Confessions of a Folk Fest virgin

PHIL.HOSSACK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA Enlarge Image

Tents bloom in festival camping at the Winnipeg Folk Festival in this file photo.

LAST summer was only my second summer attending the Winnipeg Folk Festival, but I decided to try my hand at volunteering.

I was hesitant at first when I signed up to be a volunteer and was wary of experiencing the festival differently than I had my first time around, but I eventually decided I wanted to see things from the other side.

 The 2009 festival took my "Winnipeg Folk Fest virginity." It was love at first sight. I knew the folk festival site was absolutely my favourite place to be and the festival was by far the best part of my summer.

I joked to some friends that the festival has its own smell, its own feel and that for five days each summer, it really is its own community. I learned this quickly, particularly after talking to veteran folkies -- including some of my friends who had been attending the summer music festival since their parents hauled them around the festival grounds in a laundry basket.

There is something about the festival that makes you feel like you are coming home each summer. No matter the weather (usually there's at least one stormy day), you enter a state of pure bliss.

I became convinced that there are two types of people who attend the festival: those people who are first-timers and decide it just isn't for them. These people never return. The second type, however, are those who, like me, fell in love with the community, the feeling and what many like to call the "Folk Fest magic" when they first stepped on the grounds. These people return every summer after that, forever and ever, amen.

I quickly placed myself in the latter category. I was in love. I was convinced that from then on, each July would contain my five favourite days of the year. When the 2009 festival finished, I had already begun the countdown to the next one -- something I quickly learned that most of us "folkies" do (yes, I was also quick to place myself in the "folkie" category).

So, as I began to count down the days until the next festival, I also decided I wanted to try my hand at volunteering. I eagerly filled out the volunteer application on the website and a couple months later got an email asking if I was interested in being a volunteer on the Campground Safety team.

Which brings us to last summer. It definitely was a different way of experiencing the festival than I had my first time around. The overnight shifts -- either walking around the campground or sitting at the end of a trailhead to ensure everyone who came through was entitled to be there (and trying really hard not to fall asleep in your lawn chair) -- let me see more of the festival spirit from all of the campers, as opposed to simply experiencing the festival and the campground with your small tent group of friends. You get a wider perspective of the entire festival. That said, the 2,000-plus folk festival volunteers are also a community in and of themselves, and you really do feel like you are a part of something special.

Yes, being a Folk Fest volunteer was definitely a different experience than I had as simply a festival attendee in 2009, but its benefits outweigh its costs by a long shot. I'd recommend doing it (and already have to many of my friends) to anyone.

The countdown is over and we've finally hit Folk Fest week again. I'll be returning to the festival this year as a volunteer with the same campground crew (I told you I liked it). If you are staying in the festival campground, look for me, and don't forget to say hello.

Happy Folk Fest, folkies!

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 3, 2011 A15