Volunteers

The Festival can’t happen without the help of volunteers. We rely volunteers to help with all aspects of the Festival, from office tasks to ushering to on-site support during events. The commitment can be as little as 4 hours and you choose your volunteer task based on your availability and interests.

Why volunteer with the Festival? It’s an opportunity to have fun through helping to make the arts available to all. Volunteers who help at Festival events receive a free t-shirt, free stand-by seating to ticketed events, invitation to the volunteer picnic in July, and other free gifts.

1. On Call/Waiting List: To avoid having too many volunteers at any one time, with not quite enough to do, we are going to try limiting some of the positions, and relying on an On Call/Waiting List to reach out to volunteers that have indicated they may be able to fill a need in a more ad hoc fashion. This will also help fill needs due to the loss of a scheduled volunteer due to illness or other personal emergencies. If you sign up for On-Call/Waiting List Volunteer positions, you will be notified as soon as possible. If we can predict the need, we will attempt to notify you at least a day in advance. If the need arises urgently, we hope you will able to help, but recognize you may be unavailable at the time you selected. The notification will come from either your Team Lead, the Volunteer Coordinator or someone in the Volunteer Check-in Booth.

2. New Information Booth Position: In another attempt to ensure our volunteers are gainfully employed during the festival, we are identifying a new position for the Information Booth. This position will be a Roaming Information Ambassador. For one hour, twice during a shift, three individuals will roam the Festival, providing information and answering questions of festival guests. They will also identify issues that they may notice, and report those to the Volunteer Check-in Booth via phone. My plan is that each Roaming Ambassador will have an umbrella to shade them from the sun. So if you like to walk around, meet people and ensure they are having a good time, check out the Roaming Information Ambassador position!

3. New Issue Manager Position: Similarly, the Volunteer Check-in Booth will have a couple of individuals whose job is to help address any phoned in issues. For example, perhaps one of our vendor artists needs a break, but all on-site Volunteer Support personnel are already relieving artists. One of the Issue Managers could relieve the artist. Or perhaps we’re having shuttle bus or parking issues. The Issue Manager position will be restricted to 18 year olds and older, due to the unknown situations that may be encountered.

4. Usher Assignments: For performances where ushers are needed, the Volunteer Coordinator, working with the Usher Manager, will ensure that for each performance we have a mix of experienced and new volunteers assigned. That will mean that we will not necessarily guarantee that you will get to usher at all performances, even if you sign up for a scheduled slot, vice the On Call/Waiting List. However, we will guarantee that you will get at least one of the scheduled slots you sign up for.

5. Cash, Credit and Debit Merchandise Sales: We will take payment via cash, credit and debit cards. We are currently working to get some iPods and iPads set up with an application that you often see at various other festivals. So far everything is looking good. Training will be provided at all three of our training sessions in late May/early June.

6. Team Leads or Trusted Representative Work from Volunteer Check-in Booth: To better respond to unexpected situations/issues, Team Leads or one of their trusted representative volunteers will work from the Volunteer Check-In Booth during all shifts. This requirement may be eased if we find that we can easily get the lead or the trusted representative to respond quickly enough without colocation.

7. Speaking of training sessions, attendance at one training session is mandatory, even for experienced volunteers. That’s where you get your t-shirt that all Volunteers are required to wear at the Festival (with the exception of ushers for ticketed performances). To better accommodate everyone’s schedules, we will be offering three training sessions this year. Dates have not yet been determined, but you will know as soon as they are.

8. LakeFest is going Green: Karen Douglas is leading efforts to reduce the waste we produce and how it can be returned to some more natural, useable material. One way we can all help, is to bring our own water bottles filled from home. The Festival will continue to provide water and ice to all volunteers, but we are hoping to reduce the number of plastic water bottles we must purchase and dispose of. We will be mounting a publicity campaign, prior to the Festival, to encourage our Festival guests to also bring their own pre-filled water bottles. However, the Information Booth will still be selling water to Festival goers.

CFA OFFICE

Help with various administrative needs prior to the Festival.

MERCHANDISE SALES

Help bands performing on the Festival stage sell their merchandise, and sell Festival merchandise.

ARTS & CRAFTS LOAD IN/OUT

Assist artists participating in the Invitational Arts & Craft Show in unloading and loading artwork from their vehicles.

INFORMATION BOOTH

Provide information, answer questions, provide programs, and distribute and collect surveys.

HOSPITALITY

Help CFA performers feel comfortable by assisting backstage and providing food.

ARTS & CRAFTS ARTIST SUPPORT

Provide relief breaks to participating visual artists.

CHILDREN’S VISUAL ARTS ACTIVITIES

Assist the KidzArt team as they guide children (and their parents) through hands-on arts and crafts activities.

GREEN TEAM

Team members will help generate ideas, engage in outreach to local organizations who have an interest in sustainability, and help with other details as needed.  We will meet once a month and also communicate via email as needed.