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Frequently Asked Questions
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| WHAT IS THE SHAWANO FOLK MUSIC FESTIVAL? |
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It’s a weekend of music, dance and crafts, held at Mielke Park in Shawano.
There are two concerts inside Mielke Theater (Friday night and Saturday night),
each of them featuring 4-5 different performers. On Saturday and Sunday during the day,
4 outdoor stages are filled with music and dance programs that feature the same artists
from the evening concerts, plus a few more. In addition, there are food vendors, crafters,
children’s activities and an open stage – and our annual Quilt Raffle. There are only
a handful of similar events in the Midwest. One of them is right here in Shawano – and it’s
recognized by both audiences and performers to be one of the best.
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| WHEN IS IT HELD? |
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The Shawano Folk Music Festival is held every year during the second weekend in August.
The 2010 festival will be the weekend of August 13th, 14th and 15th.
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| HOW LONG HAS THIS BEEN GOING ON? |
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2010 will be the Shawano Folk Music Festival’s 32nd year. It began in 1979.
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| WHAT KIND OF MUSIC IS FEATURED? (I THOUGHT “FOLK MUSIC” ENDED IN THE ‘70’s.) |
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“Folk Music” is as hard to define as other kinds of music. It’s much more than Peter,
Paul and Mary singing “Michael Row Your Boat Ashore.” Basically, it’s music that
comes directly from the culture and experiences of a group of people, rather than
coming from or through commercial interests. It includes much of the music we all
know - but we can’t quite say where we learned it. It’s very eclectic. It tends to be
acoustic –but not always. It can involve a lot of audience participation – but not always.
It includes very old music (decades and centuries old) – but it also includes music
that was written last week. It includes old favorites, sing-alongs, blues, bluegrass, jazz,
children’s music, ballads, dance tunes and silly songs. It includes music that comes out of the
culture of Appalachia, the American west, American cities, the Louisiana bayou and Tin Pan Alley.
It includes music that comes out of the cultures of the British Isles, Europe, South America,
Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Australia. It includes music that can appeal to every age group,
from very young children to their grandparents. Folk music doesn’t get played much on the radio, but
it’s as alive as rock and roll, and it’s changing all the time.
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| WHAT ABOUT CRAFTS? |
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Crafters have always been an important part of the Shawano Folk Music Festival.
Some of the best artists and crafters around set up their booths in Mielke Park,
many of them demonstrating their crafts as well as selling them. They include potters,
weavers, jewelers, candlemakers, woodcarvers, blacksmiths, sculptors, painters, toymakers,
instrument makers,
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| WHAT MUSICIANS CAN I HEAR AT THE FESTIVAL? |
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Over the past 30 plus years, the Folk Music Festival has brought more than 400 different
artists to Shawano, many of whom are internationally recognized as among the best in
their fields. Past performers have included Howard Armstrong, Lou & Peter Berryman,
Greg Brown, Paul Cebar, Helen Exner, Wade Fernandez, the Folklore Village International
Dancers, Music of the Hmongs, Prudence Johnson, Bill Jorgenson, the Lost World String Band,
Joel Mabus, John McCutcheon, the Oneida Dancers, Peter Ostrusko, Tom Paxton, Tom Pease, Larry Penn,
Pommersche Tanzdeel Freistadt, Reptile Palace Orchestra, Sally Rogers, Randy Sabien, Sacred Harp
Singers, Bill Staines, Sweet Adelines, Taiko Drummers, Ukraine Dancers, Whitewater, and so many more.
Each year, it’s something different.
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| WHAT IF IT RAINS? |
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The Festival goes on rain or shine! The evening concerts are held indoors.
The daytime programs are held outdoors, but many of our stages are under tents.
If that’s not enough protection from the rain, we move the music inside.
When the rain stops, we dry off.
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| WHERE CAN I STAY? |
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The Shawano area has many fine motels, campgrounds and B&B’s. You can get
information about them from the Shawano County Chamber of Commerce at www.shawanocommerce.com
Unfortunately, we don’t offer camping at the Festival grounds.
But there are campgrounds nearby. |
| WHAT ABOUT FOOD? |
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Several local food vendors offer a wide variety of freshly made goodies for you to eat at the
festival grounds. They include soups, sandwiches, burgers and brats, homemade German potato soup, Mexican, breakfast foods,
sweet treats and much more. They’re all tasty, and all reasonably priced. Shawano also
has many restaurants and diners.
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| CAN I BRING MY DOG? |
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The Festival is held in Mielke Park, a Shawano County Park. This means that County dog rules
apply (all dogs must be leashed, and under control at all times.) Over the years a few people
have brought dogs with them, with no problems. Well-behaved dogs that do well in crowds are welcome.
However, if a particular dog causes problems of any kind, we will ask the dog’s owner to make other
arrangements.
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| SHOULD I BRING MY OWN CHAIR? |
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We have chairs in place at all our stages, and picnic tables scattered throughout the Park.
You don’t have to bring your own, unless you really want to.
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| IS THE FESTIVAL ACCESSIBLE TO WHEELCHAIRS? |
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The Festival is held in a County Park. Although some of the footpaths are a little rough,
wheelchairs can make their way through the park without problem. Mielke Arts Center, where
the evening concerts are held, are fully wheelchair accessible. If you need special parking
arrangements because of a physical condition, let the people at the gates know, and they’ll
direct you to the staff parking area.
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| WHERE CAN I PARK? |
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There is a small parking lot on Airport Road. When that’s full, find parking on the roads
around the Park (but watch for “no parking” signs on Airport Rd.). There is parking inside
the grounds for performers and staff.
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| WHO PUTS THE FESTIVAL ON? |
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The festival is put on each year by a group of dedicated volunteers, under the sponsorship
of the Shawano County Arts Council.
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| WHO ARE THE VOLUNTEERS? |
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The festival volunteers are people from Shawano and other communities all across Wisconsin.
They’re 8-80 years old, teachers, business people, artists, musicians, social workers, salesmen,
nurses, retired people, students, technicians, parents, grandparents, and sportsmen. They’re your
friends and neighbors. They’re as diverse as the people who live on your street. Some have been
festival volunteers since 1979 – others since last year. Many volunteers started by attending the
festival - they fell in love with it and joined the group. Some work on the Festival all year, others
for a few hours Festival weekend. What they have in common is a love of music and a willingness to help.
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| AND WHAT DO THE VOLUNTEERS DO? |
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Volunteers choose performers for the festival, plan activities for festival weekend, sell ads for the
program book, find crafters and food vendors, make quilts, set up stages, take down stages, sell CD’s,
collect tickets, house performers, cook, clean, plan and supervise children’s projects, and do everything
else that needs doing. Some of the volunteers work all year planning the festival. Some work hard for a
month or two during the year. Others work only during the weekend of the festival. It doesn’t matter what
skills volunteers may have, or how much time they can give, there’s a place on the festival committee that
will fill their needs. Most of the planning is done at monthly meetings throughout the year.
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| HOW CAN I LEARN MORE ABOUT VOLUNTEERING? |
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To learn more, go to the volunteer page of the festival website, volunteer.
Or send your question by email, to shawanofestival@hotmail.com.
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