Current & Returning Volunteers
Downloadable pdfs:
ORIENTATION
Once you have been placed on a volunteer crew, we will ask you to schedule an on-site new volunteer orientation session in the few days before the festival. You can sign up for a session at MyVolunteerPage.com under the Opportunities tab.
In addition to attending a new volunteer orientation, you should also plan to attend your crew meeting to meet your coordinator and fellow volunteers. For most crews, this also serves as badge and t-shirt pickup. A full list of crew meetings is available on our Volunteer Calendar.
If you live out of town or simply cannot make any of the orientation times, please contact us directly to make alternate arrangements.
Background Checks for New Volunteers
If you are handling cash or working with vulnerable parties, you may also require a background check. Information checks are moving online in 2023. You will receive more information via email once placed on a crew that requires a background check.
Crews that require a background check: Accessibility, Administration, Admin Access, Box Office, Enviropower (leaders), Face Painters, Family, Festival Liaison, Front of Stage Safety, Hotel Hospitality, Information, Music & Merch Access, Performer Hospitality (Green Room & Reception), Nighthawks, Perimeter Support (leaders), and SASS (Sales & Service Staff).
You must be placed on a crew before attending any meeting. Click here for more info.
Use the 'Week', 'Month' and 'Agenda' tabs to switch views of this calendar.
Click on the event ( the green text ) to bring up meeting details and location.
Badge and T-Shirt Pick up
Where can I get my stuff?
1. Pick up at your crew meeting
For most Festival weekend crews, volunteer badges and t-shirts are distributed at your crew meeting.
Make sure you check the Volunteer Calendar (above) to find out when and where your crew meeting is. It is important that you make every effort to attend your crew meeting, and it is the easiest way to pick up your badge and t-shirt.
Volunteers on pre and post Festival crews (Site, Site Kitchen, Signage, Special Projects, etc.) should contact their coordinator about badge and t-shirt pick up. Your badge is not required to access the Festival Site prior to first day of the festival.
Enviropower badge pick up and general information is found in one of the tabs below.
2. Alternate Badge Pick up
If you are unable to make it to your crew meeting, you must contact your coordinator to get any info you have missed (including your schedule).
Badges (t-shirt info below) are available at the following times at the Festival Office.
If your crew meeting has not been held prior to the dates below, you must pick up at your crew meeting, or make alternate arrangements with your coordinator.
Pickup at the Festival Office Main Floor (10115 97A Avenue) at the following
dates/ times:
August 3 & 4: 2pm - 7pm
August 8 & 9: 2pm - 7pm
3. Pick up at Volunteer Services
The first day of the festival, the remaining are moved to Volunteer Services on the Festival site; They are available for pick beginning at 1pm. Please do your best to pick up your badge prior to Thursday if possible.
- Take the volunteer shuttle from the Westin or RE/MAX Field and let the driver know you are enroute to pick up your volunteer badge.
- There is no vehicle access in Cloverdale at this time.
- Enter via the Volunteer Gate (map) to be escorted to Volunteer Services.
T-shirt Pick up
T-shirts are handed out at crew meetings. If you did not make it to your crew meeting, you can get your t-shirt from your coordinator. In most cases, this will happen at your first shift – ask your coordinator!
Other
Please contact Marianne or Jaime at 780.466.3669, or at volunteers@edmontonfolkfest.org, if you have any questions.
*Exceptions include pre-Festival crews (Site, Site Kitchen, Festival Support, Box Office, Signage Installation and Production, Special Projects) and crews whose meetings were held prior to July.
Volunteers on these crews should contact the Festival Office or their coordinator to find out when and where their items may be picked up.
Teardown
Teardown (August 14-28, 2023) is a great way to meet fellow volunteers, and better understand the footprint of the festival site. We ask that new volunteers as well as 50% of returning volunteers complete at least one 3-4 hour teardown shift.
Teardown sign up is now available via MyVolunteerPage.com! Sign into your MyVolunteerPage.com account and then select the "Opportunities" menu, select "Opportunity List" from the dropdown and scroll down to click on Teardown. Select a date that works for you!
If you need to make a change to a shift, you will need to click on the Schedule tab and then click Remove on the date you need to change.
If you have any questions or concerns about teardown, please view the FAQ list at the bottom of this page, or contact volunteers@edmontonfolkfest.org.
**There are various tasks available for teardown. If you have any physical limitations, if you are uncomfortable with particular equipment, or with a particular task, please let the site coordinator assigning tasks at the beginning of your teardown shift know so they may assign you appropriately!
FAQ
All new volunteers, and 50% of the festival’s returning volunteers, are required to complete a teardown shift (a 3-4 hour shift). In general though, if you have time after the festival to help with teardown, please do so. If you are unavailable to work a teardown shift, please contact the Volunteer Office to make alternate arrangements.
*Note: talk to your coordinator about teardown. some crews make arrangements to work together as a group, or have special teardown commitments
Make sure you wear closed toed footwear, and comfortable work clothing. You may need a hat and sunscreen or rain gear. Please bring a water bottle or beverage container as they are not provided on site. Keep in mind that there is no secure storage on site, so we suggest leaving valuables in your vehicle or at home.
Parking is available in the Cloverdale neighbourhood pre/post Festival. Allocated festival parking is available along 96 Ave, but you can also park in the neighbourhood at least a block away from site leaving a car length in front and behind you. There is no parking available in the Muttart Conservatory lot, and vehicles may be ticketed.
Once you arrive at the Ski Club, please check in at the Production Office, located in the trailers next to Stage 5. From there, they will direct you to a teardown coordinator.
If you need to change your shift, please head to the Schedule tab in your MyVolunteerPage.com account and cancel your original shift. You can sign up for a new shift in the Opportunities section. Please note that only available time slots will appear for you to sign up.
Morning – 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Afternoon – 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Evening – 6 pm – 9:00 pm
Yes. Volunteers working the morning or afternoon shifts are welcome to join site crew for a meal following their shift. Those working the evening shift are welcome to come early for dinner, but must let those who worked during the afternoon eat first.
A continental breakfast is served during the first week and a half of teardown, but it is very limited. We encourage you to eat breakfast beforehand, especially as teardown nears the end and site kitchen is tearing down ad packing up.
Yes! Feel free to sign up for additional shifts.
Yes! Just let us know who you are covering for when you sign in, so we can credit them as ‘completed teardown’.
Take Over the Park Day
If you would like to help out with Take Over the Park Day (TOP) (formally Fence Day, Play in the Park) (the day the Festival takes over Gallagher Park) please sign up via MyVolunteerPage.com. Play in the Park Day is on July 29th from 9AM - 1PM. To sign up, login to your Volunteer Profile, click on the "Opportunities" menu, select "Opportunity List" from the dropdown and scroll down to click on "Take Over the Park Day".
Vehicle Training
Enviropower
General Information
The Enviropower crew cleans the hill before the Festival begins each day. This crew consists of children between ages 12 to 15 and is supervised by experienced adult crew leaders.
Enviropower volunteers may apply as youth volunteers online. If you are unable to apply online, please contact us directly.
Volunteers on this crew must be the children of – or sponsored by – a current EFMF volunteer in good standing; This person must be an adult (25+). The Volunteer Office approves all youth sponsors prior to placement.
Schedule and Orientation
The shift times for Enviropower are as follows (time for lunch is incorporated into these shifts)
Friday, Aug 11: 9am to 1pm
(Meet in dining area by Kitchen Gate for orientation and t-shirt hand out)
Saturday, Aug 12: 8am – 1pm
Sunday, Aug 13: 8am – 1pm
Monday, Aug 14: 9:30am – 1pm
- Please be sure to eat breakfast before your shift.
- Make sure you bring a mug/container (no glass) for water and juice from the Festival Kitchen.
- Bring rain gear (you may store belongings at Volunteer Services during their hours of operation).
- There is no overnight storage of belongings.
Badge & T-shirt Pick up
Parents/Sponsors may pick up badges for Enviropower volunteers at their own crew meetings. Please keep in mind that Enviropower does not meet before the Festival.
Orientation (and t-shirt distribution) happens at 9:30am on Friday morning in the Volunteer Dining area, located behind the Edmonton Ski Club building.
If you are unable to pick up Enviropower badges at your crew meeting, they may also be picked up at the Festival Office (10115 – 97a Ave) during the following times:
Pickup at the Festival Office Main Floor (10115 97A Avenue)
2023
August 3 & 4: 2pm - 7pm
August 8 & 9: 2pm - 7pm
Remaining badges are moved to Volunteer Services for pick up beginning on the Thursday of the festival. Keep in mind that Volunteer Services does not open until 1pm on Thursday and Friday.
Applications for the Don Snider "Go Wildly Forward" Scholarship are now closed.
The deadline to apply is April 30th each year.
The Don Snider "Go Wildly forward" Scholarship is an Edmonton Folk Music Festival (EFMF) program that recognizes and honours EFMF volunteers who demonstrate, through their actions and attitudes, a positive motivation to be engaged meaningfully in the community and the world at large. Persons selected will have a spirit of adventure, a desire to communicate, and a willingness to share their knowledge and experience with others. Don Snider embodied these qualities over 40 years of working in the Arts, as Production Manager of the EFMF, and travelling the world.
Don Snider
Production Manager
1996 – 2012
Remembering Don with love
The family & his Folk Fest family
