How to Get a VIP Pass to Warped Tour

The Vans Warped Tour signifies summer for many rock, punk, and ska music fans. This touring music festival travels across the US and Canada for two months bringing close to a hundred bands and entertainment acts to a city near you. Every night the tour finishes off with a BBQ for all the bands and staff of Warped Tour, and those lucky few friends and fans who managed to get their hands on a VIP Pass.

So How Do You Get A VIP Pass To Warped Tour?!

It's really easy!

There are tons of organizations, bands, and record labels who depend on eager fans to help them out. Some of the organizations who depend on volunteers include, but are not limited to:

Warped Reporters- a group of eager Warped Tour fans who fill out surveys beginning a couple months prior to the start of the tour. The surveys give feedback to the production company and help to make the tour the best it can be. There is an online community for Warped Reporters where people can sign up, take the surveys, and expand their social network. They can also check out exclusive interviews with Warped Tour bands (www.youtube.com/warpedrepoter) and get the latest news. Out of all the Warped Reporters who complete all the surveys, up to 500 winners are randomly chosen to win a VIP pass - 10 winners per show. The winners will get a wristband which grants them free admission, backstage access, and they will be taken ONTO the main stage to see a band of their choice. As of 2/25/08, the official site has not been open yet, but for info and alerts on Warped Reports, check out their MySpace page and add them as a friend (www.myspace.com/warpedreporters)

Eco-Initiative - a part of the non-profit organization area of the festival that informs people about the benefits and necessities of recycling and taking care of our environment. The volunteers meet at the venue they sign up for around 9:30 am, get wristbands that grant them free admission AND backstage access, and they get taken on stage to see their favorite band. Throughout the day the volunteers will help the environment by picking up recyclables that were carelessly tossed aside, like water bottles or soda cans. As an added bonus, the person who collects the most recyclables throughout the entire tour wins a free trip - in 2007 they went to the Florida Keys!

Street Teams- many record labels and even a few bands depend on their fans to help them spread the word. Labels like Fueled By Ramen, Victory and more call upon a couple street teamers per show to come in early and post flyers and posters around the venue promoting their bands. The street teamers get free admission with a wristband, and they are usually taken on stage as well. Many get backstage access. To sign up for street teams add bands and labels on MySpace and sign up through their official websites. You should email them before the tour to see if they need any help.

Non-Profit Organizations- part of what makes Warped Tour a great, well-rounded festival is it's ability to educate while entertaining. Part of the Warped education system is the non-profit area, full of organizations that raise money and/or awareness for causes close to their hearts. Some of these booths need volunteers to step in and manage their area's for a few hours to give the official booth managers a break! Some organizations will usually select 1-4 volunteers a day to help out, so try getting in contact with them about a month before the tour via their official websites or MySpace. Some of the organizations that use volunteers include To Write Love On Her Arms, Girlz Garage, Keep A Breast, and Boarding 4 Breast Cancer.

Music Saves Lives- donate blood, save lives, get a special VIP wristband. (www.musicsaveslives.com )

www.warpedtour.com- recently, the official Warped Tour site has been auctioning off a pair of VIP laminates that are good for the entire tour. This could empty your pockets, so if you've tried to win passes or tried to volunteer and didn't hear back, this could be a last resort.

Get There Early!- catering picks volunteers daily based on who's at the front of the line! If you get there around 9:00 am or earlier, you have a chance of being selected to serve meals to rockstars and tour staff. The catering staff takes their volunteers on stage to see a band of their choice. A lot of other tour staff who need an extra hand last minute come out to the front of the line in the morning to seek out eager volunteers to help them out. Don't depend on this though, it's a luck thing.

Those are all the ways I know of to get a VIP pass to Warped Tour. And don't be annoying about it. If you contact someone, be respectful, mature, and understanding. If they don't get back to you, try again after a week or two have passed. Do not flood their inboxes because that does not show maturity. The people who pick VIP winners are responsible for their winners, so they won't pick people who lack self-control or people who are ONLY interested in getting pictures and autographs and not doing work.

Good Luck!