All Points East 2019 And How To Get Free Festival Access

I’ve had my tickets for All Points East for about 6 months now. As soon as Bring Me The Horizon announced they were going to headline I didn’t need to debate it. Tickets were booked alongside a day of work to maximize my experience.

For me, it didn’t really matter who else was going to be playing that show but I did manage to see a host of other amazing bands. This included two of my current favourite female fronted bands Yonaka and Vukovi. Both of who were great. It was really nice to see While She Sleeps and Architects again as well. Plus it was a day of friends, I went with a good friend that I’ve known for a long time. And did bump into some more friendly faces as the day went by.

Bring Me The Horizon’s Set

But 9 pm was what I was eagerly waiting for, Bring Me’s set. Having seen them just two days before at The Dome in Tufnell Park this was going to be a huge change in dynamic. The start of their set was a little off as the sound wasn’t loud enough. But thankfully a few songs in the sound team fixed it and it was incredible. Dani Filth came out for ‘Wonderful Life’ which was pretty amazing. And Oli and Sam did ‘The Sadness Will Never End’ which was another great moment.

Sadly though I had to leave a little early and missed the encore due to how long I knew it would take to get to any station. Despite leaving Victoria Park at 10.45 pm I only just managed to get the second to last train to Watford at 11.45pm. It was annoying but I’m so glad I left when I did.

A lot of people may have seen that Vodafone did a deal where you could get £2.50 tickets. And O2 did a deal where you could get tickets to the show for free. So I thought I’d do a quick rundown of some other ways you can get into festivals for free.

Ways to get into festivals for free

Festivals can be expensive, even single day ones. I remember the years when I used to go to 6+ and I dread to think how much I spent. Especially when you think about camping festivals which can be £200+ just for the ticket. But festivals are some of the best ways to experience live music. Especially if it stays dry!

There are loads of ways you can get into festivals for free, although most include you volunteering. But if there’s a headline band you really want to see but you can’t justify the ticket price. Or a weekend festival you just want to experience it can be well worth it. Here are some of the best ways to do it for free.

Volunteer with My Cause UK

There are many different volunteering sites but volunteering with My Cause UK is really worthwhile. Each show has different requirements for what you’ll need to do as a volunteer. You could be stewarding stages, campsites or car parks, checking tickets, working on merchandise stalls or running eco-incentives. When you apply for a particular show it will explain the role that My Cause UK need to provide.

Like most volunteering opportunities you pay a deposit to ensure you actually do your job properly. And once you’ve completed it you get that deposit back. With My Cause UK they also make a cash donation to a charity of your choice on your behalf. This comes from the fee that the company get from event organisers which is a nice touch.

It’s simple – You donate your time, and in return we make a cash donation to any charity you choose on your behalf. You don’t need to raise any money or make a donation yourself. You simply pay a deposit for an event, complete your shifts, and get your deposit back after the event is over. We then make a donation based on a fee we receive from the event organisers.

Volunteer with Festaff

Another volunteering option is through Festaff who do a lot of the same jobs as My Cause UK. But looking at some of the job opportunities there are a lot of wristband/ ticket scanning jobs on offer.

For these ones, you don’t need to pay a deposit if it’s a day show like All Points East or British Summer Time. But for larger festivals, it’s just a £20 deposit. But you do pay an admin charge of £10-15 which is non-refundable. But that charge for a chance to see the headliner or some of a festival for free is well worth it. They cover a lot of big festivals like Isle of Wight and Glastonbury where your shifts are split over around 5-7 days. So there may even be a festival day of music where you’re not on shift.

Get O2 and keep an eye on O2 Moments

If volunteering isn’t really your bag it’s well worth keeping an eye on O2 Moments if you’re on the network. They do work with a lot of big music brands to offer free (or heavily discounted) tickets to shows and festivals.

This is where free All Points East tickets went up for Bring Me The Horizon, Mumford and Sons and Bon Iver. Sadly I was too slow to get Mumford tickets otherwise I would have gone to that.

Check twickets for reduced price tickets

If you’re still desperate to go to a show but don’t fancy working for your ticket keep an eye on Twickets. This site allows fans to buy and sell tickets but you’re not allowed to sell for over face value. So if you’re looking for a ticket for a sold-out show this is a great place to go. It’s more genuine fans selling tickets than touts who would inflate the prices for things.

It can be a good idea to check there just a few days before the show (or even on the day). As people might be selling tickets for much cheaper, or even giving them away. As real music fans don’t like to see tickets gone to waste.

Have you ever used any of these methods to get free/ cheap festival tickets?

Pin It