Volunteer recruitment for Gainesville’s 33rd Downtown Festival and Art Show has officially begun.
The annual event is scheduled for the weekend of Nov. 8.
The festival is in need of volunteers in two different areas: the Children’s Imagination Station and the Junior Firefighting Challenge, said Linda Piper, event coordinator for the City of Gainesville Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Department.
The Children’s Imagination Station is a free, hands-on art activity for kids to channel their creativity using various mediums, Piper said.
“There’s everything from hat making and mask making, beadwork where you can make necklaces and bracelets, even puppet making,” Piper said.
At the Junior Firefighting Challenge, presented by the City of Gainesville Fire Rescue team, children will earn their badges and become honorary firefighters.
Positions working alongside the artists and helping with event coordination have already been filled, and the other positions will likely be taken within the next two weeks.
Shifts run for four hours and are unpaid, but Piper said volunteers will be given a free commemorative T-shirt.
Drew Daehne, a 21-year-old UF English junior, said he’d be interested in volunteering.
“Volunteering is an opportunity for personal and community growth and a chance for a free T-shirt,” Daehne said. “It’s definitely important.”
[A version of this story ran on page 8 on 9/3/2014 under the headline "Downtown Festival and Art Show actively seeking volunteers"]
Performers Bethany Chase, in the parrot suit, Elise Duran, 22, and Clay Cox entertain in the streets of downtown Gainesville during the 2012 Downtown Festival and Art Show. They are members of the Rainbow Tiger Circus.
