Patti Meadows, volunteer coordinator for Friends of the Festival, walks past the main stage after delivering a volunteer shirt and brochures to the VIP tent during the second to last day of the downtown Chattanooga music festival Friday afternoon.
WHAT VOLUNTEERS DO• Pin/token sales• Admission/bag check at gates• Crowd safety• Token cleaning and valuation• Stage/waterfront security• Volunteer hospitality• VIP area supervision• Credential check for Club Riverbend• The Green Team (Riverbend’s award-winning recycling program)• On- and off-site musician transport
They’re doctors and lawyers, students and teachers, retirees and recent graduates.
For nine days a year, however, more than a thousand people lay down their other titles to join Riverbend’s force of volunteers, without whom the festival could neither function nor remain nearly as affordable.
In their brightly hued shirts, volunteers are a highly visible presence on the festival grounds, but many attendees probably don’t realize the crucial roles they serve, festival executive director Chip Baker said.
“We couldn’t do the festival without them,” he said. “The volunteers are the backbone of the festival, in every aspect.”