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March 23, 2018
Dear Fairbanks Community: The 2018 Summer Folk Festival is happening! Some wonderful new people have joined the team recently and, along with previous members, are devoted to making sure that both the Winter and Summer Festivals continue. Information on the Summer 2018 Fairbanks Folk Festival can be found under the “Summer Folk Fest” tab, or by clicking the link to the right. One thing we need which will be vital to the future success of the Festival is volunteers! If you are interested in volunteering in any capacity, please contact fairbanksfolkfest@gmail.com. If you’ve given us your email before, you will shortly be receiving an email from us about volunteering as well. Contacting us about volunteering puts you under no obligation, and we completely understand if you are unable to assist when the time comes. However, we will have many different volunteer opportunities and options, and hope anyone who wants to be involved can be. Thank you Fairbanks Folk Community! February 12, 2018
To our Fairbanks Music Community, It's no secret that the Fairbanks music community is active and thriving. Many tout our music scene as being one of the best parts of living in Fairbanks. One group that has brought together our folk music community since 1987 has been the Fairbanks Folk Fest. The Fairbanks Folk Fest has orchestrated the Summer Folk Fest and the Winter Folk Fest to showcase the incredible talent in this town and give as many performers as possible an opportunity to play in front of an appreciative audience. These festivals are run by volunteers under the guidance of the organization's volunteer board of directors. After 30 years of running these festivals, one issue has plagued us: burnout. Like all events worthy of attending, these festivals take a lot of money and a lot of effort. And people have been feeling tired. Two festivals a year is a lot to run. Our board has been asking hard questions to ourselves: How can we sustain our mission? Should we disband? If not, what's next? Can we handle two festivals a year? How can we continue to keep this event free to the public? What other revenue streams can we pursue? How can we attract volunteers to help? Maintaining a sustainable organization requires the right people, the right partners, the right resources, all while focusing on the mission. We have all these pieces. We just need to figure out how they fit together. After careful consideration, three big decisions have been made: - We are not dissolving the board. We still have hard work in front of us, but the Fairbanks Folk Fest organization will continue to operate. - For 2018, at least, the Winter Folk Fest is cancelled. This gives us time to regroup and look forward. - The 2018 Fairbanks Summer Folk Fest is officially still happening! It will be held at the Ester Community Park as planned. We are looking at several new strategies to achieve our mission. Some of these include: - Hosting a Fairbanks Folk Fest Presents concert series showcasing local, statewide, national, or international talent. We have scheduled the first of these for February 24th, at the Marlin. - Creating new membership tiers for families, volunteers, and artists, to encourage and reward engagement in the Folk Fest community. As we plan our next steps, we need input from you. Our next meeting is on February 28th, 5:30 at Collegetown Pizzeria. Please join us for the discussion and bring your best ideas and willingness to help make your ideas work! If you have any questions, please email us at FairbanksFolkFest@gmail.com To our future! Fairbanks Folk Fest Board of Directors |
Summer Folk Fest
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Become a Member or Donate! |
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FairbanksFolkFest@gmail.com
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Fairbanks Folk Fest
P.O. Box 84379 Fairbanks, AK 99708 |