Client and event overview
There really is nowhere quite like Boomtown Festival. A utopia of creativity, music, performance and self-expression, Boomtown transforms the vast Matterley Estate near Winchester into an entire world of its own each summer. For several years, Ethical Staffing has been proud to play a part in making that world happen, providing experienced teams to manage box office operations across every gate on the festival site. And in 2026, that operation is getting even bigger. With Boomtown increasing its capacity this year, more people will be making their way through the festival gates and into the city beyond them. If you want a snapshot of the people who make Boomtown what it is, the box office is a pretty good place to start. Every walk of life arrives at the window. First-time festivalgoers, seasoned Boomtown citizens, international travellers, performers, crew and people who have been counting down the days since the previous summer. Every person arrives with a different story – and occasionally a different problem to solve. For our team, that means combining the operational demands of a high-volume festival box office with the personality, patience and people skills needed to give each attendee the right support.
Festival Ticketing at Scale
Working alongside Boomtown and established event technology and ticketing providers including Kaboodle and Weezevent, our teams have developed extensive experience working with the systems behind festival ticketing, access and the wider arrival experience.
Our box office teams deal with everything from straightforward ticket queries to more complex issues, including ticket authentication, identifying and escalating potentially fraudulent tickets and ensuring attendee information is accurately updated throughout the entry process.
When tens of thousands of people are arriving ready for one of the biggest weekends of their year, being told there is an issue with your ticket can be stressful. Our staff need to understand the technology in front of them while also knowing how to communicate clearly, investigate the problem and find the appropriate solution.
An Essential Escalation Point
A functioning festival box office is about much more than tickets. Positioned across the gates, our teams are often an important point of contact when an attendee arrives with an issue that requires additional support.
We’re lucky to work alongside some wonderful organisations across Boomtown’s gate operation, including specialist welfare and support teams such as Safer Spaces, as well as our sister organisation My Cause UK, whose volunteers support the wider festival operation.
Working collaboratively across the gates means knowing when an issue sits outside our remit and, importantly, where to direct someone next. With so many different people arriving on site, those clear escalation routes are an essential part of creating a safe and well-run arrival experience.
The Outcome
Box Office Management Across the Boomtown Site Delivering box office operations at Boomtown isn't a single-location job. Our teams are positioned across all of the festival's gates, supporting different arrival routes and audiences across the vast Matterley Estate. It means our operation needs to function as one connected team, even when staff and managers are working at different points across a huge festival site. During peak arrival periods, thousands of attendees can be moving towards the gates at once. Our management teams work closely with the wider Boomtown operation to understand changing arrival patterns, maintain communication between locations and make sure each box office has the support it needs. Queue management forms an important part of that work. Even during the busiest periods, our focus is on keeping each box office organised while ensuring the person reaching the front of the queue feels listened to rather than rushed through. With Boomtown's capacity increasing for 2026, the scale of that operation continues to grow – and so does the importance of having experienced teams who understand both the systems and the site. Returning to Boomtown Year After Year Our longstanding relationship with Boomtown is something we're incredibly proud of. Returning year after year means we don't arrive at the gates as strangers to the operation. We understand the environment, the systems and, importantly, the people who make the festival what it is. It also means experienced Ethical Staffing team members can return season after season, bringing their knowledge of the event with them and helping newer members of the team get up to speed. Alongside Boomtown, Ethical Staffing provides festival box office staff, ticketing teams, accreditation staff and access teams for events across the UK. But Boomtown will always be a particularly special one. As the festival continues to grow, we're proud to grow alongside it – and when thousands of people arrive at Matterley ready to step into one of the UK's most creative festival worlds, our teams will be across the gates helping them get there.
Services Used
Ethical Staffing supported this brief with Box Office Staff, Ticket Scanning Staff, Accreditation Teams.
Accreditation Teams
The right people, through the right gates, with the paperwork checked.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Ethical Staffing do at Where the Festival Experience Begins?
There really is nowhere quite like Boomtown Festival. A utopia of creativity, music, performance and self-expression, Boomtown transforms the vast Matterley Estate near Winchester into an entire world of its own each summer. For several years, Ethical Staffing has been proud to play a part in making that world happen, providing experienced teams to manage box office operations across every gate on the festival site. And in 2026, that operation is getting even bigger. With Boomtown increasing its capacity this year, more people will be making their way through the festival gates and into the city beyond them. If you want a snapshot of the people who make Boomtown what it is, the box office…
Festival Ticketing at Scale
Working alongside Boomtown and established event technology and ticketing providers including Kaboodle and Weezevent, our teams have developed extensive experience working with the systems behind festival ticketing, access and the wider arrival experience.
Our box office teams deal with everything from straightforward ticket queries to more complex issues, including ticket authentication, identifying and escalating potentially fraudulent tickets and ensuring attendee information is accurately updated throughout the entry process.
When tens of thousands of people are arriving ready for one of the biggest weekends of their year, being told there is an issue with your ticket can be stressful. Our staff need to understand the technology in front of them while also knowing how to communicate clearly, investigate the problem and find the appropriate solution.
An Essential Escalation Point
A functioning festival box office is about much more than tickets. Positioned across the gates, our teams are often an important point of contact when an attendee arrives with an issue that requires additional support.
We’re lucky to work alongside some wonderful organisations across Boomtown’s gate operation, including specialist welfare and support teams such as Safer Spaces, as well as our sister organisation My Cause UK, whose volunteers support the wider festival operation.
Working collaboratively across the gates means knowing when an issue sits outside our remit and, importantly, where to direct someone next. With so many different people arriving on site, those clear escalation routes are an essential part of creating a safe and well-run arrival experience.
Box Office Management Across the Boomtown Site
Delivering box office operations at Boomtown isn't a single-location job.
Our teams are positioned across all of the festival's gates, supporting different arrival routes and audiences across the vast Matterley Estate. It means our operation needs to function as one connected team, even when staff and managers are working at different points across a huge festival site.
During peak arrival periods, thousands of attendees can be moving towards the gates at once. Our management teams work closely with the wider Boomtown operation to understand changing arrival patterns, maintain communication between locations and make sure each box office has the support it needs.
Queue management forms an important part of that work. Even during the busiest periods, our focus is on keeping each box office organised while ensuring the person reaching the front of the queue feels listened to rather than rushed through.
With Boomtown's capacity increasing for 2026, the scale of that operation continues to grow – and so does the importance of having experienced teams who understand both the systems and the site.
Returning to Boomtown Year After Year
Our longstanding relationship with Boomtown is something we're incredibly proud of.
Returning year after year means we don't arrive at the gates as strangers to the operation. We understand the environment, the systems and, importantly, the people who make the festival what it is.
It also means experienced Ethical Staffing team members can return season after season, bringing their knowledge of the event with them and helping newer members of the team get up to speed.
Alongside Boomtown, Ethical Staffing provides festival box office staff, ticketing teams, accreditation staff and access teams for events across the UK.
But Boomtown will always be a particularly special one.
As the festival continues to grow, we're proud to grow alongside it – and when thousands of people arrive at Matterley ready to step into one of the UK's most creative festival worlds, our teams will be across the gates helping them get there.
Latest News & Blogs
Want the box office to feel like the start of the festival? Let's talk.
Boomtown’s box office is where the weekend actually begins. If you need a team who can handle queues, questions and the odd problem before people reach the gate, tell us how your box office is set up.