Yakima Folklife announces Festival 2001 (#19)
Friday–Sunday, July 13, 14, & 15!

A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF OUR FESTIVAL FOR NEW FOLKS:

The Yakima Folklife Festival takes place in Franklin Park (a large city park with trees and slopes in the residential center of Yakima), in the Yakima Valley Museum (located in Franklin Park), and in Grant’s Brewery Pub and Bob's Keg & Cork (evening concerts on Friday and Saturday). The festival begins on Friday evening with kick-off concerts at Grant’s, Bob's, and in the Great Hall of the museum. Weekend daytime events are held in the park and museum, with evening events on Saturday continuing in the park and museum and also at Grant’s and Bob's. Daytime events are centered in the park, with food and craft booths located in the heart of the action. There is also a "Children’s Festival" area (in cooperation with the museum’s Children’s Underground).

Like last year, the main festival in the park and museum will continue into the night on Saturday. Performances at outdoor stages will continue till dark (9 P.M.)–this should be very appealing to food and craft vendors!

The following is a list of performance venues:

How are we? Just fine, thanks. Our hard work is paying off–we have a loyal and varied audience at our monthly concerts. The performers are making more money and selling lots of CDs. Our reputation for intimacy, hospitality, and quality (on a shoestring budget) is getting around.

Our Strategy: The Yakima Folklife Association presents a series of 7 monthly concerts, October through April, and a summer festival on the second weekend in July. With the goal of expanding and diversifying Central Washington’s audience for live music, we have kept concert ticket prices low while guaranteeing quality acts at every show–"bring music to the people, bring people to the music"–and our audience has gotten bigger. At most concerts, we beg performers to accept low "guarantees," and, in return, we agree to keep none of the profits–all proceeds above production costs go to the performers. The performers accepted (thank you, thank you!), the crowds came, CDs were purchased, and everyone got more than the guarantee.

At festival time there is no admission fee. No ticket proceeds. It is our gift to the public, and there is virtually no income. We ask performers to join us in nurturing a growing audience. The festival gives us the opportunity to open our stage to new and emerging performers and expose them to the broad and diverse audience of "culturally challenged" Central Washington–an audience eager for quality entertainment–from its geographic and demographic hub in Yakima, as well as introducing new performers to Yakima Folklife and other local arts organizations for consideration in upcoming concerts and events.

Please join us at Yakima Folklife Festival 2001 and share the success!

PERFORMERS: As is customary, we do not pay at festival time ...sorry. But we will aggressively support the musician in any way we can–In most cases we will provide free motel lodging (performers more than 2 hrs from Yakima, and on a case-by-case basis), and we always provide Saturday breakfast, Sunday brunch, a fully staffed sales booth to sell your recordings (we take no cut of sales), and we’ll get a crowd. Tape and CD sales at our concert series are very good–often doubling the guarantee! If someone sees a performance they like in Seattle, they will remember the name so they can catch them again. Out here in culture-hungry Yakima, if you see a performance you like, you take the music home because, otherwise, you may never get to hear it again. Ask Erin Corday, Tempest, Wylie & the Wild West, How's Bayou, Colcannon, The Paperboys ...the list goes on.
Exposure to the audience of Central Washington can help you in many ways, and we will help you in any way we can. Participation in the festival will count on your behalf when we choose performers for our concert series, as well as exposing your act to other venues in Yakima, such as Grant’s Brewery Pub, the Greenway Concert Series, the Central Washington State Fair, and Yakima’s Allied Arts, to name a few. Please help us and help yourself by participating.

l Performer expenses, such as travel, food, or lodging, may be reimbursed or provided ...let us know your needs.
SEE APPLICATION FORM FOR DETAILS.
Download application in PDF format.
Apply online

Please respond by March 16 to have your requests considered in our initial planning and scheduling!
...late applicants will be fit into the schedule at our discretion.

FOOD & CRAFT VENDORS: As stated above–and you can’t say it too many times–we’ll provide the festival. You’ll want to be there. And with Saturday festival hours extending through dinnertime till dark (9–9:30), there is lots of premium business time. If you have been here before, you remember that shade, electricity, and water are in limited supply. Your ability to provide your own, or do without, will result in better placement on festival grounds. Early response is recommended for special consideration and to guarantee your spot; we do not allow duplication of food booths (for example, 2 booths can not both sell burritos), so, get back to us early to claim your booth! Remember that we will assign your site on a first reserved, first served basis. (Showing up a day early at festival time won’t help if you reserved your spot late!)

On-site demonstrations, workshops, and in-booth craft work is highly recommended. Vendors offering workshops or demonstrations may receive a cut-rate fee (in some cases, no fee), special advertising by the festival with events actively publicized and promoted in the festival schedule, and, in special cases, we can offer your activity as an event in the museum. Let us know what you can do, and we’ll let you know what we can do!
SEE APPLICATION FORM FOR FEES AND OTHER DETAILS. (Coming soon to this website)

Please respond early to have your requests considered in our initial planning and scheduling!
We will get back to you ASAP. Late applicants will be fit into the site plan and schedule at our discretion.

CHILDREN’S ACTIVITIES: Our "Children’s Festival" continues to grow. With the huge success of the museum’s Children’s Underground, our resources and potential have grown significantly. We will offer a variety of fun and educational activities for children and parents, both in the Underground and outdoors on the festival grounds. We have several activities planned already, but there is always room for more and we welcome any assistance, ideas, or related events to help make the festival a great time for kids and families.

Write, FAX, e-mail, or call (phone calls NOT preferred!)
e-mail to: folklife@yakimavalleymuseum.org