Bluesfest kicked off in a heat wave this week, but the festival’s 4,000 volunteers have found ways to survive the stifling weather.
For Tammy Parent, the festival’s director of volunteer services, the key to protecting her volunteers is spelled H-2-0.
“Our volunteers actually seem quite smart about the heat,” she said. “We are obviously reminding them to stay hydrated, to come hydrated and to bring stuff with them to stay hydrated … When they check in for their shift they’re offered extra water.”
The crowd has been heat-smart, too, said Parent, and non-alcoholic beverage and water sales are way up.
Volunteers had their own tricks to beat the heat. Lewis Robart, for example, says much depends on the sort of job you end up doing: “I work in the beer tent so it’s out of the sun anyway.”
