Edinburgh Gardens 2019 Programming Opportunity

The Village Festival is looking for a kick-arse energetic team to program The Village Festival in Edinburgh Gardens.

The Village Festival in Edinburgh Gardens is an annual institution and a wonderful meeting place for Melbourne’s artistic community. The festival is fundamentally an experimental artistic playground in which new work, new collaborations and new artforms are explored.

After thirteen incarnations, the festival took a break in 2018. Now in 2019, there is an opportunity for an enthusiastic programming team to re-imagine the festival and create it in their own image.

You will have the backing of The Village Festival’s experienced team; you will be supported and empowered to create the festival the way you want it to be. You set the vision, and the Village team will assist with administration, marketing, production and logistics.

This is your chance to step up and make your mark on a festival that is already successful (10 000 audience members in 2017). Through this opportunity, you will become more connected and curious, more elated and exhausted.

Applications are due 20 June 2019
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What we are looking for

We welcome submissions from anyone. However, we think if you have these attributes, you will be more likely to succeed.

Sympathetic to the core Village philosophy
A love for unconventional arts practice
Detailed knowledge and myriad connections to Melbourne’s arts scene
- particularly the inner north
- particularly young / emerging artists
- You may have expertise in one artform (to be complemented by other team members)
Collaboration in your DNA
A DIY attitude
Demonstrate that you can “own” a task from conception to delivery
An interest in other elements of festival delivery will be an advantage; for example food, catering, marketing, sponsorship, production management, sound and lights

We will accept submissions from individuals, small groups or complete teams. Whilst we are flexible, we imagine that the festival will be programmed by a team of four people.

Programming Scale & Scope

We are deliberately looking for new creative energy and actively seek re-invention of this festival.

Ultimately the task of the programming team is to deliver a full, documented and confirmed festival program five weeks prior to the event.

Here are the mandatory elements:

Delivered within the dates Friday 25 to Sunday 27 October 2019
1. NB the festival doesn’t necessarily need to run for all of this period. It is expected to have afternoon and evening sessions. Assume midnight Friday and Saturday as the latest possible opening hours.
Delivered at Edinburgh Gardens, North Fitzroy
1. Historically has been delivered near St. Georges Rd near rotunda. Changes to this would need to be agreed to by City of Yarra.
The Village Festival will run a bar(s) and will hold a liquor license for the event.
1. The event zone will be fenced
A variety of licensed food providers (the programming team can contribute to this but don’t need to)
The event is inclusive of everyone
1. There will need to be a variety of programming to appeal to different age groups including children and families
2. The festival needs to feature a variety of cultures
The festival needs to be intimate and should have a maximum of 1500 audience members at any one time
There should be multiple and diverse artistic activities going on at any moment (although not necessarily during “peak events”)
There should be multiple opportunities for festival-goers to explore their own creativity
Backstage is an inviting space for artists to relax, get something to eat and connect
Programs that are the subject of funding applications currently under consideration (if the applications are successful)

Payment and Budget

The 2019 Edinburgh Gardens Festival has funding and in-kind support from City of Yarra. We missed out on some funding opportunities and there are other funding applications currently under consideration. As the festival is not flush with funds, the attitude needs to be one of creative frugality. The programming team will need to make all decisions with an eye on budget. You need to be comfortable asking artists to be part of the festival for limited funds.

The budget for the programming team is $7 000. This is calculated on an assumption that four people will each work five hours a week for 14 weeks at an hourly rate of $25. This opportunity will appeal to those who see beyond the dollars.

Programming budget will be ~$22 000, and potentially more if funding applications are successful

You will be expected to participate enthusiastically in a crowdfunding / private giving campaign in which we need to raise $10 000. A result in excess of give scope for increasing the programming budget and fees for the programming team. A result of less than that will impact the scale and scope of the festival.

There will be a paid crew that will build and dismantle the festival to your specification.

Beyond that, production budget is ~$36 000, although a lot of this is taken up with mandatory expenditure. This figure includes catering, materials, transport, fencing, toilets, infrastructure, compliance, sound & lights, security and travel.

There is a marketing budget of ~$6 000. The programming team can contribute to the marketing strategy and activities.

In summary:

Programming Team Fee: $7 000
Program: $22 000
Build and Event Crew: $14 500
Production: $36 000
Marketing: $6 000

Assist in raising $10 000 through crowdfunding and/or other sources

Employment Terms

The programming team will be engaged as contractors to The Village Festival of New Performance. You will be welcome to work at The Village co-working office in St. Kilda, but you will largely determine when and where you work; some weeks you may work full-time, and some weeks not at all. You will need to provide your own computer and phone. You are expected to attend the whole of the festival.

You will report to Suzanne Kalk, Village Festival Artistic Director.

You will have close working relationships with Festival Director Stuart Vaskess and General Manager Ariel Valent, along with other staff and interns.

You will be expected to attend meetings on a regular basis; you will be given structured support to give your endeavours, and the festival as a whole, the best chance of success.

Whilst we can’t make any promises, we are hoping that this team will take the Edinburgh Gardens festival into the future beyond 2019, and potentially get involved in other Village Festival projects too. We will further support this team with their career ambitions by facilitating connections and providing advice.

Application Process

Please complete our on-line application process.

Applications are due Thursday 20 June, 11.59pm EST

You can apply as an individual or a team. Please note that every individual interested in the opportunity should complete a form separately. However, if you are applying as a team, they will be considered as a consolidated application.

It is best that you complete the form in one sitting. However, once submitted, you can edit the form if you take note of the url.

The main questions you will need to answer (up to 150 words each) are:

What is your vision for the 2019 Village Festival in Edinburgh Gardens?
What knowledge, skills and personal attributes will you bring to the programming team?
Beyond programming, what other skills and interests do you have?
Please provide examples of relevant projects you’ve worked on.
What other skills or knowledge would be required to complement you in the team?
What is your collaborating style?
What would you most like to get from this opportunity?

Enquiries

If you have fully read this brief and have queries, please contact Village Festival General Manager Ariel Valent on ariel@thevillagefestival.com.au or 0414 367 300 (Mondays or Fridays preferred).