Help wanted: Edmonton summer festivals band together in a volunteer fair
Summer festival season got a different kind of kick-off on Monday when a handful of festival representatives set up at the Arts Barns for a volunteer fair.
Representatives from 13 different Edmonton summer festivals, such as the Edmonton Fringe Fest, Heart of the City Music Festival and Found Festival, were chatting up prospective volunteers who wandered from booth to booth.
The fair started at 2 p.m. at the ATB Financial Arts Barns, 10330 84th Ave., and was scheduled to end at 7 p.m.
Attendee Valorie Squires signed up for five summer festivals, and she has plans to volunteer with five others who weren't in attendance at the event.
"Having everybody in one place is wonderful," Squires said. "You can actually talk with all of the festivals without having to be stressed out trying to find them all on the internet, or phoning or emailing. Getting to register for as much as possible is wonderful."
She's been attending Edmonton's summer festivals for more than 20 years, and has some free time this year, so she wants to help out.
"I wanted to be able to give back to the arts and festival community in the city," she said. "I was able to learn so much of it when I went to school, I wanted to actually get involved this year."
Some of the festivals in attendance need a lot more help than others. A growing festival, like Heart of the City Music Festival, hopes to get minimum of 120 volunteers, while the Edmonton Fringe Theatre is looking for upwards of 800.
And some don't have a maximum target — they can just use as many as possible.
"There's a huge need. It's a wonderful thing that Edmonton has so many festivals," said Abi Tedder, volunteer manager for Edmonton Fringe Theatre.
"It's one of the reasons I moved here. It's one of the reasons why it's a fantastic place to live, particularly in the summer and throughout the year. The number of volunteers you need to run a hundred festivals is enormous."
While the event's purpose was to get more volunteers for multiple festivals, nobody seemed to be in a panic as the summer festival season is just around the corner.
"We're in a good spot," said Tedder, "but we have a long way to go."
Travis.mcewan@cbc.ca
@Travismcewancbc
