Volunteering and all that jazz

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This article was published 18/04/2022 (1291 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The way Ginette Castro describes one of her early experiences volunteering at the Winnipeg International Jazz Festival is reminiscent of a musical.

It was a beautiful summer evening in 2016 and Castro was running late for her second shift in the beer garden in Old Market Square. Latin music emanated from the Cube as Castro approached the tent. She was nervous and shy, but those feelings washed away after what happened next.

“A new song started to play, and all the volunteers and the two co-ordinators in the tent started to dance and cheer to the music,” Castro recalls. “I stopped, took in the moment and danced my way into the tent to join this amazing group of people who were all giving back to the community by volunteering. I knew immediately I was in the right place and that I would enjoy this experience.”

Castro is one of the hundreds of volunteers who will be working behind the scenes when the festival returns June 14 to 19. Because the festival was put on the back-burner in 2020 and 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jazz Winnipeg is recruiting new people to rebuild its base of volunteers.

Volunteers are the engine that drives the festival, says Angela Heck, Jazz Winnipeg’s executive producer.

“It really wouldn’t exist without the volunteers,” Heck says. “People have been volunteering with us for decades and it’s really built a huge community. People are stoked to come back.”

Zachary Rushing, a professional jazz singer who moved to Winnipeg from Seattle in 2017, says volunteering at the festival was a way to connect with the local jazz community.

Rushing co-ordinated the festival’s stage and set-up crew from 2017 to 2019. A year ago, he was hired as programs manager at Jazz Winnipeg.

“I really love hearing all the music when I was volunteering, that was a big draw,” Rushing says. “Volunteering helped me meet people in the music industry in Winnipeg, but it also helped me meet performers and professional musicians and get embedded in that world.”

Jazz Winnipeg is looking for volunteers to help with a variety of aspects of this year’s festival, including stage and set-up, the beer garden, box office, hospitality, merchandise sales, photography, ushering and transportation.

The festival is also looking for two experienced volunteers, who are comfortable leading people, to be crew co-ordinators.

Anyone interested is invited to apply online by April 30 at http://wfp.to/QbH.

Volunteering at the festival is rewarding, Heck says.

“We’ll give you another T-shirt, that’s for sure, but the benefit is really being part of something that, through the combined strength of everyone, is bigger than the sum of its parts,” she says.

“It’s an almost intangible benefit to having contributed to something that brings vitality to downtown and that makes people feel good.”

One of the things Castro most enjoys about volunteering at the festival is the community.

“Year after year, there are great people who return to this non-profit organization who are excited and want to give,” she says. “Winnipeg has a unique culture of arts and music. I love being part of it.”

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