Embracing the Festival Spirit in Business

GUELPH MULTICULTURAL FESTIVAL 2024
June 7th to 9th at the Riverside Park

Picture - our booth

A few months ago, a student/friend asked me if FDComm would like to participate in the Guelph District Multicultural Festival (GDMF). The GDMF board wanted to try out something different, and invited us to rent a booth during the event. It had been several years since I had gone to the festival, and a few more since FDComm participated in the event - our last performance being in 2013 (video below from GDMF 2007).

I was a little bit apprehensive about participating, but decided to give it a try. As a dance community, we had once tried renting a booth at a local festival in the hopes of connecting with different people from our community. That did not go so well. I, and several dancers from our studio were ignored all day, all weekend. That weekend, I learned that that was not our ideal audience. The attendees to the festival were very nice people, but were interested in the one item the festival specialized in offering - lots and lots of yummy Ribs. It was a tasty yet painful business lesson, lol.

Last Friday afternoon as I put together and loaded up the car with what I needed for the festival, a deja vu feeling fell over me; this feels familiar. Many many moons ago while still a part-time student at UOG, a friend and I went into the business of selling African arts and crafts at the local farmers market/s - Guelph Famers Market, then the Fergus Farmers Market (that no longer exists). As the business got more and more orders, we decided to attend bigger and bigger markets, as well as festivals. During our 2nd summer of running the business, we participated in the biggest festival for us at that time, the Canada Day Friendship Festival in Fort Erie. The festival advertised that 50,000 plus attendees would be at the festival. So we prepared, ordered our biggest order with the dreams of selling all our inventory.

Since we did not have enough money to rent a motel room, my friend and I slept in the van we had rented out. That was a new experience for me. With very little sleep all weekend and our bodies aching everywhere, we talked to lots and lots of people all weekend, all loving our wares, but few buying. In the end, we did sell the most amount we had ever done in one event, but that did not make a dent in our large inventory. Another business lesson learned, do not sell high end gift-able products outdoors, in the middle of summer, and to an audience ready to PAAARRTY while drinking themselves silly, ouch! The food vendors did great, and I wondered, am I in the wrong business? More research would have helped, but Google had just been founded the previous year and did not exist in my world.

This past weekend, those memories flooded my brain as I prepared for the GDMF. It was a surprise remembering these experiences in my life, that I had completly forgotten about. A skill set I enjoyed rediscovering.

At the GDMF ’24, we offered free line dancing lessons at our booth, while sharing with everyone about our summer dance activities; FDFest ’24, Moonlight Dancing ’24, plus our fall dance classes. I had one volunteer on each full day of the festival - I did not want to commit too many student-volunteer-hours without knowing what kind of reception we would receive. Trust me, being ignored isn’t fun, especially when doing something you enjoy and is supposedly fun.

This time around, despite it being a rainy, windy and cold weekend in June, I had a great time at the Guelph Multicultural Festival. The organizers did an amazing job putting together a great event. Remix Swing and FDComm and had our booths side by side. We enjoyed meeting, and dancing to the few people braved the weather all weekend. My family got to enjoy the music by the local orchestra on Saturday morning, and I reconnected with friends I had not seen in many years. Unfortunately, because of the rain & wind, no one attended the free line dance lessons, but we did dance in the rain.

Note: Thankfully, the weather gods had decided the wind would blow in a southwest direction. If they blew in the opposite direction, none of the performances on stage would have happened.

My hope is to attend the GDMF again next year. Since I now know what to expect, I will ask more of our students to participate in GDMF 2025 - during their 39th year. Thank you again to Lori and Cinthuja for first inviting us, then supporting us during the event. An extra big thank you and hug to the FDComm volunteers Joanne and Aga. We hope for better weather next year!

CELEBRATING FATHER’S DAY WITH DANCE | Sunday, June 16th
25% OFF Fall Group & Private Dance Lessons

Celebrating all the dad’s and potential dad’s out there! Happy Father’s Day Dance Sale.

Some Details Of the Sale:
- The coupon is available from today, Tuesday June 4th to Sunday, June 16th.
- Only 20 Passes are available for purchase
- Classes VALID from September 2024 to June 2025
- Discount applies to:
• Dance Levels 1 to 4 in Salsa and Bachata Dancing
• Dance Level 1 & 2 in West Coast Swing
• Private Dance Lessons | one-on-one

OUTDOOR - DANCE-VENTURES
Moonlight Dancing | Week 2 - June ‘24

Moonlight Dancing will be FREE for everyone’s 1st time this year!

BALLROOM TUESDAYS - TONIGHT! Tuesday, June 11th, 2024

• June 11th – West Coast Swing Dancing | Instructor: Mikaela Lewis
• June 18th – Rumba Dancing | Instructor: Eva

LATIN THURSDAYS - THIS Thursday, June 13th, 2024

• June 13th – Bachata Dancing | Instructor: Rebecca
• June 20th – Salsa Dancing | Instructor: Nemanja

OUTDOOR - DANCE-VENTURES
Where Can I Dance Outdoors This Summer?

Video | What is Liquid Lead??

The Flying Dance Festival (FDFest) 2024

New This Year: Bachata/Kizomba Social from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM

Schedule:
2:00 pm to 5:00 pm - Dance Workshops (2 Dance Floors)
5:00 pm to 6:00 pm - Performances
6:00 pm to 9:00 pm - Live Salsa Music & Social Dancing (Inside Mill)
6:00 pm to 9:00 pm - Bachata & Kizomba Social Dancing (Outside Mill)

DANCE-VENTURES With The FDComm
Where Can I Dance This week? 

• Our Next Theme Dance Party
• First Friday in July ‘24: Follows Friday (FNSF) in Guelph