Well, another festival in the bag; well not quite. Actually our Father’s Day Festival is a never ending, ongoing project that the Board and Festival Directors work on 24/7, 365/12. We actually started working on the 2020 FDF at the 2019 FDF but probably the real work begins at our festival retrospective board meeting next month. Basically what we do is spend almost an entire board meeting reviewing all aspects of the festival week and our associated events, like music camp and youth academy. One of the things we do as part of the festival is ask all the festival coordinators, music camp directors, youth academy director to write a short report that outlines what went well, what didn’t work, and suggestions for change. We compile all the reports and festival incidents and spend the meeting in discussion and come up with a template for the 2020 festival. Think about it…we will start reaching out to contractors soon, enter into discussions with the fairgrounds, coordinating with other events that might bookend our festival, make policy changes that we need to implement before we start selling tickets. There’s a lot of moving parts and like a big ship, some things require a significant amount of upfront work to implement, we don’t get to make course corrections on a dime any more. What are some of our high profile concerns? Electrical is always high on the list…it is a huge job and Tim Edes has carried that load almost entirely on his back, so we are looking for a few good electricians that can take over from Tim or help with setting up the electrical only camping and setting up the stage area, and everything else electrical we have to set for the festival. Gate 4 is always a hot topic because we constantly try to make it a smoother part of the festival to quickly check in registered attendees, sell ticket to those that need them, check in bands and music camp/youth academy instructors, etc. It’s the first part of the festival most folks experience and it requires a strong customer support and problem solving attitude. Safety and hospitality, another big component and these guys are the real deal, the on-the-ground problem solvers that are often sight unseen working in the background trying to anticipate things before they happen and sort out problems when they do happen. Chuck Hurd is our Safety/Hospitality coordinator and between him, the festival directors, and sometimes me, well we are the guys running around at 4AM responding to medical emergencies and interlopers. And there are so many more moving parts, Vern’s pavilion, mercantile, ice and water sales, workshops, stage setup, backstage support, even the enviable job of managing the portapotties…all need volunteers to help.
It’s a great week and a great festival. Please consider donating some of your time and expertise during the year or on the ground at the 2020 festival. You can be a full fledged volunteer, coordinator, or just volunteer for a few hours from the goodness of you heart.
