organizing and producing a folk music festival:

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Organizing and Producing a Folk MusicFestival:Kathleen A. Walsh aa Organizer, Great Plains Folk Music FestivalPublished online: 18 Oct 2008.

To cite this article: Kathleen A. Walsh (1993) Organizing and Producing a Folk Music Festival:, MusicReference Services Quarterly, 1:4, 27-89, DOI: 10.1300/J116v01n04_03

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Organizing and Producing a Folk Music Festival:

A Guide to Methods and Resources

Kathleen A. Walsh

ABSTRACT. The intricacies of organizing and producing a folk music festival are discussed in this article. General and specific aspects of organization, planning, and task delegation are examined. Specific problems and pitfalls are noted, and solutions are suggested. The article includes a section dealing with appropriate resources.

INTRODUCTION

The 1980s saw a revival of interest in folk music similar to that which took place during the early 1960s. For any number of possible reasons, folk festivals seem to have become increasingly more popular and better attended during the last decade or so. The number of festivals debuting during that time, and featuring all varieties of folk music, dance, storytelling, and crafts, has soared. Ever more individuals and groups are becoming interested in promoting this music, and are undertaking the production of their own festivals.

Although a search of the music literature will turn up numerous sources of basic information about these events-listing, for exarn- ple, performance locations and dates, contact telephone numbers and addresses, and the like-that same search will unearth few, if any, sources dealing specifically with the actual establishment and

Kathleen A. Walsh is an organizer of the Great Plains Folk Music Festival, which will debut in the spring of 1994.

Music Reference Services Quarterly, Vol. l(4) 1993 O 1993 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved. 27

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28 MUSIC REFERENCE SERVICES QUARTERLY

production of a successful folk festival. Given this lack of published guidance, the author's experience as a folk music festival organizer can serve as a starting point for others seeking information on how to put together a similar event. The potential organizer consulting this article, however, should realize that the author's opinions, preferences, and suggestions are not necessarily shared or observed by other festival planners.l It is up to the organizers of each festival to define that event's unique character, and to develop the planning strategies that suit it best.

HEY, KIDS, LET'S PUT ON A SHOW

The key questions facing any festival planner at the outset are intertwined: fmt, what sort of event is to be presented? And second, what audience is being targeted? These vital questions must be answered carefully before any substantive planning can begin. The answers will of course change and evolve over time, but they must remain clearly articulated and mutually understood by the event's organizers. The success of funding efforts and many other aspects of festival production will depend on how cogently and coherently the festival's aims and character can be explained.

Organizers will need to consider the following very basic issues, and to work out answers for both the short and the long term: will the event present folk music exclusively? Will it be vocal or instru- mental music, or both? Will particular instruments or musics be featured (these would include traditional folk, progressive folk, world musics, women's music, and/or many other options)? Will any form(s) of dance, storytelling, or crafts be included? What performers are being considered? Will musicians with national or international reputations be spotlighted, or will local performers be featured more prominently? Will the event serve as a performance showcase for members of the planning group? What site(s) and date(s) are both available and appropriate? Can admission fees be charged at the chosen site, or will planners need to rely on income from donations? What date(s) can be chosen that will not conflict with the dates of other, similar events in the area?

The second, and interrelated, set of issues concerns the nature of the potential audience. Will the festival be aimed primarily at expe-

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Two Special Extended Features 29

rienced, committed folk enthusiasts? If so, will these be professional or amateur musicians, camp followers, or all of the. above? Will workshops and other instructional activities cater to beginning-, intermediate-, or advanced-level participants? Will the size of any workshops or other events be limited? Will workshops be "hands- on" and participatory, or will they consist of demonstrations or mini-concerts only? Most significantly, are the organizers actively aiming to promote folk music seriously to people who are previously unfamiliar with it?

Although a few folk festivals cater fairly specifically to adult participants and audiences, the vast majority are aimed at audiences of all ages. Otganikrs must take care, therefore, to schedule specific activities, and perhaps special concert and workshop programming, for children, and possibly also for seniors and other appropriate segments of the audience.

Because folk music festivals are of an intrinsically participatory, personal character, they can lend themselves very handily, if desired, to programming for special audiences. This is another potentially important aspect of production that should be kept in mind from the start of planning and organization. Related decisions will affect, for example, whether an interpreter will be hired to sign storytelling activities for hearing-impaired patrons.

Every successful folk festival has a very readily identifiable per- sonality or character. Some attract a large proportion of musicians, professionals and amateurs, whose main interest is to set up a comfortable playing area and spend their time in jam sessions. Other festivals are heavily scheduled with technical workshops, which may be aimed at participants of any or all skill levels. Still others present workshops that k in fact mhi-concerts, generally avoiding the hands-on experience of instruction in favor of maximum audience exposure to musicians-often masters-whom they will seldom have other chances to hear. Some festivals consist only of music concerts; others involve more or less dance, of all varieties; some involve storytelling; some are noted for the wide variety of crafts- people who show up every year. In establishing a festival, planners need to agree on what sort of character they would like their event to develop, and make decisions accordingly. ,

Networking. Every festival and its organizers will eventually

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become woven into the existing local constellation of similar events and promoters, and these relationships will probably prove to be the single most important source of the information, contacts, and mor- al support that will be needed when planning a festival. Personal working relationships with the people involved in producing these other events and maintaining other interest groups are invaluable.

On the other hand, planners of any one event within that constellation need to ensure that they are not overstepping the bounds of others. Intentionally or not, those organizers may sometimes fmd their events in head-to-head competition with other similar events taking place in the same area. The wise organizer will take great pains to avoid letting such a situation develop. Since each event needs the local folk community's full support, responsible planners will organize events that do not simply duplicate others already existing in their regions, and will avoid competing for times and locations that are already spoken for.

Locating a site. The major issues in site selection are: appropri- ateness of the facilities to the requirements of the event and the time of year; availability; accessibility; and cost. All of these factors must be weighed together before a decision is made.

It may be~well tobegin consideration of site selection by considering potential costs. It is always desirable for a non-profit organization to avoid paying a fee for the use of whatever facility is selected for the festival. In many areas, numerous facilities may make space available for a folk music festival. Colleges and universities, for example, are often looking for cultural events that they might sponsor in order to raise their visibility and embroider their reputations. These academic institutions may be able and willing to offer a great deal of support for a folk music festival.

Another alternative is to use a public park or other public space. The rules of many such public facilities, however, may prohibit the charging of admission fees. If it is decided that the festival will be held in a public area, it is advisable to contact that facility's administration early in order to reserve space, since parks and similar public places are often in p a t demand. Organizers should also check that the proposed festival will not conflict with any other event already being held there.

If the organizers realistically anticipate an exceptionally well-

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Two Special Extended Fealures 31

funded festival that will attract crowds in the tens of thousands, they might decide to locate the event at a fairground or similar setting. The drawbacks are, first, that such sites must usually be rented, and sometimes at high rates; and, more importantly, that they are often notoriously uncomfortable for music festival audiences, vendors, and performers and workshop leaders, particularly in the summer.

Planners will need to assure that the facilities chosen for the festival can accommodate all the programming anticipated, and that they are appropriate for the size of the audience expected. Addition- ally, the site must be fairly easy to reach by car, and adequate parking or a shuttle service should be available. Ideally, the site will be located at a reasonably short distance from major highways, in a town or other location that is easy to fmd and to which a good number of people will be willing to travel.

Weather will be a major factor in the selection of a site, particularly in any situation in which an outdoor setting is being considered. Virtually all folk festivals take place rain or shine; planners should be aware that experienced "folkies" will expect this. If adequate shelter of some sort is available for all scheduled programming, the show will go on. The safety of audience and of site and festival staff is of utmost importance; safety and security consider- ations must figure into the final choice of a site (these issues are discussed in more detail below).

Most sites will require the sponsoring organization to purchase Liability coverage in a specified amount; festival planners will need to coordinate this purchase with the site's administrative staff. Other festival organizers in the area will be able to provide the names of the insurance representatives with whom they will have made similar arrangements.

Choosing a date. Although it is assumed here that planners are setting up an annual event, these 'pidelines will apply no matter what timetable will be used. In choosing a date for a folk music festival, it is imperative to make the best effort to avoid conflicts with other major folk events in the local area. This will simultaneously maximize the size of the audience and help to keep up good relations with other local folk music groups. (Planners should also be aware that major folk festivals in neighboring states, particularly

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during the summer months, may draw away a good portion of their potential audience.)

If possible, planners will want to choose a time of year that is advantageous in terms of weather and travel conditions. It is a good idea to aim for the same day or weekend each year and to let the event become identified with that date, especially during the summer folk festival "season," which lasts from mid- to late spring through mid-autumn. This is the time when seasoned folk music fans will be looking to attend a festival virtually every weekend, and when performers and vendors will be best able to travel. The date(s) must be approved by the site administrative personnel.

GUIDING PRINCIPUS

Quality. The single most important factor that keeps successful folk festivals in business is their reputation for high quality. Consis- tently high standards-in terms of the range of performance and educational programming; the caliber of performers, workshop leaders and volunteer staff; and the comfort and suitability of the site-will keep audience and staff returning year after year. When launching a festival, it is vital to schedule the highestquality programming that the sponsoring organization can provide. And that level of quality must be maintained or exceeded in each and every subsequent year.

Long-range planning. Folk music festivals do not gain longevity by accident. Long-range planning is the second key to their success, at least as measured by the ability to survive and flourish from year to year. From the very start, planning must be geared not only toward the immediately upcoming event, but also several years ahead.

A festival's survival, and the development of its distinctive "per- sonality"-not to mention its success in winning and maintaining financial support and the loyalty of performers, volunteer staff, and audiences-depend directly on the degree to which its organizers are able to conceive and carry out long-range plans. It is helpful for planners to think in terms of their event as they envision it 5 years in the future. What sort of programming would they like to see in place by that point? What audiences would they intend to have

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reached? What goals do they anticipate would remain unachieved then? How might these goals be attained, and when? Should they be redefined? Although questions as to the nature of programming and audience must be answered clearly and to the satisfaction of all organizers at the outset, those answers are certain to change over time, as the event evolves. It is vital, however, that a general d i m - tion be established and adhered to if the event is to attain stability. Changes can be made when desirable, but the long-term conse- quences of each significant change must be carefully weighed. AU aspects of festival planning should be open to participation

by anyone who is interested-volunteer help and experience are invaluable, and should be welcomed with open arms. It will become clear as the planning proceeds that planners will need to meet on a regular schedule. Meetings will tend to be less frequent (perhaps once every 6 to 8 weeks) during the early months of a year-long planning cycle (this assumes that the event will be held at the same time annually), but will need to be scheduled more frequently as the event draws nearer.

Conservative budget. The third key to success is to maintain a conservative approach to budgeting for the event: that is, to try to account for every conceivable expense, overestimating costs where specific amounts cannot be determined in advance. The goal-which must be achieved, if the event is to stay in operation-is to guarantee before the festival that the bills will be paid in full and on time, even if no income were to be realized at the festival itself. Each year's festival must end with enough money remaining in the "kitty" to form the seed funds for the following year's event.

Unfortunately, most folk festivals operate on shoestring budgets, and more of them than might ever be imagined have ceased to exist because of poor fmancial planning, usually encompassing an over- reliance on public funding sources that are more likely to disappear with each succeeding year. The total costs of producing even a small festival, in terms of actual cash outlay and in-kind contributions, may run up to enormously greater amounts than the planners will originally have envisioned. Although the very largest festivals operate with budgets in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, by far the more typical case is the event whose budget lies in the tens of thousands. Funding levels anywhere within that spectrum will al-

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low a first-class event to be produced, provided the planners pay the proper attention to budgeting.

Like all other aspects of planning, budget planning needs to be long-range. Organizem must be thinking of funding prospects and problems for the next several years. Each year's budget must be realistic, and every effort must be made to account for unexpected costs.

GENERAL ORGANIZATION

Although this outline will provide a fairly complete survey of all the major tasks to be carried out in conjunction with producing a folk festival, it should not be assumed that every festival organization must adopt the organizational model that is suggested here. Every event is different in nature, and is organized and produced within a milieu of conditions unique to that event. Every sponsoring group will need to compose a planning scheme and build a planning organization that suits its particular needs.

Areas of responsibility. Where most folk festivals are concerned, it is convenient to break down all the tasks associated with organizing and producing a folk music festival into four groups: financial affairs, general administration, site arrangements, and promotion. (The specific tasks that would fall under each of those headings make up the main body of this paper.) The festival planning committee will need to include a coordinator for each of these areas, or to devise another system that will guarantee that all tasks will be taken care of.

It is strongly recommended that one person be appointed to direct or coordinate the overall event (in this paper, the term " d i i o r " will be used to refer to that person, although in many cases hi or her actual activities will be more in the nature of coordinating than of directing as such). It will be up to the organization's Board, guided by the festival committee, to define the precise nature of the director's responsibilities, which will certainly evolve over time. In essence, however, the director's function will be to maintain overall responsibility for seeing that all tasks are completed within each area, and to maintain communications within the organization and between the organization and the rest of the world. The director will

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Two Special fitended Features 35

usually be the point person whose approval, signature, etc., wiU be needed before many actions can bt5 taken. He or she will also often be expected to serve as spokesperson for the organization and the event. In theory, at least, all other festival personnel will report to the director, who in turn will report to the Board.

It is absolutely essential to recruit at the outset, if it does not already exist, a core group of volunteer planners who have a particularly strong interest in the proposed festival; most or all of these people will remain involved with the event and the organization for years to come. There may be an inclination at fmt to assume that this group needs to be huge, but most festival organizations find that after a few years they will have come to rely on a half dozen or a dozen "core" staff. These are people who will have been involved with the festival since early in its existence and who understand thoroughly the tasks and responsibilities involved in running it.

The people in this core group can expect to spend considerable amounts of time on organizing their segments of the event, particularly during the fist year or two of its existence. The director, who may initially be doing a disproportionately large share of the work overall, can expect to average perhaps 20 hours per week year- round on festival-related tasks, at least during the first year. The time required of the director and of every other core volunteer, however, will drop off in succeeding years, as organizational plans are progressively refined and methods are worked out and im- proved.

The people who are responsible for one or two particular aspects of festival organization (such as volunteer assignments, publicity, etc.) will have varying time commitments. They will also find that their work tends to come in spurts during the course of the year, rather than in a steady flow. Publicity materials, for example, will need to be produced and distributed at a much greater rate during the last several weeks prior to the festival than during the rest of the year. A reasonable picture of anticipated time commitments can be worked out as an overall planning calendar takes shape.

The area offinancial affairs would include all activities d a t e d to fund-raising and development, budgeting, and bookkeeping. Al- though it may be difficult to f i d one person who will be willing to coordinate these activities for even one year, let alone several years

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in a row, continuity is particularly valuable in thin area. Assuming the person in this role is competent to perform andlor supervise the tasks that fall into the category of financial affairs, it is highly desirable to have him or her fill the same role for more than one year at a time.

Under the heading of general administration, the following tasks could be clustered: obtaining insurance; scheduling programming; administering bookings, contracts, and fee payments; arranging for - - performers' ~ansport&on and accommod&ions; arranging on-site recording sales on behalf of performers; making arrangements for sound engineering and equipment rental; recruiting, scheduling, training, and supervising volunteers; producing the festival program booklet and selling booklet advertisements; and issuing invitations to music, craft, and food vendors.

The area of site arrangements will include all the intricacies that come into play in assuring that the site chosen for the event will be available and that festival events will be located appropriately and safely. This area would also involve any necessary arrangements for parking and transportation, overnight accommodations, the satisfactory layout of vendor areas, provision of comfort facilities, assurance of accessibility, and the like.

The fourth major area of responsibility-promotion-is the area that is most easily neglected in festival planning and budgeting, though organizers do so at their peril. Festival planners must realize that there exists a large potential audience "out there," waiting to be reached: many people are interested in folk music events, and will gladly attend and support rhem. The only secret is that those people have to know rhat the events exist, and when and where they ore to take place. Promotion is, therefore, the single most vital expense and the most crucial task that any festival organization will undertake. Unfortunately, it is all too often poorly organized, inade- quately staffed, and seriously underfunded. At the risk of monoto- ny, the point will be repeated: the festival budget should never be set up in such a way as to skimp on promotional efforts. "If you adveaise it, they will come."

In addition to the tasks outlined above and in the main body of thin paper, the festival committee will need to delegate other responsibilities. For example, a mailing address and a contact tele-

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phone number for the event and/or the organization will need to be established (if at all possible, these should be reasonably perma- nent), and a person will need to be assigned to open the mail. Additionally, the group will need to set up a bank account, and a workable arrangement must be made to determine who will have the authority to sign checks. The Board, or in some cases the festival committee, will also need to decide who has the authority to sign contracts and other legal documents. A logo should be designed and used in all communications; it should be attractive, instantly recognizable, and able to be reproduced clearly in very small through very large sizes. Letterhead must be printed, using this logo and incorporating a statement of the group's purposes, as well as any stipulated acknowledgments of support.

Volunteer staff will tend to separate into three tiers or layers that reflect the general degree of their involvement with the event and the organization. A core staff will handle the major organizational responsibilities, and are likely to remain associated with the event for some years. An "intermediate" tier of volunteers will handle perhaps one specific task per person, but will not be as deeply involved in all aspects of festival planning as are the core staff. Finally, the largest group will be those who volunteer their time on-site at the actual time of the festival, but who will not become involved with other activities leading up to it.

It is obvious that the number of separate tasks involved in orga- n u i g and producing even a small festival is daunting. There is strength, however, in numbers: it is vital to recruit and to retain as many volunteers as possible to help with the process, and to make the fullest and best use of their abilities. It is equally vital not to overburden volunteers with responsibilities that they will resent or be unable to carry out.

Th'e planning calendar. At the outset, the organizers will need to work out as carefully as possible the calendar of events and tasks that will guide all further planning. They will be wise to remember that the dendar can be revamped as necessary and used again to organize the festival in repeatable steps each year. This is particularly true if the event will be taking place at the same time annually.

Although the festival director will probably want to keep an overall planning calendar, the persons responsible for coordinating

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financial affairs, general administration, site arrangements, and promotion may also want to make up similar calendars for each of these separate areas. It is very much recommended that these people also keep some reasonable record of what tasks are being done and when, as well as a general record of how much time they are putting in during the course of festival production. It is also a good idea to hold some sort of debriefmg meeting soon after the festival; feedback from staff can help to refine the planning calendars for each major aspect of organization and production.

In virtually every area of activity, it is wise to aim for repeatabil- ity, i.e., to set up procedures, lay out forms, compose correspon- dence. etc.. that can be used again in subseauent years. Volunteers' time is valhable, and practiceskat amount tb reinienting the wheel should be discouraged whenever possible.

Incorporation as a 501 (c) 3 educational organization. Any group that intends to seek cash or in-kind support from any public, corporate, or private philanthropic organization must exist and operate as a legally recognized entity, i.e., a corporation. If a group intending to sponsor a folk festival has not already done so, it is wise to incorporate as soon as possible as a 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit educational organization. Guidelines, procedure manuals, and the necessary forms are available from the office of each state's Secre- tary of State or Internal Revenue Service office.

The process of incorporation will take at least several months to complete. During that period, the sponsoring group will be permitted to identify itself to potential funding agencies as pending approval for incorporation, in order to seek public and corporate support before the approval is formally granted. After the group becomes incorporated, all letterhead, p.r. materials, and the like should clearly identify it as a not-for-profit corporation, and should spell out, briefly, what its purposes are. If the Board inc1ud.e~ influential members, their names might be listed on the letterhead. (Some funding sources, particularly those that are publicly funded, may require that an acknowledgment of their support be printed on all of the group's letterhead and promotional materials.)

It happens in some cases that the group sponsoring a folk festival operates under the umbrella sponsorship of a host institution, such as a municipality, a college, a historical society, or the like. Typical-

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ly, that institution can be expected to provide support in the forms of cash outlay and in-kind services. In most cases, this is a beneficial situation. However, the actual organizing group may w h t to bear in mind the possibility that, if it does not incorporate as the event's actual sponsor, it may find its autonomy and authority gradually superseded by that of the host institution's administration. This may or may not happen, and may or may not pose problems if it does. In any case, the sponsoring group may decide at the outset to incorporate, and to operate with a realization that it may at some future point need to free itself from any institutional partnership that may be progressively usurping its decision-making authority.

During the initial stages of the incorporation process, the sponsoring group may require substantial legal and/or financial assistance. In many urban areas especially, there exist pro bono legal and financial advisement groups that arts organizations may call upon when necessary. The local Arts Council may also provide referrals to such groups. Since their members may have special expertise in matters that affect arts events, and since they can save hard-pressed arts organizations many dollars that would otherwise be spent on expensive legal and financial counsel, it is advisable to make contact with these groups, if they exist.

Board responsibilities and development. After incorporation, the sponsoring group will be governed, formally at least, by .a Board of Directors. The Board will have very general authority over major policy decisions, overall budget approval, and appointment and E- moval of the festival director. The Board should never, as a Board, be involved at all in the organization's day-to-day, routine operations.

It happens frequently, however, that the same people who com- prise the Board will also be functioning as the festival's core planners. This situation can create conflicts of interest, not to mention confusion, over roles to be played by each individual. A person wearing these two hats will need to keep his or her functions within the group distinct. As a Board member, he or she has no immediate authority over any particular aspect of festival planning. It is only as a member of the festival committee, as distinct from the Board, that he or she may become closely involved in the details of festival planning and production. These conflicts will be relatively easy to live with if the Board and the festival committee agree at the outset

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on a chain of command for the festival and on procedures by which the director will report to the Board.

The same state office that furnishes information on how to incorporate as a not-for-profit organization may also be able to provide an outline of Board members' responsibilities, for the benefit of individuals who have not previously sewed in such a capacity. The key point is that, in the event of a financial failure that can be traced either to the Board's mismanaeement of its own functions. or to its failure to adequately oversee &e actions of a director whom it has appointed, Board members may be held personally liable for any financial losses incurred. Each Board member might then be required to pay, out of pocket, his or her share of the total amount owed. Each newly-nominated member should be aware of this responsibility before being formally appointed to the Board.

In recruiting Board members, it is important to look for individual strengths &d abilities, and to fill out the available slots with people who will provide the needed personal qualities and public connections. The Board should include, for example, some members who have experience with business management; some with experience in administering a not-for-profit, volunteer organization; and some who have ties to the local political and business cornmu- nities and/or to the sponsoring institution. This is not to suggest that the festival should align itself with the immediate interests of any particular person or faction; on the contrary, Board members must carefully avoid potential conflicts between their personal or professional interests and the requirements of the festival. They may be invaluable to the planning organization, however, because of their knowledge of relevant people, procedures, and situations.

Running a volunteer organization. It is never wise for a volunteer organization to turn away any legitimate offer of help, whether it be in the form of cash, services, materials, in-kinds, or the actual time and energy of a living, breathing person. Only the very largest folk festivals employ any paid staff. The people who will be planning and carrying out virtually any folk festival will be volunteering their time and service, and thereby very possibly giving up their chances to attend the various festival events they would most Like to see.

If a paxticular problem arises in terms of what a padcular volunteer is willing or able to do, organizers must work around it: another

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assignment can replace the original one, a compromise can be nego- tiated; but no offer of volunteer help should ever be turned down. It is vital to involve anyone interested, at any and all stages of planning and production. It is equally vital to keep volunteers interested in the event and in the patts they play in making it successful. The organiiers, and patticularly the festival director and/or the person who is coordinating volunteers, must see that each volunteer is given one or more clearly defined mponsibilities. Each volunteer must also be given as much freedom as possible to do his or her own tasks in his or her own way.

The organizers would be wise to give away T-shirts or other souvenirs to festival volunteers and performers. This can not only provide a great deal of free advertising, but can serve as amuch-ap- preciated gesture of thanks.

It is likely that many or most of the people involved in putting together a folk festival will have had little or no experience in running either a volunteer organization or a for-profit business. In the interests of keeping the event alive and well and generously supported, however, it is vital for members of both the Board and the planning committee to bear in mind that they are in, effect, running a business. They will need to take care to operate responsi- bly: to work out efficient, ethical methods and procedures; to keep complete and accurate records of what are in effect business deal- ings, particularly where funding is involved in any way; and to run their event in a way that makes them accountable and their actions defensible to outsiders as well as insiders. The long-term swival of their festival will depend to a large degree on the integrity that the outside world perceives within the sponsoring organization.

FINANCIAL AFFAIRS: FUNDING, BUDGETING, AND BOOKKEEPING

As mentioned above, a conservative approach to budgeting-that is, an assumption that no more money will be spent than the organization is ceaain of beiie able to raise& one of the most essential keys to a festival's suc&s. Budgeting and bookkeeping must be undertaken with an eye to establishing a realistic picture of income and expenditures, and to maintaining complete and accurate fman- cia1 and legal records. This is particularly clucial in view of the

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likelihood that the organization will be audited at some point during its first several years of existence. Additionally, it must be borne in mind that any potential funding source may request to view the event's financial records at any time; a group that is running a music festival on a relatively small budget cannot afford to lose sponsorship because of poorly kept fmancial records, any more than because of management that is inept in other respects.

Another key to developing successful fund-raising strategies is diversification-a particularly crucial point in an era of dwindling support for the arts. For the first year or two of its existence, the festival's budget, including cash expenditures and in-kind services, will probably total anywhere up to a few tens of thousands of dollars (that figure will vary considerably depending on the nature of the event and the size of the anticipated audience). Whatever the initial total, it is certain to rise over the ensuing years. Meanwhile, support from grantors whose primary interest lies in providing start- up funds will taper off. The organization must be prepared to sup- plement start-up funds from arts councils, etc., with other support that will have been raised by different methods. Even where initial support is continued at original or greater levels, the sources providing such support will want assurance that, as the festival's budget grows, its managers are building an ever sounder financial base.

When working out a budget for each year's festival, it is wise not to overlook the value of in-kind contributions within the overall budget picture. Services such as security, hospitality, printing, production of T-shirts and other souvenir items, signs, parking and transportation assistance, and the like can represent large sums that the sponsoring group will not have to pay outright.

Each festival's budget will differ in details from those adopted by other festival organizations, but some items are common to all and should be neither overlooked nor underestimated. Following is a list of the main items for which most or all festival planners will need to budget; the list can be reorganized or supplemented as necessary:

liability insurance legal and/or financial advisors' fees performers' fees, travel expenses, and lodging children's area supervisor(s)

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Two Special Extended Features

sound engineer's fee . sound equipment rental or purchase

tentjtarp rental or purchase off-site space rental fees (if necessary) promotion: newsletter production and postage

all press release production and postage major flyer (or other major piece of p.r. material)

production and postage TV and radio commercial fees (if any) production of T-shirts, tote bags, bumper stickers,

and other festival souvenirs "anniversary" tape production volunteer recruitment mailings (production and postage) /other recruiting efforts volunteer and performer souvenirs (unless included in that cate- ory under "promotion") festival program booklet layout and printing security personnel ambulance/paramedic service parking shuttle (if needed) golf cart rental (if needed) portable restroom rental (if needed) miscellaneous conespondence/mailings (production and postage) printing of letterhead and envelopes signs (production and placement) on-site hospitality area food and supplies

This list is of course only a beginning; the actual costs of operating any festival will include numerous items omitted here, and actual expenses will total considerably more than this list might suggest. Again, the value of in-kind services should be stressed: given the considerable costs of many of the services listed here, and others, it is often more advantageous for the festival organization to seek donations of equipment or services than to request cash outright.

The last point among these basics should be self-evident, but is overlooked surprisingly often: each and every contributor should h o w the uses to which his or her donation will be put, and each and

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every contributor must be thanked, privately and publicly, where possible. For example, contributors might be ques ted to sponsor a particular workshop at a cost of X dollars; that workshop would then be labeled (if the contributor desires) as being sponsored by that person or organization. All printed materials that ask for contributions should suggest what a given amount will support: $10, for example, might support the production of an anniversary tape; $50 to $100 might cover the cost of a particular workshop; a gift of several hundred dollars or more might pay a given performer's fee. Again, it cannot be too strongly emphasized that each contributor who can be identified by name must be thanked, by letter, in person, and/or in printed materials such as the festival program booklet (unless the donor requests that his or her name be withheld).

When seeking donations, no opportunity should be wasted. Festi- val attendees can be asked, gently, to donate additional dollars above and beyond the minimum fee or suggested donation, as their pocketbooks permit. Every newsletter and publicity flyer should contain a q u e s t for pledges or donations, with an explanation of exactly what the investor will be sponsoring as a "return" on his or her "investment." A matching-gift or "challenge" program can be set up, whereby one donor (perhaps someone in the core planning group) pledges to match a certain amount of other donations dollar- fordollar. Some companies may match their employees' contributions one-to-one, or (in rare instances) even moregenerou~l~. In any case, planners need to be creative and flexible in working out fund- raising strategies.

Cashflow problems can be relieved by selling advance tickets or admissions to the festival, Through newsletters and other means, donations and pledges can be solicited year-round. Vendor fees and program booklet advertising fees should be paid well in advance of the festival.

The unpleasant reality is that the festival organization is likely to be operating on the most tenuous of financial shoestrings for at least its first year or two of existence. Virtually any grant funding or other major support efforts will require a long lead time-anywhere up to 2 years, and sometimes more, in advance of the actual event to be funded. Again, the only way to ensure the festival's financial survival, particularly during this crucial start-up period, is to budget

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conservatively, and to plan all fund-raising activities and all expenditures with extreme care.

Community or institutional support. Every festival needs the support of the community or institution that is host to the event, specifically in terms of services and fmances. For this reason, it is important for at least some key members of the core planning staff-particularly the'festival director and anyone else with responsibilities in the areas of financial affairs or promotion-to become acquainted with the political and business leaders of the community, or the appropriate administrators of the institution, in which the festival is being held. This contact must be maintained over time, and the town's business and political leaders, or the appropriate institutional administrators, should be kept informed of develop- ments at intervals. In a town or city setting, these contacts should include at least the mayor, the Chamber of Commerce, the local tourism committee, and prominent civic groups (i.e., all those who can help to support and promote the event, and whose legitimate interests it serves). In a college or university, the director of confer- ences or special events will probably be the planning group's most important contact, as well as the dean of the college involved and any other administrators or faculty whom the conference director may suggest.

What will need to be demonstrated to these "movers and shak- ers" is that the festival is drawing business to their cobnunity or institution, which is their reason for offering suppoxt in the first place. In order to gather statistics supporting this claim, questionnaires can be distributed in strategic locations at the festival site, asking attendees where they live, how they heard about the festival, whether and where they found accommodations overnight, where they dined and shopped, their comments on the site and the event. etc. By repeating this practice each year, a reasonable sampling of concrete statistical information can be compiled to demonstrate that the event is growing, is drawing consistently good crowds, and is bringing business tothe host community or institution.

It may be possible, and advantageous, to recruit one or more community or institutional leaders to serve on the sponsoring group's Board of Directors. Alternatively, one or more of the sponsoring group's members might be invited to serve on the local

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tourism committee, Chamber of Commerce, or the like. Also, the sponsoring group might join the local Chamber of Commerce, the better to maintain the festival's visibility within that organization. As another means of local promotion, festival planning group members could arrange informational presentations at local civic group meetings. These connections can be enjoyable for the participants, and can build the personal backing of ever more local citizens. These are valuable opportunities to build contacts that can be vital to the festival's survival and growth-provided that the sponsoring group does not surrender its autonomy or its authority to make the major planning decisions.

It may be desirable from both the sponsoring group's and the local or institutional officials' points ofview to tie in some aspects of festival programming with local history. For example, the author served for three years as director of a festival that is held in a state park that immediately borders the Illinois & Michigan Canal, which boasts a colorful early 19th-century history. The Tourism Commit- tee of the town's (Moms, Illinois) Chamber of Commerce had prepared a series of films and exhibits dealing with local history and the connection between the building of the canal and the development of the city; the Committee subsequently recruited local spe- cialists to present these materials, along with workshops and other programs, at the festival. This type of service educates festival-goers about some intrinsically interesting aspects of the area, and encourages them to return.

~fter-contacts have been established, it is feasible to draw on these local or institutional supporters for donations of cash and/or in-kind services that would be prohibitively expensive for the festival planning organization to pay for outright. Such services might include the production and placement of signs throughout the community, publicizing the festival and perhaps pointing out the route to the site; operation of a shuttle bus service, if necessary, to transport festival-goers from remote parking sites to the festival grounds; donation of golf carts for on-site transportation of attendees needing assistance, and of heavy musical instruments and other gear; provision of parking areas in addition to whatever parking is available at the site; provision of traftk control officers, if necessary, to deal with the crowds attending the event, and of security personnel;

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Two Special mended Features 47

placement of advertisements in local newspapers or other publications, and/or on radio and television; purchase of advertisements in the festival program booklet; tent and tarp mntal; printing and distribution of flyers; production of T-shirts and other souvenirs; or any number of other services. Again, any and all such contributors

' should be thanked privately and publicly, and their contributions should be acknowledged at the festival site and in the program booklet.

When seeking local corporate sponsorship, persistence may be required; even larger corporations have been withholding or with- drawing their support for the arts in recent years. Efforts should be made to target businesses, large and small, that have local ties and an interest of some sort in being associated with a folk music festival. Requests for corporate support should never be limited to cash contributions only-corporate sponsors may be invaluable sources of the sorts of in-kind services and materials mentioned above. When writing funding letters or formal proposals, or otherwise approaching these sources, the sponsoring organization will generally succeed best by requesting a particular in-kind service, and/or a cash donation in a specified amount, to support a specified purpose. Corporations and small businesses, especially if they have local ties, may be quite willing to support the festival, particularly if their attention is directed to specific services or cash amounts, and on the condition that their support will be publicized as widely and as

- - graciously as possible.

Grant support. Although funding for the arts in all forms has weakened in the last few years, and fund-raising has become a more challenging proposition than it might have been 10 years ago, sources of grant support can still be found. In many urban areas especially, there exist organizations similar to Chicago's Donors' Forum, a clearinghouse designed to match up potential private and corporate donors with the sorts of organizations and events that each might be interested in supporting. Several different print sources and, especially, online databases will give similar information, and festival organizers might do well to have an online search done professionally to identify promising funding sources.

Since most funding sources will regard any folk festival as an essentially local event, funding efforts should be aimed primarily at

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local or regional sources. These would include publicly-supported a s councils, whose aim is to bring as many different forms of art to as many citizens as possible. They might also include businesses with some specific tie to the area and an interest in promoting good community relations. And they might further include individuals with spec@ interests in furthering the sort of event that is proposed. Promoters and musicians within the organization's own network of contacts can provide the addresses (and names of contact persons) of local, regional, or state arts councils or similar arts-support organizations, and those organizations in turn may be able to suggest routes to other (private or corporate) sources of support. The planning committee must be sure to let these potential sponsors know of the group's existence, and its proposed event. Further, the planners must find out each source's grant procedures, and must assign one or more core staff to write grant proposals to be submitted to these agencies. Planners must keep in mind the long lead time that typically elapses before a grant is actually funded; they may be required to submit proposals anywhere up to 2 years or so in advance of the actual event for which support is being requested.

When writing grant proposals, it is extremely important to use the format indicated, and to furnish exactly the information requested. Each question must be answered succinctly and specifically. The written proposal must clearly and convincingly describe the nature of the event, and more importantly, the sponsoring group's plans for its continuation and development. The grant agency will be looking for evidence of responsible management and a clear sense of direction, and will be interested in supporting only or primarily events that do not simply duplicate others already available in the area Additionally, granting agencies, especially those disbursing public funds, will often particularly want to support events that provide access to the arts for people who have previously had little or no access, whether because of geographic location or other reasons. Local sources will often want to know that the event in question somehow showcases arts and artists who are especially prominent in or characteristic of the local area. Programming need not be strictly limited, however, to local performers and artists: it is perfectly possible to define the interchange of regional traditions as one of the festival's aims. Nonetheless, if the financial support of

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sources close to home is desired, the festival and its organizers will need to demonstrate a strong respect for local artists and art forms.

As any basic business management text will preach, the necessity of writing grant proposals and follow-up reports each year provides a valuable chance to redefine the festival's nature, and to reevaluate how successfully its goals are being achieved. This is a natural oppomity to rethink or overturn previous decisions, to define new or complementary directions, and so forth. Again, however, each grant proposal will need to clearly articulate and defend any intended changes.

Planners should be aware that many grantors concentrate their funds on start-up projects, and that support from these sources may decrease as time goes by and the festival becomes solidly established. Grantors will be more likely to continue their support, whether or not at reduced levels, if they see solid evidence of stability, of positive growth, and that the sponsoring group is operating the event as a well-managed business. Each grantor will want to be kept apprised, for example, of how the event's programming is expanding, how its audience is growing, how the core staff and crew of on-site volunteers are stabilizing, how the festival's goals are being ever more clearly articulated and fully realized, how funding sources are increasing and diversifying, etc. These essential points will need to be clearly dealt with in funding letters or proposals submitted to any public, corporate, or private sources. To these potential or actual sponsors, the event and its sponsoring organization represent an investment of sorts, and they will not be anxious to disburse their funds to organizations that seem ill equipped to manage them successfully.

Admission fees or 'donations. It is generally preferable to choose a festival site that will permit the sponsoring organization to charge a set admission fee. There are significant exceptions, however, such as cases in which, for example, a state park or other publicly-funded site is selected. Many public parks do not permit admission fees to be charged for any event held within their boundaries. In such cases, the planning group may decide that the advantages of the site itself-adaptability. accessibility, and just plain beauty, among other factors-justify the additional fmancial risk of relying on donation

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income, rather than the more easily predictable income to be derived from admission fees.

If an admission fee is to be charged, that fee will need to be set at a level that is likely to cover a good portion of the festival's operating costs, in light of expected attendance. It is important, however, to keep fees consistent with the customs prevailing in the area. Whereas fees ranging anywhere from $25 to $50 per person might be acceptable on the East or West coasts, for example, Midwestern markets might bear only $10 to $15 per person, or less. (These figures are used as examples only, and should not be taken literally.) Festival organizers must be aware of what their local market will bear, and must also maintain a sufficiently strong conscience to avoid overcharging for admission. No festival-goer will return who feels that he or she has been "ripped off "-but many will return who find they have received a wonderful variety of live entertainment and unique education for a reasonable price. It is advisable to set slightly varying rates (per-person and per-family, per-day and per- weekend, etc.). These rates should be well advertised in advance publicity, and clearly stated at all on-site locations where fees or donations will be collected.

If admission fees cannot be charged, advance and on-site donations will have to be relied upon to make up a large proportion of the festival's total income. As with set admission fees, a donation system will work most successfully if a specific amount is suggested-most people will match it, and some will exceed it. Again, that price should be advertised in advance, and posted clearly at the festival site. Varying rates are a good idea also, as they are when set admission fees are charged. Since some attendees will have real difficulty in affording the suggested amount, the fact should be made clear in publicity, in announcements from the stage, and at all on-site collection areas that donations will be accepted in any amount, and that every little bit helps. Those who cannot afford any donation at all, however, should never be made to feel less than completely comfortable and completely welcome. Likewise, attendees should never be made to feel browbeaten by appeals for donations.

All donors must be thanked profusely and sincerely-the fact is that, in all likelihood, it will be primarily these donations that keep

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Two Special Ehlended Features 51

the event running. It is usually a good idea to distribute a ribbon, button, or the like to everyone who has made a donation, in order to serve the purposes of identifying those who have actively supported the event, and of encouraging others to do so. Again, however, it is unwise and counterproductive to embarrass audience members who cannot or will not make donations.

The festival audience may fmd itself at times in a similar situation to that of television viewers held hostage to a PBS "Pledge Week" fundraiser, repeatedly being asked to support the event. It is, in fact, perfectly acceptable to make appeals for donations from the main stage@) during set-up breaks, as well as at established collection points around thesite. It is also perfectly acceptable to pass the hat-or a donation box-through the audience a couple of times during the day. The fullest possible use should also be made of other on-site fund-raising sources: T-shirt and other souvenir sales, raffle ticket sales, and so forth.

Promotional concert(s) or series. Although each and every such concert will involve a good deal of work on the part of its organizers, there are significant benefits to be reaped by putting together one or more promotional concerts at intervals in advance of the festival. In the first place, if these efforts are successful, the sponsoring organization stands to raise several hundred dollars or more from each event that is operated as an actual benefit (i.e., a concert for which performers axe not paid). Second, smaller concerts give the planners an opportunity to have a "dry run" at working out the crucial details involved in producing a larger festival. Third, promotional concerts provide an opportunity to begin building in advance an enthusiastic audience who will have been well impressed by the sort of music and/or other activities that will be featured at the festival proper; these people may well prove to be the single most effective means of promoting the upcoming festival.

In order to accomplish this somewhat ambitious undertaking, however, the sponsoring group will need to have on hand both a minimal amount of seed money and a willing corps of volunteers to produce and, especially, to publicize the event. A further caveat is also appropriate: the participants who will be invited to perform in a benefit concert must be selected carefully. Since they will not be paid, these must be performers who will have the good of the

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festival firmly in mind, and who truly will not be offended by being asked to donate their services for this particular cause.

Overhead expenses for any promotional concert(s) must be kept to a minimum. Ideally, a benefit concert will involve only a minimal site rental fee, or none at all; high schools, churches, libraries, or other local sites may be able to provide appropriate space for low fees, or perhaps gratis. The size of the site, and the facilities available, should be taken into consideration: it is never wise to hire a cavernous site if a relatively small crowd is expected; and, whatever the site chosen. it must either have available or be able to accomrno- date an appropriate stage, sound system, and lights.

The organization may have to pay a sound engineer's fee, if no engineer can be enlisted to provide his or her services without charge. Also, the planners may agree to budget a few dollars for refreshments at intermission-a nice touch, particularly since a primary aim of the event is to build the good will of the audience.

Most importantly, the costs of publicizing these promotional events should never be skimped on; as with the larger festival itself, planners must keep in mind that there is a large audience already "out there" who will be immediately interested in folk music events if, and only if, they know that these events are happening. A supply of flyers, distributed widely over the local area a month or two in advance of the concert, is a most effective promotional tool. In addition, local newspapers will usually welcome press releases; radio and television stations will likewise welcome public service announcements (PSAs) and personal interviews.

Vendor fees can be an important source of operating income. Each food vendor and each music or craft vendor should be paying a fee for participation in the festival-after all, it is the organization's invitation to participate that enables these vendors to make sales, and profits, in the first place. Vendors of music-related items and/or other crafts will not be accustomed to heavy fees; again, other promoters can be consulted as to the amounts of vendor fees that prevail locally. As to vendors of music-related products: some festival organizations take a percentage of these vendors' gross sales; others consider their presence a service for the audience, and do not charge them any fee except for space reservation (which also helps to guarantee that they will actually show up for the festival, as

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Two Special Extended Features ' 53

promised). The planning committee will need to decide how to set these fees.

For food vendors, different practices will tend to prevail: most festival organizations take a percentage (typically, anywhere from 10 to 25 percent) of each food vendor's gross sales. The difficulty with this practice is that, unless some sort of token or chit system is instituted-which most organizations lack the volunteer personpow- er to dwthe organization must simply rely on each vendor's good faith in reporting gross sales volume and paying the appropriate percentage fee. Festival organizers will probably have no means of verifying this information, and will n e d to rely on their instincts. If they suspect that a vendor has cheated the organization, the only iecourse-will be to refuse to invite that vendor back. In time, a reliable corps of food vendors will be built up. (See also the discus- sion of other issues concerning vendors, below.)

The sale of program booklet advertisements should raise enough revenue, at the very least, to pay for the cost of laying out and printing the booklet. Advertisements can be solicited from performers, music stores, manufacturers and sellers of instruments and accessories, and the like nationally; from other festival organizations who will want to advertise their own events to an audience already interested; from local businesses and civic or promotional organizations; and from interested individual patrons. Again, rates for these ads should be competitive with those charged by other similar festivals in the area; and, as with any other promotional tool, this is an item on which planners would be unwise to set up a skimpy budget. It will be necessary to send several hundred letters soliciting ads; each should include a brief letter outlining the purpose of the booklet, how many copies will be distributed, ad sizes and rates, and any other information that will make the festival an attractive prospect in which the letter's recipient might place an ad. It is a good idea to include one or more copies of the festival flyer or other promotional material in the letter to potential advertisers.

It is tempting to think that the booklet will earn its greatest income through the maximum sale of large ads (quarter, half, or full page), but this is generally not the case. A full (8 1/2" x 5 ln") page in a festival booklet typically sells for $50 to $100, by contrast, a business card ad' generally sells for about $15. If 8 to 10

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business cards can be fitted on a full page, the sale of those ads is more financially advantageous to the organization than is the sale of a full-page ad. This point might be borne in mind when the advertising sales project is planned: it is valuable, both in terms of earning income and of building a local base of support, for the organization's members to contact local businesses and other potential supporters directly, and to ask each of them to buy at least a business- card ad.

Souvenir sales can earn the organization a good deal of income throughout the year and at the festival site. As with all other aspects of the event, all products selected for sale should be of high quality. Each should advertise the event in a positive way-that is, with good taste and in a manner that is not likely to offend. The most popular products along these Iines are T-shirts printed with the festival's logo, which can be produced in large quantities for relatively little cost. The company that produces T-shirts can probably also make up canvas toti bags emblazoned with the festival logo; these will sell well in any situation where, as at the festival site, people will be making purchases and picking up information, papers, and other "stuff" that will have to be lugged from place to place. The committee might also consider selling bumper stickers, buttons, and other small items. Prices for all souvenir items should be set at levels that are reasonable, that are in line with the going rates for other similar events in the area, and-last but not least-for which it is easy to make change.

An "anniversary" tape recording is a bit complicated to produce, but may be a worthwhile undertaking in terms of both sales value and archival value. If such a project is undertaken, the help of the festival's sound engineer will be needed at every step. It is obvious- ly to the organization's advantage in this case to work with an engineer who has had professional recording experience. He or she will need to use studio-quality tape, and to record the entire concert lineup; this will require the help of a qualified assistant, and perhaps the rental of extra equipment. The production of the tape will also involve a good deal of post-festival time and money: someone from the sponsoring organization must meet with the engineer to choose material for inclusion; editing and post-production work must be completed; copies of the tape itself must be produced, a jacket must

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be designed and duplicated, etc. Tape sales must be promoted throughout the year and at each subsequent festival.

Any decision to produce an "anniversary" tape should be made very early in the festival planning cycle, and only after careful consultation with thk sound engineer. The planning committee must consider realistically whether potential sales over a period of years will justify the investment, and/or whether the recording is desirable for archival reasons alone. If a tape is to be made, permission to use material must be obtained from every performer to be included on the tape, and the organization must honor its promise to them that the tape will be sold only to raise funds for the festival, and not for any commercial purpose. '

A raffle offers another good means of raising operating funds. It is a fairly common practice to ask one or more of the instrument- makers involved in the festival to donate a musical instrument, perhaps one designed or engraved in some way specifically to com- memorate the festival. This might be raffled together with accessories, and perhaps even a lesson or two for the person who wins it. Raffle tickets can be sold in advance ,of the festival itself; these should be printed with a clear notice that the ticket-holder need not be present at the festival in order to win. Prizes should be delivered or shipped promptly after the drawing. Unless the volunteer staff are prepared to do a great deal of mailing of small items, it may be wise to resist the temptation to raffle a large number' of cassette tapes, etc.

ADMINISTRATIVE TASKS

Insurance. As noted above, the site administration will probably require the organization that is sponsoring the festival to furnish proof of liability coverage in a predetermined minimum amount. This will cost the group several hundred dollars, and should be listed as an essential item in the festival budget. Whenever an event involves large numbers of people, injuries are possible, and the group will need adequate coverage in the event of such misfortune. If the sponsoring group itself is planning to sell any kind of food or beverage, separate coverage will be required. The planners can

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consult with organizers of other events in their areas to obtain the names of insurance agents who are familiar with their needs.

Program scheduling. Andy Spence, director since its inception of the Old Songs Festival of Traditional Music and Dance, in New York state, has made it her guiding principle that "every person attending a festival needs to have a wonderful time, and to go home having learned something new."2 This thought seems a fitting guide to all program planning activities for any folk music festival.

Whatever programming is chosen should be scheduled to fit the aims of the festival and the time available. Another guiding principle that perhaps goes without saying is that planners must avoid falling into the trap of scheduling more activities than the site can actually accommodate. Some of the many options that festival planners will consider when laying out a festival program have been mentioned previously. All programmed events, whatever their nature, should reflect the fact that most folk festival audiences expect events, performers, and workshop leaders to be "up close and personal"-that is, to be easily accessible, friendly, and ready and willing to take time to answer questions. These audiences will also expect to fmd lessons being taught in several of their areas of interest; to have the opportunity to try out new instruments, new dance steps, etc., to hear music that may be new to them; and to find enjoyable and educational activities offered for children. In some cases, attendees will expect programming to be scheduled for the benefit of other special audiences: senior citizens, hearing-impaired persons, those with physical limitations, and so forth.

Festival organizers will do well also to allow the performers and workshop leaders a considerable voice in choosing what sorts of performances and workshops they would like to do-they may have suggestions beyond any the organizers have considered. Also, planners might inform each of these participants of the others' pmence at the festival, so performers who might like to work together in concert or workshop settings can make appropriate arrangements and clear them with the planning committee.

Booking, fees, and contracts. The processes of negotiating fee payments and keeping clear legal records of financial transactions. in the form of written contracts between the sponsoring group and all paid festival participants, are vital for any festival organization.

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It goes almost without saying that it is in the best interests of both planners and performers never to rely on verbal agreements that are not followed up by written contracts. But the working out of contract agreements for a folk festival often involves a dilemma that is likely to cause repeated conflicts among the various members of the planning group: while it is, in one sense, in the best interests of those sponsoring the festival to pay out the minimal amount in fees, on the other hand, if they purport to be furthering the cause of folk music, they will want to see performers paid at rates that reasonably reflect what the planners consider to be their woah in the general scheme of things.

The planning group will need to decide at the outset who will conduct al l negotiations related to the hiring and payment of performers, workshop leaders, and any other festival participants who will be paid for their services. When possible, it is easier and more satisfactory in most respects to deal with folk musicians directly than to conduct business through agents. Planners should realize, on the other hand, that performers hire agents specifically so that they themselves will not have to deal directly with the unpleasantness of haggling, and because agents can generally arrange better promotion and higher fee payments than performers can accomplish themselves. In any case, performers' contact telephone numbers and addresses can be found by consulting folk music publications, recording jackets, etc., by asking for them in person at concerts or similar events; or by consulting with other folk festival organizers.

The specific amounts paid to performers are treated as a confi- dential matter, to be known only by the festival director and by those core members of the planning committee who have no immediate interest in the information, i.e., who are not themselves presently, formerly, or potentially on the festival's payroll for any reason. If any planning group member is to be hired in any capacity, all booking procedures must be conducted in the same professional manner that applies to other paid festival participants.

Generally, other local festival organizers will have developed some consensus as to how they set the fees they pay; amounts will vary in different regions, for different kinds of festivals, etc. As always, planners should bry to keep their fees in line with those being paid by comparable events in the area for comparable ser-

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vices. When possible, it is very desirable to compensate all performers, workshop leaders, and other paid participants according to the same scale. In practice, however, some performers, especially better-known ones, will demand flat fees and allow little or no negotiation. This is an argument of principle that the planning group must anticipate and decide how to handle.

It is essential that the festival's authorized representative be willing to defend the event, and to offer terms that the planners believe reasonable. Some performers will ask at the beginning of negotiations for much higher fees than they expect to receive; some will state their actual requirements at the outset; still others are more or less willing to take whatever amount is offered. The person negotiating on the festival's behalf will develop a sense of what each performer really wants by arranging bookings over a period of time, and by staying,in touch with the folk promoters' grapevine.

In most cases, performer fees will constitute the single largest outlay of a festival's funds, Many public agencies and private sponsors will want to see all or most of their support applied to the payment of these fees, as this is the single aspect of festival operations that will make them most visible to the audience.

Written contracts should be completed well in advance of the festival with each person or group (or their designated representatives) who will be paid for any service performed at the festival. The standard contract is a simple document that can be easily drawn up by the person designated to handle this area of responsibility, though it would be wise to request an attorney to review the document before adopting it for actual use. Time will be saved if a generic form is adopted and reprinted for use in subsequent years.

The contract should stipulate the festival date(s) and place, and may state clearly, if planners believe it necessary, that the performer is expected to remain on the site for the duration of the festival (if other arrangements are made, details should be settled clearly in preliminary telephone calls, and the contract should specify the dates and times of scheduled performances and/or workshops). It should spell out precisely the number of concert performances, workshops, and/or other activities in which he or she is to p d c i - pate each day, and the length of each. The performer should be permitted to indicate any special requirements he or she may have.

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Two Special Extended Fealures 59

If the sponsoring group plans to videotape or audiotape any performed material at the festival, whether for archival pryposes or for inclusion in an "anniversary" tape produced for sale, a release statement must be included in the contract, asking each performer's permission to use material from his or her performance. Separate (brief) paragraphs should be written to deal with taping for each purpose. Performers' wishes must be respected in this regard. (It is common practice, incidentally, not to permit taping of any stage performances by anyone other than the sponsoring organization.) This section should also state the organization's promise that the recordings will be sold and otherwise used only to support the festival, and not for any commercial purposes.

The body of the contract might also include a statement requesting that no ASCAP material be performed at the festival (see below). Although this provision will not be easily enforceable, performers will understand the sponsoring group's reasons for including it, and will generally try to comply. In any case, such a statement will afford the sponsoring group some degree of protec- tion against the very real possibility of legal action on the part of ASCAP.

It is advisable to stipulate in the contract that payment will be made in full by the organization's check within a specified amount of time (10 days, for example, or another short interval) after the end of the festival, rather than at the site. This slight delay will allow the group time to make any arrangements that might be necessary in case of unanticipated on-site financial problems. The contract should also request the performer to spell out precisely to whom the check for payment should be made out, and where it should be mailed. The oerformer should be asked to suoolv his or her Social Security nunher, which may be required at s'o'rne future point in case of an audit.

Finally, the contract will include space for the sponsoring group's authorized representative, and the performer or his or her authorized represe&tive, to sign and date it. The original contract should be mailed to the performer without the group representative's signature. The performer will then fill in necessary information, make corrections or additions, sign and date the contract, and return it to the sponsoring group for their representative's signature. The

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group's representative should never sign any contract until all terms have been clearly understood and agreed upon by both the sponsoring organization and the performer, A copy of the final version of the contract, including all agreed-upon changes and both signatures, should be sent to the performer. The original should be kept in the festival planning files: It is a good idea to have photocopies of each paid participant's contract on hand in the headquarters area of the festival site; in case of any disputes or

The contract can be mailed out with a packet of other materials that will often include a hospitality information form, asking how the performer will be traveling (airline schedules, etc.), how many people will be traveling with himher, what sort of overnight accommodations he or she prefers, whether a smoking or non-smoking environment is preferred, any special dietary needs, etc. The packet should also include enough workshop description forms to cover all the workshops the performer is scheduled to conduct. Organizers andlor workshop leaders can use these forms to describe the sort of subject matter intended for each workshop, and to give an indication of anticipated audience size, skill levels, materials required, etc. The packet might also include a map, showing how to navigate around the city and around the festival site itself. A cover letter can welcome the performer in advance and describe such items as tape sales policies, the anticipated size and nature of the festival, get-togethers for festival volunteers and staff, and any other matters that may need to be discussed. Finally, each packet should include a supply of flyers that the performer may distribute.

Fit-t ime festival organizers may wonder what the performers they have hired will expect of them, and what they in turn can reasonably expect of those performers. In general, performers will consider themselves to have been, in effect, hired to be on hand for the duration of the festival, and not just to do one or two workshops or concert sets. They will expect to have plentiful opportunities to join in jam sessions, chat with festival-goers, perform impromptu demonstrations. etc. In return, they will be desiring, basically, a comfortable and enjoyable experience. This will include concert sets and workshops that show off their particular interests and achievements to good advantage. Beyond that basic assumption, each performer is likely to desire a reasonable fee, a place to stay,

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Two Speciol &fended Features 61

and at least some meals and snacks. Since on-site tape sales will provide extra income, performers will appreciate the gentle promotion of recording sales to the audience.

Sound engineering. A good sound system will be needed in at least some parts of the festival site, pmicularly at the main perfor-

* mance area(s) (indoors or out), and perhaps at some workshops. Additionally, if any dancing with live music is scheduled, a sound system may be required. For the sake of audience and performers both, festival planners should be willing to budget for the rental (or perhaps purchase) of appropriate, high-quality sound equipment, and more importantly, a good sound engineer and any necessary assistants.

Organizers might locate a qualified sound person by taking note of other events that have particularly good sound systems, and identifying the engineer(s) who set them up. Sound engineers can vary tremendously in the types of equipment they use, the quality of the services they deliver, and the prices they ask for those services. If the event will present unusual challenges-for example, performances on hammered dulcimer, which is a notoriously difficult instrument to amplify-it is wise to locate an engineer who is particularly well qualified to handle those situations. Since the sound engineer will need to work longer hours than any other paid participant, and since a poor sound system can be a tremendous impedi- ' ment to the success of the event, the engineer and any assistant(s) should be paid as well as possible, and should be made as comfortable as possible.

The decision as to what specific sound equipment is to be used should be left in the sound engineer's hands. Any decision as to whether to rent or purchase sound equipment will depend on many ~

factors; it should be remembered, however, that the state of the art of electronics advances rapidly, and that a purchased sound system may be obsolete within a few years.

Volunteers: recruitment, scheduling, training, and supervision. A most crucial aspect of general administration is the set of tasks associated with recruiting, scheduling, training, and supervising the festival's volunteer staff. The event's success will depend partially on how many volunteers can be found to help with pre-festival and on-site tasks; and the organization's success in retaining these vol-

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unteers will depend on how well they are satisfied with their assignments and the degree of appreciation that is shown for their efforts. The first step will be for the core planners to identify the tasks that need to be accomplished both before the festival and on-site, and to work out preliminary projections as to how many volunteers will be needed, and where.

Festival volunteers can be recruited at any time, primarily through personal contacts, but also through the use of newsletters and other publicity materials. The core planning group will want to augment its numbers at least enough to ensure that all the basic pre-festival assignments can be completed. In addition to these requirements, however, a large group of on-site volunteers will be needed. Organizers will find that a good many people will be willing to donate some reasonable amount of their time as on-site volunteers, perhaps for a couple of hours on one or more of the festival days. The planners' challenge is to identify these people, to assign them to tasks appropriate to their skills and interests, to see that they are not abandoned without scheduled replacements, and to make sure that they are properly thanked for their help.

About two to three months prior to the festival, a recruitment letter, perhaps combined with a tentative festival schedule and a publicity flyer, should be sent to every person on the mailing list. If potential volunteers are given a choice of assignments and schedul- .ing preferences; and are asked to return sign-up forms or to contact the festival organizers within two to three weeks' time, planners will still have a month or more before the festival to work out a schedule for on-site volunteers and communicate it to them. (It may be expected, incidentally, that a good many volunteers will not want to handle money andlor work in the children's area. Their preferences on these points should be respected.)

The training of on-site volunteers is generally a simple matter. For most assignments, members of the planning group can show the first volunteers of the day what is to be done on their assignments; their replacements can then simply be asked to report 15 to 30 minutes ahead of time, in order to learn their tasks before the previous "shift" leaves.

Supervising on-site volunteers and seeing that they are relieved according to schedule is likely to be one of the most trying tasks

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l b o Special Extended Features 63

that organizers will confront. It is inevitable that a certain number of "no-shows" will cause problems in keeping volunteer schedules running smoothly. Planners must make arrangements to deal with these problems, perhaps by assigning a small number of volunteers during each time block as "floaters" to fill in wherever they are needed.

Festival program booklet. A program booklet will serve several purposes simultaneously. From the sponsoring organization's point of view, the sale of program booklet advertisements is an important fund-raising strategy. From the festival-goer's perspective, the booklet provides a wealth of information about scheduled events and activities; biographies of performers and workshop leaders; notes on the music, instruments, and activities involved in the festival; and contacts with other folk interest groups and sources of recordings, instruments, and the like.

Major efforts to sell advertisements and collect biographical, scheduling, and other information for publication in the booklet will usually begin three to four months in advance of the festival. This is

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a complicated undertaking; although the overall booklet production can be coordinated by one person, other volunteers will be required to help with advertising s'ales and with the writing of copy, etc. Since many audience members are likely to take these booklets home and keep them as reference guides throughout the year, the booklet should contain information that is as complete and correct as possible, and should be designed, laid out, and printed at a professional level of quality.

Feedback: on-site andpost-festival evaluation. It is important for the festival organizers to have a reasonable idea of the nature of the event's audience, and of that audience's preferences, concerns, and comments as to festival programming and other relevant issues. It is equally important to have the feedback of festival staff and performers regarding all aspects of production. Although the gossip grapevine can always be depended on for some amount of information along these lines, it is highly recommended that festival planners set up methods by which the reactions and comments of audience, festival staff, and performers can be solicited. This information can be used to work out solutions to many of the problems that will inevitably develop during the course of produc-

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tion. In addition, the planners can use it to provide statistical pro- files of the audience that will be of interest to potential sponsors.

To accomplish this task, brief questionnaires can be prepared and distributed to festival-goers at strategic points around the festival site. These might ask, for example, how far the person traveled to attend the festival; how he or she heard about the event; whether he or she patronized local motels, restaurants, or other businesses; whether he or she participated in any workshops; which events and performers he or she would Like to see included in future festival programming; and general comments. The master of ceremonies and other festival participants can request audience members to fill out questionnaires and drop them off or return them by mail, and should make clear that all comments will be read and considered carefully. A separate questionnaire can be distributed to volunteers and to paid participants during or after the festival, soliciting their opinions, comments, and suggestions on a variety of issues that will concern them specifically; again, it should be stressed that the organizers want to h o w their comments, and that the responses will be heeded.

Music and craft vendors. Since much of the music heard and many of the instruments played at folk festivals are not readily available in most music shops, the presence of a well-chosen variety of makers and sellers of high-quality musical instruments, accessories, recordings, and the like can serve as one of the major attractions of any folk music festival. They may be supplemented in some cases by other crafters and artisans. It is crucial to maintain a good balance in the selection of vendors who will be invited to participate, and to ensure that only those who offer items of very high quality will be present.

Many fme instrument makers and vendors advertise regularly in various special- and general-interest folk music periodicals, such as Sing Out!, Dulcimer Players News, Folk Harp Journal, and the like. Their addresses and telephone numbers can be located in this way, or by consulting with organizers of other folk festivals, or by personal contact at other events. Many vendors will be willing to travel long distances, especially if a festival can offer a new market for their products.

During the early stages of planning, organizers will need to con-

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Two Special firended Features 65

sider the nature of the vendor population they would like to see at the festival: should invitations be issued only to makers and sellers of items related to folk music, dance, storytelling, and/or other festival programming? Should a more general "craft fair" event be planned? How much space is available? Will vendors need to be completely self-contained (i.e., traveling with their own booth set- ups, etc.), or will booths or shelters be available? A good number of folk music festivals feature crafters and artisans of folk items that are not music-related, organizers of some festivals, however, feel that a "craft fair" atmosphere dilutes the impact of folk music events, and hampers sales by makers and vendors of musical items. In any case, a selection process should be devised that will ensure the choice of top-quality vendors. Whatever the final decision as to which vendors will be invited, a good balance should be maintained among them in terms of price ranges, types of goods offered for sale, etc.

The principal concern of both musiclcraft and food vendors will be the competition posed by other vendors. They will be unhappy if too many others are selling the same products, or if their booths are located too far from the active traffic patterns of the festival site (logistics of vendor siting are discussed below).

Food vendors. While many folk festivals are notorious for poor . food, others are memorable, in part, for the exceptionally good quality and variety of food options they offer, People attending the festival will not all share either the same dietary requirements or the same preferences. They will need some degree of choice among food vendors offering items of acceptable quality at reasonable prices. It will be up to the festival organizing committee to see that these food vendors are found.

The potential for the sponsoring organization to make money from food sales has been discussed previously. There are possible alternatives to taking a percentage of vendors' profits: the Old Songs Festival in New York state, for example, runs its own food concession, in which volunteers coordinate a massive barbecue or chicken dinner, thus raising large amounts of revenue to support the festival. This is not a practical alternative, however, unless the sponsoring organization can carry off the feeding of hundreds or thousands of people for the duration of the festival. Most organiza-

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tions choose to recruit food vendors, and to take a percentage of their gross sales. Whatever the nature of the arrangements made between the festival organizers and vendors, they should be spelled out in appropriate contracts (again, these can be drawn up by the festival planners; but it is advisable to have an attorney review any such documents before putting them into use).

Food vendors can be found at local and community events throughout the year. They might include civic or church groups, local health food cooperatives, small vendors operating out of portable booth set-ups, etc. Any or all of these might be invited to participate, as long as their food offerings are varied, and no vendor duplicates the menu offerings of another (this can be stipulated in the sponsoring group's contracts with food vendors). Planners will want to invite vendors who will offer variety, quality, and reasonable prices; and they must see that the total number of vendors is suitable to the anticipated size of the audience. Although festival- goers will want to be fed with a minimum of waiting in line, no vendor will be pleased if so many others are present that no one can make good sales.

Each food vendor must conform to applicable requirements set by the 1ocalBoard of Health. Vendors who operate regularly in the area will be familiar with the regulations already; nevertheless, festival organizers should make sure that all food vendors receive copies of the necessary information. Health inspectors in many districts are especially careful to ensure that vendors operating out of temporary food stands comply with all applicable regulations and practices.

SITE ARRANGEMENTS

After the festival date has been chosen and the site reserved, planners will need to begin considering how the available space will be laid out, how it will be accessed, and what arrangements will need to be made for shelter, safety, and security. This area of festival planning will offer prime oppomnities for the host community or institution to provide in-kind services that the sponsoring organization could probably not otherwise afford to supply. The organiza-

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tion may, in fact, have to depend on its hosts for some of these services.

Accessibiliry. In addition to ensuring that the site itself is reasonably easy to reach by car, planners will need to make any necessary arrangements so that all areas of the site are accessible to patrons with disabilities. If existing restrooms are not equipped to handle wheelchairs, for example, the organization will need to rent portable facilities that are. In addition, parking and/or shuttle arrangements must be workable for those with disabilities, who also must be able to travel along paths or through the main areas of a park. If necessary, lift vans can be requested from the host community or institution, and/or golf carts can be rented for this purpose. Festival or park staff can be assigned to meet at a designated location with any attendees who need assistance, and to transport them to whatever points they need to reach.

Shelter. Audiences attending outdoor festivals need to be kept reasonably comfortable and safe. For this reason, it is advisable to rent or borrow tents for all outdoor performance stages and workshop or other activity areas that are not already sheltered. These tents should be sufficiently sizable to shelter people, instruments, and electrical equipment from both rain and sun. These rentals are likely to be quite expensive; if possible, planners may want to try to have them donated as in-kinds. If it is necessary to .rent them, several rental agencies should be checked as to the range and availability of their products, prices, and services, all of which can vary considerably. Since large tents can be in short supply during the summer wedding and garden party season, it is a good idea to reserve them several months in advance. It is generally advisable to let the tent rental agency handle the set-up and take-down of its tents; this will relieve the festival organization of liability for damages, and will probably produce a more stable set-up than a group of volunteers would accomplish. Electrical equipment should be well sheltered and arranged so that power canbeshut off on very short notice.

Bad weather plan. If the festival is held outdoors, it will be necessary to work with local police, park staff, and/or other appropriate authorities to develop procedures for clearing the site in the event of dangerous lightning, high winds, etc. Many outdoor

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sites are rather hard to reach by car, and any situation in which large crowds of people must be safely sheltered or returned to their cars within a few minutes' time will pose formidable problems for festival staff and site administrators. If it becomes necessary to clear the site quickly, it should be done in a manner that will not panic the attending crowds. If weather looks especially threatening, the master of ceremonies and other stage performers and festival staff should keep the audience informed, calmly, as to current weather predictions. Festival organizers and site authorities should agree well ahead of time as to who will make decisions to call off scheduled events, shut down electrical power, and clear the audience; under what circumstances such decisions will be made; and how they will be communicated among festival staff.

Power supply. Whether the festival will take place in an outdoor or an indoor setting, certain areas will require a supply of electrical power. These will probably include the performance stage(s), certain workshop areas, and any dance sites. The existing power supply in many park settings especially may be only barely adequate, at best, to run a rather simple main-stage sound system. It may be possible to persuade the park administration to install power to at least the main performance stage, if it does not exist there already; this will be to the park's long-term advantage, in that it may attract other events to the site.

Where the existing electrical supply is insufficient, generators may have to be used to provide power for sound systems. This poses an obvious problem at any music festival: generators are noisy; they must be stopped for fairly long periods at intervals for refueling; and they require the use of snaking cables that may trip up the unwary. If used, generators will need to be set up at a considerable distance from any location where music is being played, and cables will have to be catefully arranged to avoid trip- ping up (not to mention electrocuting) passersby. -

It is customary to ask all vendors to supply their own electrical power; this should present no difficulty for most food vendors, who are accustomed to traveling with self-contained facilities. Again, however, all generatowand any vendors using them-must be sit- uated far from any musical events, and in places where their set-ups pose no unreasonable hazard to passersby.

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Laying out the sire: workshop andperformance areas. The key to site layout is to suit the assignment of areas to the nature of the activities being held there. This implies that organizers will need to consider the number of people who will be attending each event, what seating or other facilities they will require, how much noise they will make (and, consequently, how close that activity may be placed to neighboring activity areas), etc. Space can then be assigned and equipment borrowed or rented accordingly. The site supervisor or administration should be consulted well in advance concerning any particular regulations that would apply to festival activities: for example, whether street shoes can be worn on a dance floor; whether children are permitted in classrooms on a college campus; whether vendors' vehicles can be driven on the grassy areas of a park, etc.

In setting up performance stages and workshop areas, the main consideration will be the size of the audience or number of paitici- pants. Some activities will require particular equipment, and may have to be located accordingly: any slide presentations, for example, would require a setting in which electrical power would be easily available, and a backdrop could be provided. When scheduling workshops, planners should also be aware that festival participants will not want to lug heavy instrument cases and the like from place to place, or over long distances. Activities involving wooden musical instruments should always be sheltered from sun and rain. (Incidentally, it is a nice courtesy for the festival organization to see that a supply of drinking water and cups is provided and maintained at each activity area.)

It is advisable to set up a tune-up area close to the main stage and in the same temperature environment, so that performers may make fmal tune-ups and other preparations immediately before going on stage. This area does not need to be large, but should be well sheltered. It should also be located in such a way as to avoid creat- ing a distraction from the main stage, particularly if golf cam or other vehicles will be providing transportation for performers and instruments; but it should also be close enough so that heavy instruments will not need to be carried a long distance to the stage.

For the comfort of festival volunteers and performers, workshop leaders, and other festival staff, the sponsoring organization will

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want to set up a hospitality area at some convenient headquarters or check-in point on the site. This area should be open to festival personnel and site staff only, and not to the general public. It should serve as a place where tired staffers can get a decent snack, sit down and rest, and perhaps store their instruments when not in use. Al- though festival volunteers can be asked to contribute snacks for this m a , the budget should include an amount sufficient to purchase appropriate groceries and supplies in sufficient quantities to keep the hospitality area adequately stocked for the length of the festival. Snacks might include pastries, juice, and coffee and tea in the morning; and light items such as vegetables and fruits, cheese and crackers, cookies, and so forth during the day. A few heartier foods might be offered, but most people using this area-particularly in warm weather-will not be anxious to eat heavily. Beverages should include large supplies of fruit juices and drinking water. Organizers will need to keep in mind that any site regulations regarding alco- holic beverages will apply in this area also, as will regulations applied by the Board of Health (if it cares to enforce them) to all festival food vendors.

The hospitality area can be set up, as this arrangement might suggest, in conjunction with an instrument storage area, and 'perhaps a check-in area for performers and volunteers. This "com- plex" will then serve as the festival organization's headquarters. Although the hospitality and check-in areas should not be open to the public, instrument storage probably should be: many festival- goers will be carrying musical instruments and accessories, and will much appreciate the oppomity to put them down in a safe place when not needed. The festival organization should work out a procedure for receiving instruments and returning them to their rightful owners, and should assign a sufficient number of volunteers to keep this area functioning efficiently. A clear notice should be posted, however, that instrument storage service is offered as a convenience only, and that the organization will not assume responsibility for the safety of instruments left in the storage area.

People who routinely attend folk festivals are accustomed to the presence and acceptance of children; these people will be expecting both creative play activities, under close and professionalquality supervision, and some sort of concert and workshop programming

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for children. The children's area can and should be separated from any workshop and performance areas, since children generate noise that will, if allowed, overlap and interfere with other festival events. This area should be supervked by professional child care personnel, who will probably be paid by contract similarly to festival performers and workshop leaders. Although it may be difficult to locate volunteers who are willing to work in the children's area, this area should never be neglected or understaffed.

Jam sessions are among the high points of folk festivals, and they should be permitted to flourish around the festival site-provided that they do not drown out concerts, workshops, or vendor demon- stration booths. It is usually a good idea to ask people keeping up loud jam sessions to locate away from these areas where scheduled activities are being held. (Also, late-night jam sessions should never be permitted to disturb the peace of entire neighborhoods.) Lively jam sessions are one of a folk festival's great attractions, and space should be made for them.

If a contra dance or any other large dance will be held during the festival (these are usually, though by no means always, scheduled in the evening), it may sometimes be necessary to find a location away from the festival site proper where there is space for a live band and a large number of dancers, where a sound system can be used or set up if necessary, and preferably where air conditioning is available, at least during the summer (water or other beverages should be on hand, also). If the dance site is at a distance from the main festival site, this fact should be clearly advertised in all publicity and posted at the site. Planners might contact local schools, fraternal organizations, arts groups, and the like when searching for a dance site; Whatever site is chosen will, it is hoped, be reasonably inexpensive to rent; this item should be included in the festival budget if it is anticipated to be necessary. Access to the site and directions for using lights, air-conditioning system, and other amenities should be coordinated with the administrators of the dance site, and their wishes should be respected. After the dance, it is wise to schedule a few volunteers to stay late and clean up; the site should be left in as good a condition as it was found.

Sales of performers' recordings and of festival souvenirs are an important aspect of any folk music festival, and can be carried out

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in one or more areas around the festival site. Sales volume will be maximized if the main tape sales area is located close to the main stage, perhaps inside the main festival tent (planners must take care, however, that noise and movement around the sales area will not distract the audience). Sales areas can also be set up at each point where admissions are sold or donations made, provided that a sufficient number of volunteers will be available to staff each and every sales site. Planners must bear in mind that many volunteers will not want to handle money or deal with the bustle and confusion that can develop in the tape sales areas.

It will be necessary to set up an efficient inventory or check-in and check-out procedure for recordings and other items that performers will be bringing along to sell at the festival. It is convenient to set up and photocopy a supply of inventory forms that can be filled out when each performer drops off his or her sale items. The inventory form should list each sale item for that performer sepa- rately, and indicate how many of that item weE dropped off. When the festival is over, the number of each item remaining unsold can be counted and the difference calculated. This gives a quick and easy total of items sold, so that the performer can be reirnbursedfor these sales on the spot.

Souvenir sales are vital to the finding of festivals and also to supplementing the fees paid to performers, so these sales should be promoted energetically-again, however, not to the point of brow- beating the audience. The festival's organizers will need to decide and to notify performers early whether the sponsoring organization will take a percentage of their recording sales, or whether recording sales will be handled by the group as a courtesy to performers and a means of augmenting their fees, in which case no percentage of profits will be talcem. Since these areas will be busy, and since it is important to count money quickly and accurately, each area should be assigned a competent supervisor and a good number of volunteers who can deal with pressure, confusion, and the handling of money. Also, theft can be a problem in these areas; other festival organizers may be able to warn the planners about well-recognized regulars who are known to be fond of carrying off tapes and other small items. These other organizers may also be able to suggest ways of setting up the sales &as that will discourage theft.

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livo Special Extended Features 73

As mentioned earlier, each and every vendor will want to be set up in a site that is advantageous for his or her sales. This means that no vendor will want to be separated from the others, and that each will want maximum access to traffic patterns around the site. Plan- ners should also bear in mind that vendors selling musical instruments and recordings will generate noise. It is generally possible to solve all these problems to the best possible degree of satisfaction by situating all vendors within one large area, at a good distance from any stage or workshop area. They will also need access to the site early enough each morning to set up before the festival opens. Planners will need to communicate to all vendors what will be available in the way of shelter or other facilities. Most vendors are completely self-contained and can shelter their goods in case of rain; but vendors' contracts should state specifically whether or not the site or the festival organization will provide booths or other set-ups for vendors.

Restrooms. Adequate restroom facilities, including facilities equipped for wheelchairs, must be available and easily accessible at the festival site, and they must be kept clean and well stocked throughout the event. If existing restroom facilities will be inade- quate, portable ones will need to be rented, and their cost will need to be figured into the festival budget. Rental services will deliver, clean, and stock these facilities, and will pick them up when the festival is over.

Safety and security are important concerns, all the more so if the event will be held in hot weather andlor at a site where festival-goers will have to walk relatively long distances. Many festival organizers can tell of personal experience with cases in which festival patrons have suffered heat stroke, respiratory failure, and even heart attack. Medical assistance and emergency transportation must be available quickly, particularly at outdoor events. It is an unpleasant fact that the festival organization may be held liable for any injury or death that may be claimed to have occurred due to the unavail- ability of adequate on-site medical care or transportation.

It is possible that some members of the park or other institutional staff who will be on site during the festival will have had paramedi- cal training. Planners should never, however, assume that this is true. The festival organization will have to work carefully with the

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site's administrative staff to make sure that adequate precautions are taken in the event of a medical emergency. klso, as mentioned earlier, it is imperative that the festival's sponsoring organization cany insurance in amounts sufficient to deal with emergencies and/ or subsequent lawsuits.

Parking is of course a major concern at any festival or other event that will draw a large crowd. It is especially important at a music festival to which many people will be canying an assortment of picnic baskets, blankets. and heavy musical instruments in cases; and which is likely to be attended by a good number of older people who cannot be required to walk any long distance. If it is not possible for everyone attending the event to park within a short walking distance, some sort of shuttle transportation system will have to be devised. This is an area in which the host institution or community may be able to provide valuable in-kind services.

It is wise also to arrange an instrument drop-off system, which will allow festival-goers to leave heavy instruments near the entrance to the festival site and to pick them up after they have parked their cars and walked to the site. Festival planners will need to make sure that adequate sheltered space that can be easily reached by car is available at some point close to the festival entrance, and that volunteers are on hand to check instruments in and out and to keep an eye out for their safety.

Reserved parking spaces should be established close to the site entrance for physically impaired patrons; if enough spaces are available, it is a nice courtesy also to make reserved parking available for volunteer staff, performers, and workshop leaders. If this is not possible, planners c& make other arrangements, particularly for performers and workshop leaders who will almost certainly be carrying bulky instrument cases. The host community or institution may be able to provide shuttle buses, golf carts, or the like.

Campinglmotelslovernight accommodations. Many veteran folk festival attendees routinely camp out at these events, either in tents or in recreational vehicles. A park setting may or may not offer accommodations for one or both types of camping. Whatever the situation, camping facilities both on and off the site should be advertised by name (with telephone number included) in festival publicity.

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It is also a good idea to advertise, at least in the festival's main publicity flyer, the addresses and telephone numbers of several motels in the area. People attending a folk festival will not be expecting to spend a great deal of money for overnight accommodations, and will appreciate any special "festival rate" packages that planners may be able to arrange with motels, particularly if the festival organization will agree to advertise such rates in major publicity.

Alcohol and drug policy. The use of alcohol and drugs has caused serious problems at some larger festivals, though this seems to be more typical of bluegrass-oriented festivals than of more strictly "folk" events. Planners will need to check with the site adrninistra- tion as to its alcohol policy, and will need to advertise and enforce it.

Even in cases in which the site permits alcohol use, the festival's sponsoring organization may still want to think carefully before permitting its use at their event. Problems will almost inevitably develop for security staff, and some degree of unhappiness will arise among festival patrons, if alcohol is in use during the event. It is not advisable for the sponsoring organization to place itself in a situation in which it. may be liable for injury or damages due to alcohol consumption.

Information table. It is a standard courtesy to other folk groups and events, to invite any interested organizations to distribute information at the sponsoring organization's festival information booth or table. In addition to setting out' flyers and the like at information tables, festival staff can make announcements from the stage and at workshops as to their own and other groups' upcoming events, membership drives, etc.

Advertising information about the site. It is a good idea to advertise, at least in the festival's major flyer or other publicity piece, as much pertinent information as possible concerning the site itself. This would include information as to accessibility, particularly if 'attendees will need to request help at the festival office; availability of camping facilities and a telephone number for on-site camping information; 'addresses and telephone numbers of local motels; and any particular advantages or historical notes about the site. It may also be wise to mention, without panicking the reader, any particular problems with the site: for example, if the site has a thriving

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mosquito population, as many parks do, publicity flyers might include a discreet warning. The publicity flyer might also include a map to the festival site.

PROMOTION

Targeting the festival audience. All plans for promoting the festival will revolve around two key questions: who are the intended audience, and what are the best ways to reach them? The audience being aimed at will have been identified, presumably, in the earliest stages of planning; what will remain to be worked out are the promotional methods that should be used in order to maximize the opportunity to reach those people and as many others as possible. Where folk music festivals are concerned, small-scale methods are the ones that will have the greatest impact overall: word of mouth, supplemented by the distribution of publicity flyers, the placing of press releases in local and regional newspapers, and the placement of advertisements in selected magazines, will draw the bulk of the audience.

Festival planners need to be well aware that, after performers' fees, promotional expenses are the most crucial cash outlays the festival organization will make. These costs should never be given short shrift in the festival budget. Planners might note that advertising costs are an' especially promising area in which both cash and in-kind contributions can be sought from sponsors. In any case, as has been stressed elsewhere in this paper and as every seasoned festival organizer knows, there are large numbers of people who will be interested in an event of this sort, provided they know that it exists. The planning group will need to assign several volunteers to produce and distribute promotional materials.

For the first few years of its existence, at least, the festival will need to be publicized very heavily. After a few years, word of mouth will have begun to accomplish a good portion of the overall task of promotion. Even at that point, however, the main promotional tools must continue to be used: key magazine and newspaper advertisements should still be purchased; press releases and PSAs should still be sent to appropriate radio and television stations; interviews or performance excerpts should still be offered to those

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7bo Special Extended Features ' 77

stations; and above all, one main flyer or other publicity piece should continue to be produced in large quantities and distributed as widely as possible. And, as with every other festival task, formats should be set up wherever possible for each of these activities ,in such a way as to be easily repeatable.

If the festival budget will not permit advertising in all the possible published sources, rate schedules should be acquired from those publications that are likely to reach the greatest percentages of interested readers, and ads should be concentrated there. The best- known and most widely circulated folk music publications, in addition to any special-interest publications that may appeal to important segments of the potential audience, should be given priority. Several folk music magazines (notably Sing Out!) publish listings and advertisements for virtually all the folk music festivals held each year in the United States and Canada, as well as a few Euro- pean festivals.

Telephone contact number(s) and mailing address. Every piece of festival publicity that is used should include the same contact mailing address and telephone number(s). It has been noted earlier that the planning committee will need to decide at an early stage where their post office box will be located, what their mailing address will be, and who will open the mail. It is also necessary to choose one or two planners' telephone numbers that will be used as contact or information numbers. The people answering at these numbers will need to be well informed about festival matters, and willing to talk with any callers who may have questions.

As the festival draws near, the people answering at these number(~) may find themselves overwhelmed with calls. Their patience can be preserved by using answering machines that are equipped to play a long outgoing message (3 minutes or so). Each person can then record a message giving all the most pertinent festival information, and inviting the caller to leave his or her name and address and telephone number (the caller should be asked to speak clearly), so that information can be gotten to him or her. Each caller should receive the information requested as soon as possible, atid each new name should be added to the organization's mailing list. On the actual festival dates, the outgoing message can be changed slightly,

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adding a telephone number (if there is one) where a living, breathing person will answer at the festival site.

Mailing list. As the festival preparations continue during the first year and a l l subsequent years, the organization must take care to build and maintain a mailing list. This is a task that one person, preferably someone with access to a personal computer, might easily be assigned to do. In order to keep mailing operations reasonably efficient and to keep costs down, the mailing list should be maintained as comprehensively and correctly as possible. It is highly desirable to set up the list in a database that will allow names and addresses to be broken out by defined categories when mailings to everyone on the entire list are not necessary.

It is crucial that the mailing list keep growing as time goes by. New names can be obtained by setting out sign-up sheets at strategic points around the festival site; by soliciting additions to the list in any newsletters or similar printed communications; by taking down names and addresses of interested personal contacts; and so forth. It might be wise to include on any sign-up sheets or similar materials an entry asking the person whether he or she objects to having his or her name released to other folk organizations for their use; each respondent's wishes must be respected in this regard.

Bulk mail permit. Although bulk mailing permits are rather expensive to obtain, and regulations for carrying out bulk mailings are cumbersome, it may be worthwhile for the organization to purchase a bulk permit. This is not, however, an assumption that planners should automatically make: unless one extremely large, or several very large, mailings will be going out during the course of a year, the expense and extra work involved in bulk mailing may cancel out any potential savings. Planners should consider this question carefully, in light of information on costs and regulations that can be obtained from the local post office. If the organization decides to apply for a bulk permit, several months' lead time should be allowed before it will be obtained.

The main promotional piece. Most folk festival organizations rely on a single, instantly recognizable promotional flyer to an- nounce their events to tens of thousands of people. A carefully designed and professionally produced flyer can contain a wealth of information in an attractive format that makes the festival equally

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attractive to the reader. The design and production of this flyer may cost several hundred dollars or more, depending on the quantity produced. It is, however, a vital item, and one on which the expense will more than pay for itself. To a large degree, in fact, the festival's success may depend on how well the flyer is designed and how widely it is distributed.

This flyer's main purpose is to attract the reader's attention. It should therefore be laid out clearly and attractively, in colors that are distinctive, especially when placed (as on an information table or bulletin board) in contact with other, similar flyers.

Its other purpose is to communicate as much information as possible. To accomplish this, the planners may find it worthwhile to use legal-size paper, rather than the standard 8 112" x 11". What- ever size is chosen, a good deal of information will need to be included-all the more so if the flyer is to be circulated out of state, or at other large distances from the festival site. The front page should include the name, date(s), and site of the festival, with logo; names of at least the featured performers; a brief listing andlor description of planned activities; a contact address and telephone number(s); and a statement as to the name and purposes of the sponsoring organization. If stipulated in any grant agreements, acknowledgments of supporting organizations should be noted. It is a good idea to include the printed request, "Please Post," in an upper comer of the front side. Admission or suggested donation rates can be included on either the front or the reverse.

The reverse side of the flyer can be used to include general information, such as motel addresses and telephone ,numbers; camping accommodations and contact numbers; notes about the site, its history andlor advantages; applicable regulations; and any other information that audiences should know before arriving at the site. It is also helpful to include a map, showing the location of the site within the state andlor within the community. One end of the reverse side can be set up as a mailing panel; this should include the return address, bulk mail permit panel (if applicable), and space for attaching a mailing label.

The crucial point for organizers is to see that the flyer is not only produced, but is distributed as widely as possible. Every volunteer and every performer and workshop leader can be given a supply of

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flyers, and they can be circulated to other festivals, folk music venues, libraries, local businesses, grocery stores, and any other location from which they can be distributed. A flyer, perhaps combined with a separate sheet listing the tentative schedule of festival programming and/or a letter asking for volunteers, should be sent to every person and business on the mailing list (both the tentative schedule and the flyer itself should include the printed caveat that the information is in fact tentative and is subject to change). This process will take some time to complete, and should begin several months in advance of the festival.

Festival newsletter. Festival planners may decide that a newsletter would be an appropriate means of keeping interested audiences apprised as to plans and progress. Such a newsletter can be published once, twice, or possibly three times during the year, and can include such information as programming schedules, calls for volunteers, and requesti for donations. The committee will need to decide whether enough funding and enough volunteer help are on hand to produce a newsletter. If so, the newsletter should be sent as appropriate to selected persons, rather than to every name on the mailing list.

Magazine and newspaper advertisements. As has been suggested above, magazines and newspapers in which the festival organization will pay for advertising should be selected on the basis of the likelihood of their attracting the targeted audience. These publications may be local, regional, or in some cases national in scope and readership; the planning committee must decide which focus is most appropriate. Relative costs for advertising will of necessity enter into the decision. Rate schedules and layout sheets can be obtained from each publication.

Any advertisements used should include essentially the same information as is stated on the front side of the main publicity flyer, i.e., name, date@), and site of the festival, with its logo; names of at least the featured performers; notes as to what activities will be offered; admission or suggested donation rates; contact address and telephone numbeds); and a statement identifying the sponsoring organization and, as necessary, acknowledging financial support.

Newspaper articles and press releases. Local andlor regional newspapers may be interested in covering the festival and running

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Tbo Special Extended Features 81

stories about it after the fact. It is also necessary, however, to garner as much press coverage as possible in advance of the event. The planners should not be aiming only at major newspapers with large circulations: it is frequently from the smaller, local papers that festival audiences get their information.

Press releases should be sent about four weeks ahead of the festival to the local newspapers in the region planners wish to cover (major dailies may wantcopy sooner, or they may request feature articles; a telephone call to the music or events editor will produce this information). Press releases are written in a more or less standard format, which can be found explained in virtually any basic reference book on promotion. The first page of the release should be printed on the organization's or event's letterhead, and should include at the top a release date and one or two names and telephone numbers of contact persons. The release should include at least the same information that is listed on the front page of the festival flyer, stated in correct prose form. The text should be brief, usually running no more than two double-spaced 8 112" X 11" pages. If a black-and-white glossy photograph is included (a photograph showing an interesting activity, and with good tone contrast,. is preferred), the item is particularly likely to be printed.

The addresses to which press releases should be mailed can be found in several basic general reference publications that should be available at many public libraries. They can be entered into a com- puterized mailing list that can be updated and corrected as necessary. When mailing the releases, it is helpful to address them to the attention of the appropriate editor at each newspaper if possible.

Radio and television advertising. Most communities have radio, and possibly television, stations that will run public service announcements (PSAs) for events of interest to the community. Some of these Stations may also have live talk shows that will welcome guests representing the festival, particularly if those guests can talk comfortably about the event and can play some live music, demonstrate dancing or storytelling, etc. Radio stations may permit festival performers or staff to record commercials using their studio facilities. The festival planners can contact these stations by telephone and request commercials and/or a spot on appropriate programs, preferably in the last few weeks prior to the festival.

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Public service announcements are, like newspaper press releases, generally composed according to set formats. The content will vary, depending on the length of the time slot available (usually either 15 or 30 seconds). The announcement must fit into the assigned time slot, or it cannot be used. Station personnel can give advice to festival organizers as to how these PSAs should be written and recorded.

Festival T-shirts and other souvenir items featuring the event's name and logo are one of the most powerful advertising tools available. For this reason (and in order to maintain good will), it is a good idea to include in the festival budget sufficient funds to produce T-shirts or other souvenir items to be given away to each festival volunteer and to every paid participant.

Press representative. Especially in the last few days and weeks before the festival, it is likely that newspaper repolters andfor contacts from radio and television stations will call the organization's contact telephone number to obtain information about the event. The group should have on hand at least one person (usually the festival director and/or the aromotion coordinator) who is knowledgeable about the festival, k d is also comfortablk with talking to the press. Any spokesperson needs to be articulate, enthusiastic, and well informa about ;he festival. He or she should also be available by telephone on short notice, as many press inquiries will not be repeated: if the requested information cannot be furnished quickly, the reporter on deadline cannot wait and t ~ y again.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE FESTIVAL?

Immediately after the festival has ended, the planning committee will need to take care of financial matters: receipts must be counted, festival participants paid, and payments made to all creditors who will bill for their services after the fact. These activities should be completed within the first week after the event.

In addition, tents, tarps, restroom facilities, and any and all other such rented or borrowed equipment must be returned to their own-

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ers. In cases where rentals have been made from a.professional company, that company's staff will arrange for the take-down and return of their propetty. Any such arrangements should be made

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nvo Special Extended Features 83

before the festival, and should be clearly understood by festival and site staff and the staff of the rental companies involved.

Another task that will need to be completed immediately is the delivery of raffle prizes, if there are any, to any winners who may not have been present at the festival site. This also should be done within the first week or so after the event.

As soon as possible after the festival, letters of thanks should be sent to all participants, site staff, sponsors, and any other people who may have performed any services on behalf of the event and the sponsoring organization. It is perfectly acceptable to use a form letter for this purpose, as several dozen or more letters must be sent. The letter should be warmly written and should express the organization's deep thanks and the hope that the reader will participate again. This task will take up a good deal of time, but is vital and should never be overlooked or postponed.

If festival flyers, program booklets, andlor other promotional materials remain unused when the event is over, it may be useful to print labels to be pasted on these materials including the dates of the following year's festival and a statement such as, "We hope to see you there!" or the like. Then, relabeled in this fashion, the materials can be distributed over the following several months at other folk music venues, including other festivals.

Planners will no doubt be anxious for a month or two of rest from festival activities following the event. When the planning cycle begins again (usually within a'couple of months after the event), the organizers will be able to look over evaluations that have been collected at the site and afterwards from performers and workshop leaders. They will be able to add their own observations and revamp the planning process, and the planning calendar, accordingly. Booking and other activities that must be undertaken early in the cycle can then begin again.

PITFALLS

Conflicts of interest. When a professional musician, dancer, or storyteller (or anyone else who might at some point be paid for his or her services at the festival) serves on the planning committee andlor the Board of a festival organization-a very common situation-actual or potential financial sponsors may raise objections

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against the possibility that such a person may make programming decisions, initiate funding efforts, and/or take advantage of festival promotion activities in such a way as to further his or her own career, with only secondary regard for the welfare of the event and the organization. In actual practice, the presence on the planning committee and/or the Board of people who may be or have been hired to participate in the event rarely leads to any such conflicts.

Nevertheless, organizers must be careful to conduct festival business in such a way as to avoid even the appearance of conflicts of interest within the planning group. Thus, for example, it may be a wise practice not to discuss specific fee amounts in the presence of planning committee and/or Board members who have been or are likely to be paid at any time for any services performed at the festival. Likewise, it is not prudent to permit paid performers to serve also as official spokespersons for the festival planning group, or to have free use of the festival mailing list for their own purposes. These situations are difficult to manage, involving as they do personal relationships among the people organizing the event. Never- theless, with care and foresight, the planning and production of the festival can be set up and carried out in such a way that paid participants can be involved in it without such conflicts of interest being permitted to develop.

ASCAP monitoring. Within the last few years, the American Society of Composers, Arrangers, and Performers (ASCAP), which represents the interests of many music professionals, has initiated a campaign to enforce the payment of royalties whenever copyrighted material is performed. Though a sound idea in theory, this campaign has caused serious problems in practice, especially for small businesses and events, such as folk festivals, that operate on small budgets. The general feeling among folk music promoters is that ASCAP's campaign is counterproductive: by imposing penalty fees that small organizations can ill afford to pay, ASCAP interferes seriously with their operations, and sometimes actually makes it impossible for them to present the music that they could otherwise be actively promoting. ASCAP's attempt to enforce royalty payments thus often has the ultimately destructive effect of hindering the public performance of the very music on which those royalties could be collected. It works directly against the efforts of folk music

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promoters to accomplish their primary aim, which is to further the public's interest in this music.

It is very likely that ASCAP representatives will contact festival organizers, and perhaps visit the event to observe it, at some point during its first few years of its existence. Even if a large proportion of the music being presented is authentically traditional and is not copyrighted, festival planners may be asked to pay ASCAP fees if any copyrighted material is heard in performance at all. Festival organi& can take a few steps to try to avoid this situation; all of which involve, effectively, asking the performers directly or indirectly not to include ASCAP material in the selections they will . '

perform at the festival. The wisest procedure is to include in each participant's contract a clause to that effect (see the earlier discus- sion of contracts).

It is obvious, however, that that clause will be unenforceable, and that at least some performers will undoubtedly include at least some ASCAP material in their festival repertoires. This may prompt AS- CAP to demand that the festival organization pay fees that amount to penalties for this practice. The legal status'of this situation re- mains unclear as of this writing. So far, folk promoters have had to accept that ASCAP fees are a nuisance that they may be unable to avoid, and that a sum of money (estimated at from $500 to $1,000) should be reserved in each organization's annual budget to cover this fee payment if it becomes necessary. It is not cl& how this situation will be resolved; until it is resolved, however, festival organizers will need to be aware of it. Practical advice and information can be obtained from the North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance (also known as the Folk Alliance, or NAFMA), which is discussed below and which has a very immediate interest in issues involving ASCAP fee payments.

INS regulations. The Folk Alliance can also be of help to festival organizers who hope to hire musicians who are not U.S. citizens. During the last decade, regulations restricting such hiring have been imposed by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) in an attempt to promote the hiring of American musicians by American entertainment promoters. These regulations have had a serious effect on the folk music world, in which international borders are more fluid than they are in some other enterprises, and in

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which audiences and promoters have had a continuing interest, almost by definition, in the musics of other countries.

Again, the status of INS regulations is in flux. Festival organizers wishing to hire performers who are not U.S. citizens would do well to contact the Folk Alliance to check on the cutrent status of INS regulations, and perhaps for advice as to how to go about proceed- ing with these hirings.

Unauthorized on-site sales. It is common at folk music festivals for attendees to sell used musical instruments and accessories on- site, while a promising crowd of potential customers is on hand. In many cases, vendors feel that these informal sales draw away business that might otherwise go to them, and they may complain to festival organizers. Another problem arises when musicians who are not on the festival program, and whose recordings therefore are not being sold at the festival sales area, set up to sell their own recordings at other locations around the site.

Different festivals deal with these sales in different ways; in some cases they are accepted, in other cases not. Festival organizers will need to consider ahead of time the possibility that these sales might be taking place on the site, and to decide what should be done about them, .particularly if complaints are received from vendors.

No-shows. It happens occasionally that a vendor who has been booked for the festival fails to appear on the actual day(s) of the event. If this happens, organizers will be powerless to change the situation; they will need to contact the vendor after the festival to find out the reasons for his or her failing to appear, and then make a decision as to whether that vendor should be invited back the following year. The "no-show" rate can be kept down by charging a vendor space fee that must be paid in advance.

Among the expected volunteers, there will inevitably be a few who do not turn up for their festival assignments. Planners must anticipate this situation, and, if possible, recruit more volunteers than are actually needed for the event. As suggested previously, two or three volunteers can be scheduled at all times to serve as "floaters," whose assignment will be to fill in at whatever points they are needed.

In the very rare case that a performer or workshop leader fails to appear, the festival organizers will almost certainly have received a

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telephone call in advance explaining his or her absence. Unlike certain rock musicians, folk musicians are, as a group, exceedingly reliable. If a performer does not turn up as expected, there will usually be other musicians on the scene, including those otherwise scheduled to perform, who can fill his or her slot on very short notice.

RESOURCES

Publications. As was noted in the introduction to this paper, there are very few printed sources available that can offer comprehensive guidance to persons organizing a newly-debuting folk music festival. The literature search carried out in preparation for writing this paper turned up no applicable titles, either of serial publications or monographs. L i e many other civic activities, a folk music festival is an informal affair for which few hard-and-fast rules exist; therefore, little or no published advice is available in any comprehensive format.

Nonetheless, the author has had experience with a particularly relevant source that was not listed in any index. This is a booklet prepared by members of the Madison (Wisconsin) Folk Music Soci- ety, on the basis of their experience in producing the Madison Folk Music Festival, a small annual festival of exceptionally high quality. The booklet was printed in the mid-1980s. and is entitled Ele- ments of Folk Music Festival Production. Although it has been several years since the present author has laid eyes on this booklet, its guidance has been invaluable in her experience as director of another festival in the same region. The booklet could be obtained, at least several years ago, by contacting the Department of Music at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In addition to this booklet, prospective festival planners are urged to consult current andback issues of Sing Out!, one of the most popular and comprehensive folk music periodicals. Michael Cooney's columns, in particular, have often dealt with various aspects of festival organization, especially as seen through a performer's eyes. In addition, back issues of Come For to Sing (available from Juel Ulven, 855 N. Evanslawn, Aurora lL 60506; telephone 708-897-3655) are sprinkled throughout with material concerning

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many aspects of folk music promotion, as well as annual annotated calendars of festivals that often suggest points of particular importance to planners.

North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance (Folk Alliance, or NAFMA). Founded in 1989, the Folk Alliance promotes activities relating to multi-cultural, traditional, and contemporary folk music and dance throughout North America. More specifically, the Folk Alliance constitutes a single, powerful voice representing persons interested in folk events. Among its aims are legislative monitoring and the coordination of response by the folk community to legislative proposals; and the development and maintenance of a network of information and contacts among folk promoters, performers, and other interested individuals and groups.

Because of the large size of its membership and its relatively activist stance, the Folk Alliance has become a forceful representative organization for folk music and dance, and related interests. It is also a comprehensive clearinghouse for information related to these areas. Membership fees arelow, and the benefits of group or individual membershio can be most advantageous. The Folk Al- liance can be contact& at P.O. Box 5010, chUapel Hill NC 27514; telephone (919)-542-3997.

Regional folk centers, A number of larger cities have institutions similar to Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music, which, in addition to offering classes in a variety of folk music and dance forms, maintains an archive of folk material. Likewise, several universities, perhaps most notably Indiana University at Blooming- ton, house large folklife centers, usually connected with academic programs in folklore studies. The Library of Congress' American Folklife Center maintains a wealth of recordings, publications, and other materials. In any of these cases and others like them, staff members are extremely knowledgeable about a tremendous variety of topics related to folk culture. They can be contacted at any point for information and advice, and in many cases for access to materials in their collections.

The organizers' network. As this paper has pointed out with tiresome repetition, the source of the most complete and most helpful information that any festival organizer will encounter are the other folk music promoters in their area. These people will have

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faced al l the issues that will confront organizers dealing with their first festival, and can be an invaluable source of answers that are all the more helpful because they are topical: they reflect the same conditions and the same audiences with which the new event's organizers will be concerned. It is vital for festival planners to make the acquaintance of others who are influential in the folk music community in their area, and to build up and maintain good communications with those people. By doing so, they can contribute actively to the health and welfare of folk-cultural activities in their area and in general.

NOTES

1. This axticle h& no bibliography; all information comes from methods developed through the author's, and her cohorts' and colleagues', experience over a number of years. During that time, much sound advice and encouragement has been received in all phases of festival planning from Juel Ulven, founder and director of the Fox Vallev Folk Festival: Dona and Dan Benkert co-founders and co-directors of the ~a ienvi l l e (Illioi$ Folk Festival; Andy spknce, founder and d i i t o r of the Old Songs Festival of Traditional Music and Dance: and Dr. Susan Porter, founder and diir&tor of the Great Black Swamp Dulcimer ljestival. Partic- ular thanks are due to Diane Ippel-Williams and Donna Tufano, the founder and present director, respectively, of the Gebhard Woods Dulcimer Festival.

2 Andy Spence, personal communication; this phrase (or similar versions) is also widely quoted in promotional materials produced by Old Songs, Inc.. for the Old Songs Festival of Traditional Music and Dance.

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organizing and producing a folk music festival:

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