It takes over 150 volunteers to put on the Free Folk Festival! We need your help. Just an hour of your time at the festival will make a huge difference. There are jobs for everybody, from sitting at the Folk Club table selling tapes, CD's, & books to working at the instrument check room (making sure people's musical instruments are kept safe), to helping out with parking, setup, or cleanup. To volunteer please send an email to:

volunteer@sffolkfest.org

or call 510-287-9095

For more information on available jobs, see Volunteer Job Descriptions below, or click the links below for a quick summary of jobs and times in handy sign-up sheet format. Enroll your friends!

Sign-up Sheet:  PDF   Word   HTML
Job Descriptions:  PDF

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Volunteer Job Descriptions

Telephone Volunteers. Ask folk club members to help put on the event (25).

Grassroots publicity. Post flyers and contact people interested in music events.

Vendor Liaison. Contact vendors about coming to the festival; ask them to place an advertisement in the festival program (1 coordinator)

Instrument Check. Help check instruments in and out & keep them safe. Requires 2 people per shift. Opens at 11:45 am each morning until 7 pm; Saturday evening shifts 9:00 pm - 9:30 pm and 11 pm - 11:30 pm; Sunday evening shifts 8:00 pm - 8:30 pm and 9:30 pm -10 pm. Shifts are one hour in length, except the evening slots. The instrument check coordinator will be responsible for checking at the beginning of each shift to make sure that the volunteers have shown up for their slot and will need to set up/take down the room at the beginning and end of festival (2 coordinators; 30 one- hour shifts).

Festival setup. Help set up the school for the festival. This job includes: putting up signs, setting up tables, assisting sound crew, moving desks out of rooms, etc. Setup generally begins at 9:00 am on Saturday morning and goes until noon. The setup coordinator will need to commit to being the first person onsite that day. He/she will also need to make a map of each classroom so that the cleanup person will know how to put the rooms back together after the festival is over (1 coordinator, 10 two-hour shifts).

Festival cleanup. Three people who will go through the rooms and halls to make sure the place is in good order on Saturday evening. At 6 pm Sunday, approx. 6 strong people will put the workshop rooms back into classroom formation. At 10 pm Sunday, about 6-8 people will assist in cleaning up the main hall and dance hall, including taking down the sound equipment. Slots last about 1 hour or less, depending on the number of people who can help out. The cleanup coordinator will need to be at the festival through to the end (1 coordinator, 3 people on Saturday evening, 6 people at 6 pm Sunday, 8 people at 10 pm Sunday).

Folk club table. Give out literature, sell folk club stuff as well as performer tapes and CDs. Be available to provide information on the club, the festival, where the bathroom is, where different workshops are located, etc. One-hour slots. Folk-club table coordinator will set up the table, will coordinate the selling of things, and will make sure the table has volunteers throughout the day, filling in as needed (2 coordinators, 14 one-hour shifts).

Fundraisers. Circulate donation cans during the festival. Coordinated by folk club table (14 one-hour shifts).

Emcee Open Mic. Introduces acts & fills in as necessary. Should know how to run the sound system. The open mike coordinator must be available throughout the day to make sure that the slots are filled (2 coordinators, 10 one-hour shifts).

Parking. Act as parking lot attendant behind school. Check for parking permits. The parking coordinator will set up the lot to ensure that the largest number of vehicles can park. (2 coordinators, 12 one-hour shifts)