, Isle of Wight, Truck and Wilderness.

After consideration and completely jumping straight out of my comfort zone (firstly to last minute plans, and secondly to festivals and camping), I decided to do it! As a one-off opportunity this summer, and already working in hospitality, I knew it would be a fantastic experience and a chance to test my spontaneity.

So, in mid-July, we proceeded to the meeting point; Emily’s house. The six-day trip had begun! With two vans full of camping necessities and food stock, we were en route to Lulworth in Dorset. Once we had arrived, picked up our event staff wrist bands, and headed to the pitches, where the food stalls would be for the long weekend (we had two locations on site); it was time to set up.

Being in such a close proximity environment and essentially living with one another for the next six days; it was a true chance to get to know everybody well. The Camp Bestival team were all lovely and easy to get along with, making the experience even more fun! Most of the team I worked with had already completed most of the previous festivals, so it was up to me to learn on the job. However, thankfully, the team were all willing to spend time with me, explaining, helping me learn, and provided me with handy tips and tricks, as there were quite a few recipes to learn and remember. Along with meeting the Jeco Bowl team, it was great to meet new faces from individual stalls around the festival too.

The job involved taking orders and using the till, to making tasty smoothies, acai bowls, pancakes, decorating and topping the pancakes or acai bowls, and making teas and coffees. Everything was made on site, and absolutely EVERYTHING is vegan and gluten free, something I believe is hard to find these days, especially in a festival environment; something that makes Jeco Bowl unique to the rest!

Over the whole weekend, shifts varied from 5 hours to 12 hours a day, due to varying trading times each day, and whether overtime was needed. During our breaks (could be up to four hours), we were able to either nap, shower, eat or go and enjoy the festival amenities! As an example, after one of our shifts, a small group of us headed to the silent disco, something you would not be able to do in a ‘normal’ job. Festivals let you escape from your regular routine, allowing you to focus on the music and good energy, whilst ensuring you appreciate the little things, like hot showers and a comfy bed.

The job clearly is not your typical 9-5. Working at a festival, and dependent on your shift, 2am is the general closing time for the trailer.

During another one of our breaks, we were able to see The Kooks. Our manager Emily was kind enough to let us all decide who we would like to see during the weekend and gave us time in the rotas to watch them perform live!

Those were not the only job perks. Jeco Bowl were able to trade with other food stalls around the festival, meaning that we were able to enjoy poke bowls, pizza, pasta and coffee, whilst the staff from those food trucks could enjoy ours! Not only did we trade with food stalls, we even managed to trade with a hot tub company! A relaxing, luxury surprise.

Obviously, the weather is a huge factor for your festival experience. At times it was tough, although we made the most. On the last day, the trailer, quite literally, got stuck in the mud, due to the heavy rain, something you adapt and overcome in the moment.

Nonetheless, I had a fantastic time, met so many great people, had some good laughs, and learnt a lot! I would absolutely do it again next summer! This is your reminder to say yes more often, and try to step out of your comfort zone, as you don’t know what amazing experiences you can have if you do.

Thank you, Jess and Emily x

@JecoBowl

Images/Edit/Words By Alice Abel