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Volunteer to thrive through festival community
Vancouver, BC - Ever feel disconnected these days and find yourself seeking a new solution to thrive? In any given year, BC and Alberta is home to 200+ festivals, sporting events and community experiences, powered by volunteers. Go volunteer and go thrive.
“We didn’t know each other two hours ago before this shift and now we’ve been chatting, and I’ve made a new friend in Jennifer” says Regan, a Vancouver FIFA Fan Festival volunteer.
Watch the video below to see how Regan and Jennifer leverage their volunteer experiences to build their community connections.
WATCH > Why volunteer? Regan and Jennifer, two Vancouver FIFA Fan Festival Volunteers, list the benefits for Jim Barr.
FestivalSeekers wants to see our community more connected to the festival community than ever before.
Just head over to FestivalSeekers calendar of events, pick any festival upcoming, head to their website and you should find a volunteer section to submit your interest.
Feel like you are part of something.
For Maria, who has now been living 12 years in Vancouver after emigrating from Mexico, volunteering at the FIFA Fan Festival is about the nation building.
“I love seeing all the people from around the world cheering their teams and I’ve really been enjoying that energy,” she says.
And whether it's being part of a world energy that is FIFA World Cup, or something perhaps a bit more homegrown, like the Jasper Folk Music Festival, volunteering really does deliver the stoke.
Jasper Folk Music Festival volunteers help bring music to the mountains.
“You can’t score that level of dopamine playing video games,” explains Jasper Folk Festival 10 year volunteer Executive Director Cristin Murphy. “Everyone there realizes we are doing something together that makes the world a little bit better.”
Don't just think volunteering for an event is a weekend gig, advance your interests in supporting Alberta and BC’s festival ecosystem by joining a festival board. Who knows perhaps one day you’ll arrive at Murphy's level and hold the golden radio.
“Depending on the role, you're meeting the musicians,” explains Murphy on the behind the scenes access volunteers score, “or ensuring that the space is environmentally friendly.
It's being a part of something so cool, being “on the scene” and collectively experiencing so much pride because we all can see what we’ve pulled off together.”
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Back in the day, I ran an army of 1,100 volunteers for the Edmonton Indy, and it was some of the most joyous days. People were there for all the right reasons. Perhaps they were car fans, but most were there for the experience of coming together.
Over the past few weeks with the FIFA World Cup in town, “I’ve never felt Vancouver so together,” says Darius Fuladi, Seekers Media’s intern and BCIT broadcast journalism student.
Photo:
Jim Barr
Vancouver’s FIFA Fan Festival is powered by over 3,200 volunteers
It’s true, a sense of being together is quality currency these days, feeling part of something is a very cool experience that can be hard to do across a network of screens.
A shout-out to the army of volunteers 3,200 for the Vancouver FIFA Fan Festival and the 65,000 across all 16 cities hosting the FIFA World Cup. A huge shout-out to the millions of seekers from Alberta and BC who volunteer annually.
Know Before you Go
The FIFA Fan Festival runs till July 15 and is the spot to catch the FIFA World Cup finals on 24 foot screens and to stick around for the entertainment - with a roster of 120 bands and DJ’s (catch Motley Crew there July 12 or Deadmau5 July 17).
Pro tip: keep in mind the FIFA Fan Festival is FREE - with 2,600 FREE tickets to get into the Freedom Mobile Amphitheater, to be part of a watch party and a show.
You can catch FestivalSeekers’ ongoing FIFA World Cup coverage here.
Jasper’s Folk Music Festival takes over Jasper, and rocks out in the Rockies Sept 11 and 12.
“We wanted this year to be a collection of all our favorite bands from putting the festival on over the years,” explains Murphy.
It’s a skookum lineup including Moontricks, The Harpoonist & the Axe Murderer and the Brasstactics happening September in the heart of the Canadian Rockies. Go support Jasper as they still work to recover out of the fire there two years ago.
Know and go to more BC and Alberta festivals by joining the thousands of other festival seekers who are FestivalSeekers e-news subscribers.
