Victor van Cleeff - Paléo Volunteer
When the music lovers have all gone home, or over to the campsite to get some sleep, Paléo carries on right through the night. A festival this big needs to operate 24 hours to run smoothly, and to keep the fans and bands happy. Victor van Cleeff knows all about how Paléo ticks as he has been working as a volunteer at Paléo for the past ten years. This year he will be working on various shifts in the central co-ordination centre. Some of the shifts go through the middle of the night and into the early morning. In between this time he only goes home for a shower and a short sleep. When not volunteering he is listening to bands and meeting friends. "I love it" he says, "Not just for the music but because there is a such a special atmosphere amongst the volunteers, there are 4,000 of us, but each year that we meet up, we still get to see familiar faces." Every additional year that Victor volunteers, his job responsibilty increases. "In previous years I was the one that used to come to the co-ordination centre to ask the questions but now everyone will be coming to me for answers". "The other jobs I have been given have varied over the years, I started off in Security which involved wearing a yellow jacket and being stationed near the campsite. It wasn't too difficult at all as there were never really any problems, so I just chatted to people." Volunteers are allocated a badge according to the area they work in and Victor says; "One year my pass let me in certain areas backstage, so I do have good memories of sharing a few beers and chatting with members of my favourite band "Tryo ". His best memory of Paléo was probably in the third year that he went. "My friends and I had just finished full time education and we were all in party mood, there was a great line up that year with some great French bands performing, which made it perfect." Victor take three weeks away from his current day job (he works for a major insurance company), one week before, during, and after the festival to be a volunteer. Dedication indeed. If you want to be a volunteer yourself then you don't necessarily need to speak fluent French but as Victor says, you will feel a bit more at ease if you have a good understanding of the language. Applications are taken a few months after the current Paléo comes to an end. Along with the daily food allowance, there's free entrance and of course, lots of bonhomie and fun on offer.