Volunteers

GalaCon 2024 Volunteer Sign-Up

For GalaCon 2024, we’re again looking for volunteers that will help us make GalaCon the event of the year! GalaCon will be held on 27th & 28th July 2024 in Waiblingen, Germany, with preparations starting on 26th July. As a rough guideline, volunteers should expect to be working about half of the convention time, and as part of their compensation receive free entry as attendees for the remainder of the time. If that’s too much for you, you can apply as reserve volunteer. Reserve volunteers will be asked on demand, if we need additional help. There are no fixed work times, but also no volunteer extras.

We offer several team categories, and we strongly recommend that you apply to at least two or three of them. Some categories can be quite popular, and all categories have varying requirements for the volunteers. It’s also possible that some volunteers will need to perform in more than one role/category during the weekend, based on need.

Here’s where we’re looking for help:

Floor and Entrance Guards
This team will watch the entrances and floors, check the visitor tickets at the entrances, and keep an eye on the entrance queues on Saturday. People will also ask you for directions or help during the convention.
Panel Room Guards
This team will assist at the panels, keep an eye on the visitors, watch for appropriate behaviour, keep prohibited food and drink out of panel areas, guide visitors to the microphone at Q&A sessions, and pre-screen their questions.
Reception / Info desk Team
This team staffs the ticket office on Saturday morning as well as the volunteer and vendor registration on Friday, hands out goodie items and sells merch at the info desk, and provides general info and help to the visitors at the info desk and ticket office throughout the whole weekend.
Game Room Assistants
This team will assist or operate gaming activity rooms like karaoke, dance games, computer games or card games, as well as activity games both outside and inside the venue, such as Buckball. They make sure the visitors enjoy their time, and nothing gets broken or stolen. If you are part of this team, help with supplying equipment is very appreciated!
Documentation & Streaming Team
This team does the video and photo recording of the whole event and the livestream in the main hall. You already have experience with video,audio or broadcasting gear, or a general interest in those subjects? Then this team is for you! Tasks include camera operating, video mixing and more. Ideally you are even able to contribute your own video or broadcasting equipment.
Tech Team
The tech team will manage quite some portion of the technical equipment, like microphones and projectors, help with musical equipment at the evening events, and will work together with the technical venue staff. They help panelists and VIPs to set up their equipment and ensure smoothly running events from a technical aspect. Having experience with event tech equipment and/or IT stuff isn’t strictly necessary on this team, but would be a big plus.

Aside from general members of the tech team, we are also looking for volunteers in the following specific areas:

Sound Engineer

  • Knows how to operate audio mixers (analog/digital)
  • Supportive and communicative attitude
  • Stress resistant
  • Operating a two-way radio

You will be in charge of the sound equipment in panel rooms. You make sure that microphones and speakers are set up correctly as well as the presentation equipment of the panelists. In the evening you are responsible for supporting the forum staff at setting up and mixing bands or managing the DJs at the GalaParty.

When applying, please select “Tech Team” as team and mention in the free text area that you are applying as a sound engineer.

Reserve team
Reserve volunteers are for backup and will be asked on demand if we need additional help. You decide if you want to do the task, and there are no mandatory work times, but also no volunteer benefits.
Signing Session Team, VIP Team
Working closely to the VIPs, that would be the dream, right? That’s why we reach out to you directly if we think you’re the perfect person for this job. Directly applying for these teams is not possible, since we have to maintain a professional and safe environment for our special guests.
 To apply as a volunteer, fill out the form below:

>>> Volunteer Application <<<

Volunteer Application

Do you want to volunteer at GalaCon? Fill out this form to apply as a volunteer. If you have questions, or want to apply directly via mail, contact us at volunteer(at)pony-events.eu.

Personal information

We will use nicknames throughout the convention to address you, as they're a lot more commonly used in the fandom than real names.

Keep an eye on this address and the spam folders, we will contact you here once we've decided on your application.

All personal information will be kept confidential.

About your application

At the day of the convention, you'll need to be 18 or older.

Primary language of the convention will be English. Many visitors will speak German too, and no one will judge you if your English isn't perfect.

Reserve volunteers are for backup, and will be contacted if we need extra help. There are no mandatory work times, but also no volunteer benefits.

Please add a decent picture, so we will have an impression of who you are. Don't worry, we won't share it outside the team. This will help us a lot, thank you.

Shirt sizes will likely be S to 3XL, regular (unisex) fit

The teams you'd like to apply for

Please pick several teams in the order of your preference. You may also be part of more than one team. For a detailed description see https://www.galacon.eu/volunteers
Note that we cannot guarantee that you get picked for one of these teams, especially if they are very popular. In that case we will offer you an alternative.

Forum accounts, social sites, other ways to get in contact with you.

Tell us a bit about you. Your previous experience, your place in the fandom, everything else you want us to know, so we can get an impression on who you are. What are you doing in the fandom, what do you like, what motivates you to volunteer for GalaCon, The better we know you, the better we know how you can contribute to GalaCon.

Additional files you want to share with us

I agree that PEF may raise and use the given data to handle my volunteer application under the conditions of the privacy statement. I have read and agreed to the privacy statement of the PEF. Privacy Statement

Alternatively, send an email to volunteer(at)pony-events.eu (preferably in English).


The convention’s main language is English, so you should be able to talk to people in English – Don’t worry, most visitors won’t be native English speakers either. As long as you can hold an everyday conversation in English and communicate things to people adequately, you’ll be fine.

Due to the strict youth labor regulations on weekends, volunteers need to be over 18 years old to be accepted.

Although not strictly required, we would greatly appreciate it if you can arrive on Friday around noon to help with setup, meet your fellow volunteers and team leads and get to know the location. This is especially helpful if you’re a first-time volunteer!

Volunteering means working while others have fun, that is the main trade-off to consider. But it’s not all work and no play – As compensation, you’ll get free entry to the event in your off-hours, we’ll provide you with snacks and water, there will be a VIP signing session exclusively for volunteers, and possibly more goodies if we can make them happen! Above all, you’ll get to contribute meaningfully in a very real way to the biggest Friendship is Magic convention in Europe, and make this event possible!

Also note that we cannot provide any accommodation or meals, make sure you have a place to stay overnight. Budget hotels and hostels in the area will be booked out early.


All information that you provide will be treated with utter respect and will be kept strictly confidential to the team, and as needed, to the volunteer leaders. Your information will only be used for internal purposes at GalaCon, after which everything provided will be deleted. All data handling will be in full compliance with §4 BDSG.

After applying, we will contact you as soon as possible to confirm your application. Later on, we will let you know whether you have been accepted as a GalaCon volunteer. This may take some time, as we collect applications first.
If you’ve ordered a regular ticket and get accepted as a volunteer later on, we will of course give you a refund – Be sure to contact us about this as soon as you can.