“This is one of the great undiscovered festivals. Soon you will have people coming in from all over!”
—Paget Management & Booking Agency (Bananafish) on Yakima Folklife Festival ‘95
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), and in the Yakima Valley Museum (located in Franklin Park). Evening concerts are held Friday and Saturday at numerous downtown venues. Weekend daytime events are held in the park and museum, with evening events on Saturday continuing in the park and museum and at venues such as Bob's Keg & Cork, The Depot and The Barrel House, among others. 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 in Franklin Park and the Yakima Valley Museum:
Franklin Park Lawn Stage: An outdoor stage with performances 10 A.M. to 9 P.M. Saturday and 11 A.M. to 8 P.M. Sunday.
Franklin Park Lawn Interlude Stage: An outdoor stage with performances 10 A.M. to 9 P.M. Saturday and 10:45 A.M. to 6 P.M. Sunday. This stage will be about 50 feet from the Lawn Stage, facing the same audience, with shorter “interlude” performances, staggered with those on the Lawn Stage, the result being non-stop music and extended set-up time.
Franklin Park Grove Stage: A second outdoor stage with performances 10:20 A.M. to 8 P.M. Saturday and 10:20 A.M. to 7 P.M. Sunday.
Garden Stage: A new outdoor stage on the northwest corner of the museum with performances 10:30 A.M. to 9 P.M. Saturday and 10:30 A.M. to 6 P.M. Sunday.
Yakima Valley Museum Great Hall Stage: This large indoor space surrounded by exhibits will highlight international dance and music performances 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. Saturday, and noon to 6 P.M. Sunday.
Children's Stage: Upper floor of the museum in the new "North Tower"
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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 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 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 the 26th Yakima Folklife Festival 2008 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.
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 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.
Please respond by January 31, 2008 to have your requests considered in our initial planning and scheduling!
...late applicants will be fit into the schedule at our discretion.
Online Performer Application & Technical Info for Folklife Festival 2008
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.
Food vendors: 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!). See food vendor application form for fees and other details. You may also contact the food vendor committee chair, Linda Galloway (509 248-8999) for further information.
Craft vendors: 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 craft vendor application form for fees and other details. You may also contact the craft vendor committee chair, Diane Smestad (509 965-2003) dianesmestad@charter.net for further information
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 |
