Different Volunteer Types
There are three main categories of volunteers with the Festival:
Each of these roles have different levels of commitment.
🌟Committee chairpersons are the organizer for an area of the Festival (eg. Petting Zoo, Cottonwood Stage, Craft Tents, etc). This is the largest volunteer commitment, and includes attending monthly meetings beginning in March. Total volunteering time varies by committee, but a committee chairperson commitment is likely on the order of an hour or two of work per week all summer, increasing towards the Festival.
🤗Committee assistants help the chairpersons or assist with other tasks for the Festival that aren’t quite as big as our committees. This commitment may include some work before the Festival, but largely is contained to the Festival weekend.
🤝General Festival volunteers are those that are kind enough to donate some time at the Festival, and receive instruction from the Committee chairpersons. These volunteer commitements can be as short as just two hours during the Festival.
The Craft Tents & Artisan Alley chairperson is responsible for both craft tents and artisan alley vendors during the Festival. Much of the work of recruiting vendors, handling vendor applications, taking payments, and answering questions is done by the Festival administrative assistant. The vast majority of this role takes place during the Festival, as the chairperson is the Festival representative for all craft tent and artisan alley vendors.
Our Cottonwood Stage tent is always packed with dancers, but it takes quite a crew to set up the massive dance floor. It typically takes 8-10 people the better part of 6-7 hours to set it up, and it can be a fairly physical job. The hard work certainly pays off when you see a packed, energetic dance floor for the entire Festival!
The Morden Corn & Apple Festival boasts Manitoba’s longest parade, and it takes a team to make sure all the parade entries know where to go and to keep other vehicles and people off of the parade route. Volunteers will receive instructions from our Parade committee co-chairpersons regarding what intersection they will be stationed at and any other information they will need.
For the first time ever, we are able to provide an accessible parking lot this year. We are excited that those that need to park close to the Festival will have a convenient place to do so. As with anything new, we need volunteers to help out. The role of this volunteer position is to ensure that all vehicles that enter the accessible lot have the appropriate signage/documentation, and to let visitors know when the lot is full.
In order to keep everyone as safe as possible, we cover cords and hoses with large rubber mats. These mats get delivered downtown on pallets and need to be set up around the Festival. This can be somewhat labour-intensive as the rubber mats are fairly heavy.
When vendor setup begins, we need someone who is capable of handling a fast-paced and sometimes chaotic environment. You will work directly with our Street Space Chairperson to help ensure vendor setup runs smoothly and efficiently.
Your responsibilities will include monitoring and managing the intersections assigned to you, ensuring they remain clear, organized, and under control at all times during setup operations.
This is a very straightforward role. You will be assisting with the setup of fencing around the Morden Activity Centre, which serves as both our designated handicap parking area and backstage space for our bands and performers.
You will be assisting the Art Gallery coordinators with setting up activities and helping operate them within the Children’s Tent located at Confederation Park.
Please note that the times for cooking & handing out corn and handing out apple juice are:
