Festival volunteering becomes a family affair

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/07/2016 (3701 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Like mother, like son.

When Iszac Roy starts volunteering at the Winnipeg Folk Festival this week, he will be following in the footsteps of his mother, Sarah Hampton.

Like Hampton, Roy is getting his start in the festival’s apprentice program, which gives young people between the ages of 13 and 17 the opportunity to volunteer in a variety of different capacities during the festival.

Hampton was one of the first apprentices when the program started in 1995 and volunteered at La Cuisine, the backstage kitchen where meals are prepared for volunteers and performers.

“The fondest memories were just the opportunity as a young child to be backstage and around all the performers, and eating the food with all the performers,” said Hampton, now 38.

Hampton attended the festival numerous times before she started volunteering because her mother was a folk fest volunteer.

“When you enjoy a festival like that so much, being able to give back is a good feeling,” Hampton said.

Giving back is what motivates Roy, who heard about the apprentice program from his mother.

“I just wanted to give back to the festival,” said Roy, who recently finished Grade 7. “It’s done so much for me, and it’s such a great place, and I want to help it go on.”

Roy will be one of 200 participants in the apprentice program. In exchange for 16 to 20 hours of work, volunteers receive a pass to the festival, free meals and an invitation to a volunteer appreciation party at the end of the weekend.

Apprentices are moved around day to day so that they can try a variety of different jobs at the festival, from working at La Cuisine, to helping at the children’s tent, to helping with the festival’s daytime stages and more.

Ultimately, the hope is to train the apprentices so they return to the festival and join a regular volunteer crew once they’re 18, said Karen Dana, the apprentice program’s co-founder and co-ordinator. She said many do.

“I sort of look around with pride, because everywhere within the festival is someone who’s been an apprentice,” Dana says. “Often they’ve taken on leadership roles, so it’s really neat.”

Dana said that what she enjoys about the festival, in addition to the music, the people and being part of organizing one of Winnipeg’s premier summertime events, is the energy young people bring to the apprentice program.

“They’re so excited to be a part of it,” she said. “It’s really neat to see.”

Hampton said volunteering at the festival was formative, and while her role as a mother prevents her from volunteering right now, she is excited that her son has the opportunity to get involved.

“He’s carrying the torch, from my mother being a volunteer, to me being a volunteer and now him,” Hampton says. “I have so many fond memories, and I hope he has the same. It’s exciting.”

If you know a special volunteer, please contact aaron.epp@gmail.com.