When most people think of Wilderness Festival, they picture incredible live music, eclectic activities, and of course the wild swimming and lakeside spa. What people may not think about is all of the weeks of hard work and planning that goes into making their wild swimming experience safe and enjoyable.
This year our team headed to Cornbury Park to provide water safety across the festival’s two lakes, helping keep thousands of festival-goers safe while they made the most of everything Wilderness has to offer. From wild swimming sessions and paddleboard yoga, to rowing boats and sauna sessions, no two shifts were the same.
Colwick Park Lifeguard volunteers, both old and new, took up various positions and roles along the lakeside. Many lifeguards were posted along the waters edge, with a few stationed on paddle boards across the water, acting as a rest point for swimmers and an immediate point of rescue. In addition, we had one helm out on our powerboat, Little Red, patrolling the rowing boat sessions.
New to our team this year were our Spotters, non-lifeguard volunteers who provided additional support to our lifeguards along the lakes. These spotters don’t need any qualifications, but were a vital part of ensuring safety throughout the week. Another key part of our team are, without a doubt, our Welfare volunteers who ensured our Lifeguards and Spotters were kept hydrated, suncreamed and fed (especially with Haribos).
Thankfully, the majority of our work was preventative. Whether it was answering questions, keeping an eye on swimmers, helping people use the boats safely or offering reassurance to nervous first-time open water swimmers, our presence meant everyone could enjoy the water with confidence. Of course, we were always ready to respond should anything happen, but our proactiveness and good teamwork meant the week ran incredibly smoothly.
One of the best parts of volunteering at Wilderness is that you don’t spend every minute on duty. Once shifts finish, there’s plenty of opportunity to explore everything the festival has to offer. Throughout the week, we were able enjoy live music such as the Scissor Sisters, Carl Cox and The Last Dinner Party, experience a variety of wellness sessions including treeside massages and experience all of the other quirks Wilderness has to give.
A big part of volunteering at Wilderness is enjoying the company of your fellow volunteers, and this year offered many opportunities to do so. From meeting at the communal staff food tent for hot meals, to enjoying the various vendors around the arena to simply sitting and socialising in the campsite, Wilderness was a great chance for me to catch up with old friends as well as make new ones I’m already looking forward to seeing next year.
As always, none of this would be possible without our amazing volunteers. Across the week, everyone pulled together, supported one another and brought plenty of enthusiasm and support to every shift. Long days, hot weather and busy lakes are all made worthwhile by the fantastic people you get to work alongside.
A huge thank you goes to everyone who volunteered, the event organisers and all the festival-goers who helped make Wilderness Festival another fantastic event. We can’t wait to be back on the lakes next year.
