VICTORIA DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL


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Volunteer For This Year's Dragon Boat Festival

Volunteers

Join our team of amazing volunteers to help make the Victoria Dragon Boat Festival possible! Victoria’s biggest cultural celebration relies heavily on the support of people like you for managing races, handling boats, greeting visitors, serving beverages, and ensuring festival goers have a blast! All volunteers will be well-fed and get a Victoria Dragon Boat Festival t-shirt.

Volunteer Positions

There are many different kinds of volunteer positions, each with different responsibilities and qualification requirements. To find out more about each volunteer position at The Festival, check out the descriptions and apply below. For all volunteer positions, orientation will occur during the week leading up to the festival.

Beer Garden Crew (FULL)

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The beer garden crew keeps the party going! Your job is to serve alcoholic beverages to festival attendees and paddlers with a smile. This is a social position, where people come together to hang-out, laugh, cheer, and be merry! You will be one of the most popular volunteers, putting on a smile on the face of everyone you serve. As a server, you will require a “Serving it right” certification that you can obtain here.

Kids Tent /Cultural Crew (FULL)

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Kids Tent
The Kids Tent is a fun and active festival space dedicated to entertaining kids of all ages. You will be part of the committee that plans and executes activities that kids will love; like crafts, sidewalk chalk drawing, bubble blowing, dancing, singing, face-painting, and more!

Culture Crew
The Cultural Tent is a space dedicated to celebrating Chinese culture, traditions, and Chinese-Canadian history. Volunteers on the Culture Crew will coordinate and host the Culture Tent. You will plan and execute many of the traditional Chinese ceremonies such as the Dragon Boat Eye Dotting Ceremony. Volunteers should have an appreciation for Chinese-Canadian culture, arts, and history. The Festival will also have a space dedicated paying tribute to the Lekwungen peoples on whose traditional territory Victoria stands, and the Songhees, Esquimalt and WSÁNEĆ peoples whose historical relationships with Victoria continue to this day.

Environment Crew

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The Environment Crew has one of the most important responsibilities of The Festival; ensuring The Festival grounds and the Inner Harbour remain clean at all times. You will be in charge of making sure waste and recycling bins are positioned where they are needed most and emptied regularly. Stray garbage and recycling must be picked up and disposed of quickly so that it doesn’t end up polluting the ocean, where an abundance of sea life thrives. Overall, you will be responsible to encouragement festival goers and racers to respect the ocean and land by cleaning up after themselves. Don’t worry, you will not clean portable toilets – gross! This is a great crew to join as a large group or sports team.

Event Safety Crew

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Our Safety Crew requires adult volunteers who are able to work with on-site security personnel to keep our festival grounds safe from rowdy behaviour and clear of people who are there to loiter. There will be entry points to the festival, beer gardens and various other locations that will require a watchful eye to ensure rowdy and unruly people are kept off site and/or prevented from harassing people or interfering with the races and live performances. It also includes monitoring and ensuring the control of people on site, restricting access to non-public areas, and limiting festival attendees numbers as per PHO guidelines.

Registration Crew (FULL)

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This is a fun position that requires individuals that are good communicators and coordinators. You will be responsible for greeting and checking in all volunteers working at the festival. You will make sure they get a volunteer t-shirt and that they understand the festival ground rules and their specific responsibilities.

Food Crew (FULL)

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You will be the most popular volunteer at the festival on this crew as your primary responsibility is to deliver lunches, dinners, and beverages for all of the volunteers and staff. 

Information Crew

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The volunteers on the Information Crew will be located at the Info Desk and help answer questions of festival attendees and direct them where things are located on the grounds. You will handout festival programs and also help with the coordination of lost & found items, and lost children. You will have a means to communicate with many of the other volunteer crews. Overall, you are there to help people out.

Transportation Crew

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This crew requires volunteers that have a class 5 driver’s license and a large vehicle they can drive. We need strong people willing to move various items and equipment to/from a storage facility for setup and teardown of the festival grounds. Setup will occur on 11-12 Aug (Thursday/Friday), and the teardown will occur on August 14th, Sunday.

Stage Manager Assistant Crew

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This crew is responsible to help the stage manager organize the live music and dance performances on the stage. You will be responsible for working with the stage manager to ensure the performers have everything they need in terms of sound equipment and staff setup. You will attend to the various needs of the performers to make sure they are enjoying themselves and everything is running smoothly. As there may be times you make announcements over the sound system, public speaking skills are required.

Raffle Crew (FULL)

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We need trustworthy individuals for this crew as you will be handling cash and selling raffle tickets. You will be stationed at a 50/50 raffle table, making sure the sales of the tickets and the reporting of the sales go smoothly. We need people that like to smile and encourage festival attendees to take their chances on winning big! You will also be responsible to handout treat bags to people at the exits of the festival.

Dock Master

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If you’re looking for more responsibility, this position may be for you! The Dock Master leads the Dock Crew and is responsible for ensuring all teams are in their assigned boat. Boats cannot leave or return without the permission of the Dock Master. The Dock Master works in tandem with the Crew Marshall to determine what teams are going down to the dock and when. The Dock Master is also responsible for the safety of the paddlers and their boats. Good communication between the Crew Marshall, Dock Crew and dragonboat teams are essential to the success of the event and ensuring races are on time.
This role is best suited for an adult volunteer who is familiar with dragonboat racing and understands the flow of the race.

Dock Crew

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This position brings you to the front line of the races! The Dock Crew is responsible for stabilizing the boats by holding the lines so that paddlers can safely go in and out of the boat.
Training consists of how to hold the lines, tie the lines, and learning the commands of the Dock Master. Dock Crew volunteers must know it is a physically demanding position that requires people to be on their feet.

Marshalling Crew

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The Marshalling Crew is an active and important role within the festival. Marshalling Crew Volunteers work under the Crew Marshall to marshall teams.
As there are certain rules pertaining to the number of paddlers, gender and sometimes age, the marshalling volunteers are responsible for verifying the requirements and informing the Crew Marshall.
Using a manual system such as a megaphone will mean volunteers will have to walk around and call out the teams to attend to the crew marshalling area.

Race Registrar

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The Race Registrar is responsible for confirming the registration of all teams and waivers of paddlers. All teams have an appointed manager who has to see the Race Registrar on race day to confirm their attendance, hand in any paperwork, and to pick up any pertinent information that hasn’t already been disseminated.
The Race Registrar with help from their assistants is also responsible for displaying the race results given by the Finish Line staff. This display area is away from the Race Registrar but near where paddlers congregate. The Race Registrar is informed of race disputes and calls on the Race Director to settle the issue before displaying results of the affected race.
This position is best suited for an adult volunteer who is organized, patient and has good communication skills as they deal with team managers and paddlers who may not be organized and have the necessary paperwork.

Race Registrar Assistant

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Race Registrar Assistants assist the Race Registrar in confirming the registration of all teams and waivers of paddlers and displaying the race results given by the Finish Line staff.

Eye Dotting Ceremony Volunteers

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Eye Dotting Ceremony Volunteers assist with crowd management and various other tasks during the Eye Dotting Ceremony.

Hot Dog Tent Volunteers

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Hot Dog Tent Volunteers will attend to the on-site hot dog tent and serve hotdogs to Festival attendees. This is a fun role that involves chatting with attendees. A Foodsafe certification is required for this position.

Volunteers information

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Eligibility & Requirements

Shift Requirements
Volunteers are required to commit to at least 2 shifts between the Saturday and Sunday of the Festival weekend (13th-14th August 2022). These can be on separate days or on the same day, according to your schedule and ability.

Criminal Record Check
Certain roles may require a criminal record check before volunteering with us. We will let you know if you need one.

Waiver & Declaration

We require all volunteers to fill out our waiver and declaration prior to volunteering with us. Download the forms here, please fill it out at your earliest convenience and send it through this form here.

Managing your volunteer schedule

The Volunteer Coordinator will assign volunteers to shifts based on availability, preference, and suitability for each role. Once you have been scheduled, you will receive an email that will link you to an excel page. Find your name and you will be able to find your shifts!

Our Policy

Your Rights and Responsibilities

All Festival volunteers bear certain rights and responsibilities. We ask that all volunteers abide by the following policies:

Volunteer Rights

  • To be treated with respect, and feel comfortable with bringing any concerns to the attention of Festival Officials
  • To feel safe and properly prepared while volunteering
  • To be properly informed of our policies and regulations
  • To feel comfortable with the tasks assigned and be able to request a change of crew depending on availability
  • To have the Festival Official’s expectations of them clearly explained, and be able to express their expectations to Festival Officials
  • To be recognized for their contribution to the festival
  • To have food and water provided at Volunteer Registration table during shifts
  • To be provided a volunteer t-shirt

Volunteer Responsibilities

  • Be courteous and helpful to all members of the public and answer all questions to the best of your ability
  • Follow the instructions of Festival Officials and Staff. If you have questions, seek clarification right away.
  • Know the site layout and the responsibilities of all crews
  • Behave in a respectful and courteous manner to staff, and fellow volunteers
  • Check in and out for your shifts at the at Volunteer Registration table.
  • Arrive for your shift 15 minutes early
  • Wear your Volunteer T-shirt while on shift
  • Contact your Festival Official or the Volunteer Coordinator if you are unable to make a shift
  • Remain sober and substance-free during your shifts
  • Refrain from making personal calls or texting during your shifts
  • Complete a waiver
  • Complete and submit any necessary certification, including a Criminal Record Check for the Event Safety Crew or Serving It Right certificate for the Beer Garden Crew
  • Be a team player – we may need your help in other crews!

Covid-19

We will have handwashing stations and hand sanitizer to reduce the spread of germs. We ask you to bring a personal water bottle that you do not share to keep hydrated.

Questions?

If you have any questions or concerns about volunteering or about your volunteer shifts, please don’t hesitate to contact us.