The Folk Festival is always looking for good people who want to contribute to the best folk festival anywhere. The information that follows is designed to help you decide if you want to become part of this major community festival.
What Will I Do?
Our over 2000 volunteers carry out a wide variety of tasks working on 46 crews using a wide spectrum of physical, technical and interpersonal skills. As 90% of existing volunteers return each year (and they have first choice to return to their volunteer role), you may NOT get your first preference in year one. Current volunteers also get first opportunity to change crews once they have demonstrated their ability to contribute to the Festival. New volunteers are placed on a first-come first-served basis considering preferences as well as specific skills or qualifications for individual crews. The more choices you offer the better. Some crews have long waiting lists so please be flexible. Do not be discouraged. We make every effort to find the best fit for each volunteer and we strive to make each volunteer experience enjoyable.
Expectations
Hours: Most new volunteers need to be available for the entire Festival weekend (that's when most tasks happen). Weekend volunteers contribute 20 hours over the four days. Your weekend schedule will be determined by your coordinator. All first-time volunteers contribute an additional 4 hours helping take the festival down and clean the park. This "teardown" shift will be scheduled prior to the festival. During “teardown” you will be guided by experienced volunteers, and we do not expect you to do anything beyond your physical abilities. There are jobs suited for all abilities.
Some crews work primarily pre-festival. These volunteers contribute a minimum of 40 hours. There are limited opportunities for most pre-festival crews with the exception of Site (construction including electrical and plumbing trades) and Nighthawks (overnight security); again, preference is given to returning volunteers. In some cases, people with specific skills may be recruited.
Meetings: Each crew meets before the Festival to plan activities. Attendance at the crew meeting is important. New volunteers also must attend a New Volunteer Meeting.
The Manager of Volunteers will contact you to confirm your crew assignment. After you accept your volunteer assignment, you will be contacted by your crew coordinator to discuss specific tasks and to provide schedule and crew meeting information.
We make every effort to place volunteers before Festival tickets go on sale June 1st. If you have any questions about this, contact the Manager of Volunteers.
The Folk Festival is successful, in part, because volunteers work together as a team. to provide excellent services to patrons, performers and other volunteers. If any volunteer does not contribute as expected, other volunteers must work harder. Volunteers who do not contribute are NOT asked back. If you want to be part of a great volunteer team, we'd like to hear from you.
Here's what you can do:
1. download the appropriate application form below, complete it and return it:
Volunteer Application form (pdf/40kb)
applies to anyone 18 or older
Volunteer (Youth) Application form (pdf/40kb)
applies to young people from 12-17. All youth volunteers must be sponsored by a current adult volunteer in good standing with the Folk Festival and must be approved by the Manager of Volunteers.
For information about which crews do what jobs go to link