Cancelling your Place at a Festival

We really hope that you'll be able to join us at festivals this summer, however if you can't make it please read on to find out everything you need to know about cancelling.

Cancellation Deadline

If you need to cancel your place, we ask that you do so before the Cancellation Deadline for that festival.

The Cancellation Deadline is:

  • 8 weeks before the arrival day for Glastonbury
  • 4 weeks before the arrival day for any other festival

You can check the exact Cancellation Deadline for a festival in the confirmation email we sent you when you signed up.

How to Cancel your Place

Before the Cancellation Deadline you can cancel your place directly from your Profile with a few clicks. Please be aware that this can't be undone if you change your mind. To cancel your place:

  1. Open the My Festivals page of your Profile
  2. Click on the festival you want to cancel
  3. Click the 'cancel' link at the bottom of the page.
  4. Click the 'Yes, Cancel My Application Now' button on the confirmation page.

We will deduct a £25 admin fee from your deposit when you cancel a festival place before the deadline (unless you are still within the 14-day cooling-off period or have already paid this fee 3 times this year, in which case we won't deduct a fee).

If you have no more festival places with us after your cancellation, we will refund your remaining deposit. Please note that may take up to 10 working days to process.

What Happens If I Need to Cancel After the Deadline?

Once the Cancellation Deadline has passed, you won't be able to cancel your place from your Profile anymore. If you can't make it to the festival, you should email us instead at festivals@oxfam.org.uk.

When emailing, please put 'CANCEL' and the festival name in the subject of the email, and put your name, the name of the festival, and the reason you're cancelling in the body of the email.

We will confirm your cancellation by email. We aim to respond within 2 working days, but it may take a little longer during busy periods.

We will deduct a Late Cancellation Charge from your deposit when you cancel after the deadline (unless you are still within the 14-day cooling-off period or have already paid this charge 2 times this year, in which case there is no charge). The Late Cancellation Charge is £100 for weekend festivals and £50 for day festivals.

In certain unforeseen circumstances, such as a family bereavement or unexpected injury, we may reduce the charge to the £25 admin fee.

To reduce the charge, we will ask to see some documentary evidence such as a doctor's note or an order of service. We do appreciate that your reason for cancelling may be of a sensitive nature and we hope you understand why we do have to ask for evidence.

What happens if I just don't turn up instead of cancelling?

It's really important that you let us know if you are not coming. It gives us time to recruit a replacement or rearrange shift rotas.

If you don't show up to the festival without letting us know, we will withhold your full deposit and withdraw the offer to volunteer with us again in the future.

Cancellation FAQS:

Sorry, but you cannot uncancel a place once you have cancelled it. If you change your mind after cancelling, you will need to apply again (if places are available).

As part of our commitment to preventing touting or fronting, we cannot accommodate requests to change the name on a volunteering place, or transfer a volunteering place to another person.

When you cancel, your place may not be immediately offered online again for others to take. For example we may have temporarily closed our applications at that time, or be full.

For this reason we don't advise cancelling to free up your place for someone else to take.

For a full list of circumstances where we would reduce the Late Cancellation Charge, and a full list of the documentary evidence we'd accept to do so, please check Section 6 of the Volunteer Agreement.

We aim to respond within 2 working days to all emails, but there may be delays during our busiest periods. If you have not received confirmation of your cancellation within 5 working days, please call us on 0300 200 1266 or use our Live Chat (Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm).

If you cancel a festival place within 14 days of signing up, you won't be charged any deposit fees regardless of whether the deadline has passed. This is known as the cooling-off period.

  • Cancellation within cooling-off period: £0
  • Cancellation before deadline: £25
  • Cancellation of a day festival after the deadline £50
  • Cancellation of a weekend festival after the deadline: £100
  • Cancellation after deadline in specific circumstances with documentary evidence: Reduced to £25
  • No-Show without cancellation: Loss of full deposit & offer to volunteer in the future withdrawn.

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