Buddhafield Festival 2026

Camp code: UK-IVS 02

Description

The Buddhafield Festival is held over five days, on a beautiful site in the Blackdown Hills, in Somerset, England. The event brings together around three thousand people for a sharing and celebration of alternative social, cultural, political and spiritual values. The mix of activities around Buddhist, environmental, healing and social change themes together with general festival attractions such as singing, dance, yoga, drumming, live music, comedy, craftwork, chai cafes, saunas, hot tubs and a huge range of activities for children, attracts a wide range of festival goers. The feedback we get is that for many the event is a reminder that a more positive and kind alternative to conventional competitive and environmentally damaging ways of living is possible. In keeping with the Festival's Buddhist ethos the event is a drug and alcohol-free zone.

Study theme

During set-up and take-down there will be organised events around Buddhist themes, attendance at which is completely voluntary. There are generally also alternatives such as spontaneous musical gatherings, often around a fire. They will also have someone on site who is their direct contact for support and pastoral care. They will meet as a group together each day.

Type of Work

Needless to say, in order for the Festival to be a life-enhancing and indeed for some a life-transforming experience, much hard work is required. From the day we arrive in an empty field with a small vanguard, our numbers gradually swell until we have around eight hundred volunteers welcoming the three thousand visitors. The set-up crew erect the structures that will act as kitchens and venues. They establish the infrastructure such as plumbing, compost toilets, showers and saunas. They make the site beautiful and safe with flags, bunting, paths, fences and lighting. Then during the Festival we have stewards to welcome and guide festival goers, to manage parking and traffic and to attend to people's well-being. Toilet wizards maintain the compost toilets. A team of recyclers sorts materials so as to minimize landfill. The kitchen crew feed volunteers and festival goers alike. The site crew look after the infrastructure, tents, water etc. During the set-up phase, volunteers will get one day off and during the festival two days either as full days or half days, depending on the needs of the particular teams.

IVS/VAP volunteers will be invited to work in one of a number of areas before and during the festival, for example: the Healing area, the Buddhafield cafe, site crew, recycling and ‘toilet wizards’, décor, welcome and departure teams.

During the Festival the volunteers will have work shifts, but will also have time to enjoy the huge variety of events taking place and facilities available as outlined above. Volunteers are asked to attend daily morning meetings, the exact time depending on what area of work they choose to join. The work is very team-based. The whole enterprise runs on goodwill, awareness of each others’ needs, good communication and mutual support.

Accommodation and meals:

Volunteers should bring their own tents, sleeping bag, sleeping mat and everything you would need for a camping trip. Weather can be range from very hot in the sun to very cold at night, so please bring plenty of blankets as well as sun cream, warm-weather clothes and proper waterproof jackets and trousers. Showers and toilet facilities are outdoors and though cleaner and better cared for than other festivals, they are outdoors and basic.

Buddhafield will provide 100% vegan food and hot drinks and snacks are available throughout the day. If you need animal products, you will have to bring with you a supply of food that does not need refrigeration.

Requirements

Volunteers will be interviewed online by IVS/VAP before they get the final acceptance in the project.

They are required to read the following document before the interview:

Safeguarding Code of Conduct: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HKmzCb7llBp6rKb69L6TQvus6eqHOn1wZ352m0fUFjs/edit

Volunteers should send together with the application form a Police Check stating they do not have a criminal record. IMPORTANT: All foreign nationals travelling to the UK need to apply online for an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA). You cannot enter the UK without it. Please check the following link on how to apply for it: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-an-electronic-travel-authorisation-eta

Approximate Location

The festival is located in the Blackdown Hills near Taunton, Somerset

About the Organisation

Small groups of people can make changes that very genuinely affect people's lives. Volunteering through IVS can impact on the lives of volunteers themselves and those they help and support. We are the British Branch of SCI with over 80 years’ experience placing volunteers in the UK and internationally.