Throughout our years, our friends, partners and families have volunteered their time to make Vines Art Festival happen. As we have grown, more people have expressed interest in volunteering their time and skills in recognition of our constant work to support marginalized communities. Being a team of mostly multiply marginalized people, we are always grateful for the labour we are offered.
Detailed information about our activities and needs are below. If you would like to help us make our festival and other programming happen, please fill out the form at the end of this page and share it with your generous friends.
Please note that high school volunteers and volunteers under the age of 18 can apply to volunteer for the Art Festival ONLY and are required to sign a waiver. We are able to provide letters verifying volunteer hours for highschool volunteer requirements.
Our main event. Happens yearly during the first two weeks of August at different public parks and beaches across the city of Vancouver. Due to the daily change of location, we need assistance with set-up and take-down of sound systems, tents, chairs, etc. Some of these items are heavier than others, but we will not ask you to lift loads heavier than you can handle. In addition, we need people who are comfortable aiding festival audiences and artists. Answering questions at our info booth, distributing food and wayfinding are the most common social interactions at the festival. Our full schedule will be sent out in June/July for volunteer sign up. Perks of festival volunteering include witnessing live performances and eating catered food.
When we aren’t running a two week festival we are doing outdoor concerts, workshops, or even gallery shows. These usually happen on weekday evenings and on weekends between September and June. We will reach out to volunteers a few times a year with off-season event volunteer opportunities.
This program provides artists and community members with holistic support without the bureaucracy in other institutions. Through this program we give people peer to peer help in anything they may need to meet their essential physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs. We are always looking for people who have something to offer to our community, like help with grant applications, car rides, workshops, resume writing, sound editing, and more.
We support X̱wemelch’stn pen̓em̓áy – Harmony Garden which is located on the Capilano reserve in North Vancouver. We support them with funding, organizing and lots of digging! If you enjoy gardening you may want to support Harmony Garden when we organize work parties – weeding, planting, building, watering and more. It is possible to get to the garden on transit, but it is challenging. We recommend rideshares when possible.
We are active beyond regular organizational activities. We stand in solidarity with the Downtown Eastside, tent city, Black, Indigenous and immigrant justice movements. When need arises, we may be seen bringing supplies and bodies to camps, rallies, and blockades. If you have been wanting to support direct action and community led efforts for liberation but aren’t sure how to get involved, come along with us! Grassroots movements can always benefit from more allyship. Need usually arises suddenly and is needed as soon as possible. We will contact you letting you know that need has arised. Help with driving Elders, community members, and supplies across the city is usually the need.
