Service Area
Athena supports festivals and outdoor events across Ottawa, Gatineau, and the Outaouais, including multi-day events with evening and weekend shifts.
Athena Staffing Answers
Festival staffing in Ottawa and Gatineau
Festival season in the National Capital Region runs from Winterlude in February through the summer music festivals to the late-summer events in Gatineau. Each one needs a large crew for a few intense days: beverage sales, bartenders, ticket scanning, guest services, and site crews. Athena provides temporary festival staff in Ottawa and Gatineau, with bilingual workers available for festivals that serve English- and French-speaking crowds.
Request Festival Staff or call us: 613-695-7020Staffing Scope
Roaming and fixed-point beverage sales, bartenders and bar backs, ticket scanning and wristband checks, guest services and information booths, food service support, and setup, teardown, and site cleanup crews.
Why Athena
Festival staffing is a volume and timing problem. You need a large crew for a short window, often across several consecutive evenings, and every gap is visible to the crowd. Athena works in English and French with organizers on both sides of the river and matches bilingual workers to the roles that need them.
Who This Is For
Festival organizers, production companies, beverage and concession operators, and event producers running festivals and multi-day outdoor events in Ottawa and Gatineau.
Answer
The short answer is that festivals need a large, reliable crew for a short window, and the crew has to be in place before the gates open. Planning the full run of dates together is what makes that work.
What makes festival staffing different?
A festival compresses weeks of service into a few days. Shifts often run into the late evening, several nights in a row, and the busiest hours are the hardest to cover. A missing bartender or ticket scanner is not a quiet gap. The line grows and the crowd notices.
Which roles do festivals usually need?
Most festivals need beverage sales, either at fixed bars or roaming through the crowd, plus bartenders and bar backs, ticket scanning and wristband checks, guest services, and crews for setup, teardown, and site cleanup. Food and concession operators often need extra service support at peak hours.
Why does bilingual capability matter here?
Festivals in Gatineau serve a largely French-speaking crowd, and many Ottawa festivals draw visitors from both sides of the river. Athena works with organizers in English or French and places bilingual workers in guest-facing roles where service in both languages matters.
For other outdoor and large-scale events, see event staffing in Ottawa and event staffing in Gatineau.
How do we get started?
Send us your festival dates, nightly hours, roles, and headcount per shift, or call 613-695-7020. We will speak with you about the site and the schedule and confirm what we can provide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Athena staff multi-day festivals?
Yes. Send every date and the hours for each shift. Planning the whole run together helps us keep crews consistent across consecutive days.
Do you provide bilingual festival staff in Gatineau?
Yes. Our office team is bilingual and a portion of our worker pool is bilingual. We match French and English capability to the roles where it matters most, such as guest services and beverage sales.
What festival roles can Athena fill?
Beverage sales, bartenders, bar backs, ticket scanning, guest services, food service support, and setup, teardown, and site cleanup crews.
What if some roles serve alcohol?
Tell us in your request which roles serve alcohol. Requirements differ between Ontario and Quebec, and we will confirm what we can provide for those roles before the event.
How far ahead should we book?
As soon as you have dates. Festival weekends overlap across the region, so earlier requests give us more options. We still respond to shorter-notice requests and tell you quickly what we can cover.
Next Step
Send us your festival dates, the hours for each shift, the roles you need, and the headcount per shift. We will speak with you and confirm what we can provide. Vous pouvez nous écrire en français.
Request Festival Staff or call us: 613-695-7020