Plenty of volunteer opportunities as Dancing Goats team preps return
A local folk art festival will return to downtown Ellijay this September, but there’s a need right now for volunteers who’d like to assist in its preparation.
The fourth annual Dancing Goats Folkfest is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 25-26, at the Artful Acres site just off River Street.
Mona Lowe, festival chair, said 15-20 volunteers are needed to put on the event, which welcomes a variety of folk artists to sell and show their creations.
“You can’t have a folkfest without folks,” said Lowe. “We need help, not so much that day as (we do) now.”
Lowe said she wants to feature more “homegrown,” or local, artists at this year’s festival. Dancing Goats normally attracts vendors -— including woodworkers, painters and knitters -— from around Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama and other Southern states, but not many from here in Gilmer County.
“We do pretty good having people come in from the surrounding area, but I know there are more people here,” she said. “Some are craft people, which is a little different, but you can do a craft if you add an artistic element to it. In other words, you can’t do stuff cut out of patterns.”
There are many tasks that precede the festival, including delivering publicity posters and rack cards and helping secure prize donations and entertainment funding. Festival day duties include setting up tents, delivery of tables and chairs, greeting vendors, doing games and selling T-shirts and posters, Lowe noted.
The event can use more entries for its Goat Beauty Contest, and folkfest organizers are looking for volunteers to improve an “Old Goats Giving Advice” tent, Lowe said. Volunteers are also needed to head up the festival’s cake auction.
A sign-painting party is being planned for Monday, Aug. 9, at 4 p.m., behind the George Link Jr. Gilmer Arts Playhouse at 135 Dalton Street. Wood and paint donations are welcomed, and sign painters do not have to be trained artists.
That event is open to the public Lowe said. The handmade signs will be put up around town to point people to the festival, and volunteers will also be needed to help put them up.
Those who plan on attending the sign-painting party should first check the Dancing Goats FolkFest Facebook page for any last-minute changes, noted Dancing Goats team member Sylvia Harris.
Like many other 2020 events, cancellation befell last year’s folkfest. Event organizers are eager to restart the jovial artistic event, which Lowe said helps honor traditions and culture of the north Georgia mountain area.
“The people before us worked hard to build this culture and carve out good lives here. The culture grounds us, and we don’t want to lose it,” she added. “This would’ve been the fifth (festival), but, because (of last year), it will be the fourth. I think people really love it, and we get more participation every time.”
Live music and storytelling will also be featured.
“Sunday includes a gospel brunch,” Lowe said. “The music is all gospel on Sunday morning, and we encourage people to come and sing.”
Lowe said anyone interested in volunteering to help with the folkfest can watch for announcements on the event’s Facebook page or join the Facebook group “Dancing Goat Herders.”
She can be reached at dancinggoatfolkfest@gmail.com or by text at 478-718-6596.