AT BRAZIL, THE VOLUNTEERS WRAP UP THE FESTIVAL WITH A CHRISTMAS PARTY

At the food stall Brazil, it’s a festival tradition to hold a Christmas party for their volunteers on Friday evening. Why? To strengthen the sense of community. 

By Anders Madsen, volunteer at Roskilde Festival's media house

This is according to Thomas Stryhn, sports director for Hvidovre Volleyball Club, which is behind the popular food stall Brazil in the Clean Out Loud area. In 2006, the club decided to establish Brazil at the Roskilde Festival. This was done not only to earn some money for the club but also to give something back to the club's volunteers. 

"With the operation of Brazil here at Roskilde, we can create value for the volunteers who can receive a wristband and free food. But that's just not always enough. So, to strengthen the community, we always do some things here at the stall. We have, for example, a Christmas party on Fridays, which is a tradition where some of our chefs provide a delicious Christmas menu, and we wear Santa hats and sing songs." 

For Hvidovre VK, Brazil is also an opportunity to discover unexpected skills among their volunteers and strengthen them by giving them responsibilities: "We try to let them develop themselves if they have specific skills in social media, carpentry, or plumbing, for example. We give them the chance to stand on their own." 

Roskilde means a great deal to the volleyball club's operations. Hvidovre VK thus strives to create a sense of community and value for their 219 volunteers at the festival this year. But for Thomas Stryhn, there is no doubt about the value it also creates for the 370 members of Hvidovre Volleyball Club to operate Brazil at Roskilde. 

"In the volleyball club, we have a lot of activities, from cradle to grave, as we usually say. And when starting these different projects, it can be strength training for the elderly, for example, they are almost never financially stable in the beginning. So, in terms of operations, we are more solid because we can maintain these activities and support the volunteers in the club by using the surplus funds we can earn here."