Tish Owen - Chasing The Rainbow: Facilitating A Pagan Festival Without Losing Your Mind

Facilitating a Pagan Festival

Without Losing Your Mind

Copyright 2007 by TishOwen

All rightsreserved.

ISBN-13: 978-1-4524-9530-9

Cover Design Copyright 2007 Johnathan Minton

Cover Photo Copyright 2007On The Edge Photography

Interior Photos courtesy ofPUF attendees, staff and On The Edge Photography

PLEASENOTE : Neither the author nor the publisherof this book can be held liable or responsible in any mannerwhatsoever for any injury that may occur through following theinstructions contained herein. Any Internet references and/orwebsites noted in this work are current at publication time, butthe publisher cannot in any way guarantee that a specific link,website, or location will continue to be maintained. Please referto the publishers website for links to authors websites and othersources.

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For information contact:WillowTree Press on the World Wide Web http://www.willowtreepress.com

WillowTree Press Electronic Edition 2010

~ CONTENTS ~

Why?

Not enough medication

You mean I get to pick?

Ask and ye shall receive.

Who you gonna call?

How anal-retentive are you?

Do not try this at home!

If you build it, they wont come, unlessthey know about it.

Dont guess whos coming to dinner.

It takes a village and then some.

Here be dragons.

Cool things to buy!

Directions! What a concept!

Seating for 200, please.

Murder is illegal.

Hammers, saws and drain cleaner

Dont leave home without it.

Measure twice, cut once.

Yum! Yum!

Oh, my!

The drums, the drums, the drums!

Opportunity for cute cartoons

Warts and all

How to handle the authorities.

You want me to do what?

KISS

We dont need no stinkin' rules!

Once upon a time

Pack a bag. We are going to thefestival!

Twenty-five rules for a festivalorganizer

~

This is dedicated to all you tireless, sleepdeprived, caffeine-cranked, bug bitten, sunburned, insane peoplewho run festivals for the Pagan folk in this world. You have atremendous amount of intestinal fortitude, an amazing work ethicand a genuine caring for the community at large. Plus, you are nutsand should probably be in a home somewhere for most of theyear.

For those of you who have never done it,please know that running a festival is not about making a lot ofmoney. Most don't. Most organizers are very happy to break even andconsider an event to be successful if there are only a few dollarsleft over at the end of the weekend. Hell, some of us consider anevent to be successful if it only loses a little bit of money. Ourfirst festival went into the hole by $4.00. Before you complainabout how much money a festival admission costs, consider what wentinto that festival. Even toilet paper is not cheap these days.

Running a festival is not about being theBig-Nose Witch. If that is your motivation, put the book down andgo be a rock star. It is hard to feel self-important when you areunstopping a toilet at 3 A.M. To further take the wind out of yoursails, add into the mix the number of people who come to youconstantly over the course of the festival to bitch at you. Theywill happily tell you about all your shortcomings and all of thethings you did wrong and all of the things that you do not do. Theywill even look you up after the festival and dump on you a littlemore. Not good for the old ego. But it does service to keep thehead-swelling at a minimum.

Running a festival is not about looking goodand floating around the site in a shimmering, gossamer ritual garboutfit, looking like something off an episode of Charmed.Usually you are wearing cut-offs, a tee shirt and a silly hat. Oris that only me? Anyway, usually you look like hammered dammitbecause you have not had sleep in three days and your nose ispeeling from the sunburn. (Where did you pack that sunscreen?) Youare lucky if you remember or have time to brush your teeth eachmorning of festival. Yeah, you are looking good, baby.

Unless you have ever organized a festival,you dont understand all the shifting, changing, adjustments andhourly nervous breakdowns that go into it. You have no idea of thecountless hours of work, worry, shopping, cooking, organizing,sweating over money and people herding that it entails. What makesit even harder is that the people you are herding are Pagans. Thatis a lot like herding cats or trying to nail Jell-O to a tree. Ittakes real dedication and perseverance and sometimes a psychoticbreak with reality to achieve.

If you love going to festivals, the nexttime before you leave site, pick up some trash, help load a van andtake a moment to thank the folks who worked so hard to provide theweekend for you. Believe me that every Thank-you that a festivalorganizer gets fills us with joy and satisfaction. Every What agreat time we had makes us remember why we do what we do. Andevery I can't wait till next year brings tears to our eyes. I amnot kidding, nor am I being sappyokay, maybe a little sappy. It ishard work, and most folks who run festivals do not sleep the weekbefore or during the festival and spend countless hours putting outfires, real ones and otherwise. When we lay down at night (orusually in the wee hours of the morning), we are so wired we cantsleep. Sometimes when we are in the thick of it, we don't realizehow well it is going and how much fun is being had. So, pat yourlocal festival organizer on the head; they deserve it. They areprobably the hardest working folks you will ever meet. Pardon theshameless self-promotion, but festival organizers need lovetoo.

In light of all that, why the hell do we doit? For the community. No really, quit laughing, I mean it. Thatreally is why. So that the Pagan community will have someplace thatis safe and neutral where they may come together. So that Paganswill get the opportunity to see Pagan authors in their local areaand not have to drive several hundred miles or pay a fortune to doso. So that solitaries and newbies will have a place to learn somehands-on stuff and not just have to learn from books. So that 100or 200 or 500 Pagans of different trads and paths and clans andcovens and groves can come together and stand inside sacred spaceand blend their energies with each other and the powers that be. Sothat those same Pagans can come to know each other, to exchangeideas and have conversations with folks that walk a very differentpath, and each person can develop an understanding of the other. Sothat we can learn to work together. So that we can learn to loveone another. So that we can understand that we must support oneanother. So that we can know that in times of trial we will lift upone another. So that we can finally understand that, no matter whatour differences are, our samenesses are what really matter. (Wow, Ihave broken out in a sweat! Can I get a hallelujah?)

Add into the tally for doing this madnessthis little fact: for every person who bitches about something (andthe list is endless and sometimes insane), there are fifty thatpraise all the hard work. Pagans are not shy about it either; theycome to you and tell you what a good time they had, they slap youon the back and brag on you. That makes it worth all the work.Damn, we work hard for praise!