A lot will be different about MozFest 2021 – we’re moving online for the first time ever, we’re hosting a local taster event in a new city, and the festival is being held in March instead of October. 

One thing that will never change, however, is how Volunteers play an integral part in keeping the cogs of the festival turning throughout the event. Our Volunteers do everything from registering participants and staffing welcome desks to solving last-minute tech issues and assisting backstage with our Dialogues & Debates speakers.

With the festival moving to a digital space, so comes the need for a new cohort of Volunteers who will support the event in Amsterdam and virtually for 2021 and beyond. Over the past 10 years, we’ve learnt an incredible amount from each other about how to build and maintain a strong community - we would like to offer this knowledge to the new team in Amsterdam - allowing them the best possible start.

We need your help to pass the baton

Over the next few months, the MozFest team will be looking for contributors to build a MozFest Volunteer Cookbook (a guide to how to build, run and maintain a Volunteer community). As part of the cookbook, we’ll be telling the story of Volunteers over the past 10 years as well as sharing what we’ve learnt, including:

• Inviting Volunteers into the community
• Building roles for the festival
• Managing Volunteer participation

We want to make sure that there are ways for as many previous Volunteers as possible to take part. For that reason, throughout November we’ll be hosting different ways to contribute, with some options taking a few minutes to help, and other opportunities asking for a longer commitment. 

Participate in the MozFest Volunteer Cookbook

If you are a past MozFest Volunteer and are interested in participating, we’ll be posting all the opportunities on @mozillafestival on Twitter, as well as in #Volunteer in the MozFest Slack.

Your contributions are essential to a successful transition to a virtual festival.. Here are some ways you can contribute right now:

• Take this Volunteer cookbook participation survey to let us know how you’d like to be involved!

• Join the MozFest Slack and jump into the #volunteer channel on November 24th at 17:00 UTC where we will be asking you to share your top tips and stories from the past 10 years.

• Register for our upcoming community call (December 2nd at 19:00 UTC) where we'll be discussing the content in the cookbook.  

Later this year we’ll be opening our call for volunteers to support the virtual festival. All volunteers are welcome, from those who have been with us before in London and Barcelona, to everyone else who would like to explore and build a virtual MozFest. Details of the programme will be posted on our Get Involved section of the MozFest website once they’re confirmed. Until then, you can sign up to become a Festival Insider to be the first in the know of when the opportunities are available. 

The past 10 years would not have been possible without the tireless work of our Volunteer Community. Thank you for everything you’ve contributed to make the Festival what it is today, and we’ll hope you’ll continue to help build upon everything we’ve accomplished in Barcelona and London.