Who are we?
We are the SVI, Service Volontaire International (International Voluntary Service), a non-profit youth association managed by and for volunteers, to whom we give the chance to engage themselves in voluntary projects all over the globe. We aim to make our projects accessible to all, regardless of their age, financial resources or skills.
Each year, we send about 350 volunteers to projects all over the globe, as we work with local associations in nearly 70 countries. Our volunteers help local independent organizations, which are not subsidized. Indeed, the local volunteers share our values.
Our workcamp
The workcamp will be located in Plaine de la Machine à Feu, 7370 Dour, Belgium. It can host about 20 volunteers.
The project
Dour Festival is a four-day music festival. 200 artists perform on four stages. More than anything, it is a unique concept and a wonderful atmosphere.
More than 1.000 journalists came to the festival. These professionals are generally from Europe. Last year we noted the presence of journalists from Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Germany, Estonia, Spain, Greece, Ireland, Luxemburg, Poland, Reunion Island and the USA.
The line-up is more international than ever, however we dedicate a large part of our program to home-grown Belgian artists.
Volunteer profile
Volunteers are young people (18-35 years old) who want to work OUTSIDE and live in a VERY BASIC CAMPING. You have to be flexible and enthusiastic. You CANNOT have any physical condition. And most importantly, you must love music!
Work description
Volunteers will be part of the Croix Verte (the green cross). Your job is to keep the area clean and tidy. The team will collect and recycle the waste to give the festival-goers a nice and safe ground.
Volunteers will also have to do physical work. DO NOT IMAGINE YOU WILL SIMPLY ENJOY THE FESTIVAL. IT WILL BE HARD WORK TOO!!!
Your job will be the same throughout the whole festival. It could be heavy and repetitive. You will have to work during 5 days (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday). The festival dates will be in-between. Volunteers will have to work around 6 hours a day, probably early in the morning. During their free time, you will be free to go to the festival and enjoy the concerts (concerts start at noon and end at 5.00 a.m.).
Food:
The organisation will give volunteers sandwiches, drink tickets and food tickets during the festival. There are a lot of shops, small snacks (pizza, fries, sandwich, Chinese…) and bars in Dour.
If possible, you need to take kitchen material like a camping stove, plates, cutlery... to cook for yourself in the camping.
→ YOU NEED TO HAVE A SMALL BUGDET FOR OTHERS MEALS (about 10€/day)
Accommodation:
A camping site is reserved for the volunteers. It is well located.
There is also a bar.
There are showers and toilets in the camping. You need a flashlight, toilet paper, bath towel, basic pharmacy, ear plugs… You can expect not to have hot water to shower. You need to bring all the things that will be useful to their stay because you will not be able to buy anything during your stay over there!!
You need a tent and a sleeping bag (+ camping mattress, pillow,…) and all you think you need to go camping (there is no kitchen). You need to bring their own material to fix their tent if you need to do so!!! There will not be any building where you can sleep. If you do not bring your own tent and camping material, you will have to sleep in the mud!!!
Clothing and Material:
Boots or walking shoes (you might prefer not to take too nice shoes because they might get VERY dirty).
Working clothes (for the construction work), and comfortable clothes (for the festival). Summer clothes AND winter clothes because it can get really warm or really cold or very rainy or all of them together!! You need to bring clothes that dry really really fast because if you get wet, you might have to change clothes various time a day. If you think about bringing clothes that dry fast, you will not end up with only wet clothes left.
All you need to camp (tent, sleeping bag, pillow…). You must think about bringing material to fix your tent in case it breaks. You must bring everything you need. If you do not have all the material, you might end up sleeping outside in the mud.
If you are sensitive to noise, you can bring earplugs. They might be really useful because it gets very noisy during the festival. Working with a headache is not really nice and sleeping in the noise either!
You must remember that you will be outside all the time.
We will provide t-shirts of the Croix verte. There are 2 laundry services in Dour.
Entertainment:
After work, you will be able to enjoy the concerts. The entry will be offered as well as the meals and the camping pass. Between each festival, you will be able to visit other cities. Dour and Mons websites will provide further information on the cultural sites and events in the region (museum, Scientific Adventure Park, the Museum of Contemporary Arts, cinema…). There are several opportunities of sports and outdoor activities.
Dour: www.communedour.be
City of Mons: mons.be
Province of Hainaut: hainaut.be
The Tourism Promotion Office for Wallonia and Brussels: opt.be
Please visit the Belgian Official Tourist Site: http://www.belgique-tourisme.net/
You can also find guide books about Belgium on our website (in English and French):
You can find here the website of our festival : http://www.dourfestival.be/fr/
Working language:
English or French.
Knowing the basics of French is very necessary. If they do not speak French, it is mandatory to speak good English.
Fees:
There is no participation fee. You will only pay the fees that your sending organization asks for itself. In Belgium, you just need to have money for additional meals and activities during their free time.