Edmonton International Street Performers Festival
Festival Director
Job Posting

The Edmonton International Street Performers Festival seeks a creative and innovative individual to fill the position of Festival Director. The Festival Directorship is an annual contract position, beginning March through to the end of July, reporting to the Executive Director.
The successful candidate will have a solid background in street performance and festival experience as well as outstanding interpersonal, administrative and managerial skills.

About Edmonton International Street Performers Festival (EISPFA)
The Edmonton International Street Performers Association (EISPFA) has proudly delighted audiences for 38 years on Treaty 6 Territory and the homeland of the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 4.

Our Vision
To be the leading street performance festival … one that artists want to perform at, audiences want to experience, and sponsors and funders want to support.

Our Mission
To contribute to the evolution of the international street performing tradition by promoting excellence, fostering the development of local, regional and international talent and ensuring the annual festival is accessible to the whole community.

EISPFA produces an annual 10-day festival in early July. The festival takes place in the heart of downtown Edmonton on Sir Winston Churchill Square. World-class street performing artists from around the globe along with our talented national, regional and local street performing artists are invited to perform at our annual 10-day festival.

The 2022 StreetFest will return to Sir Winston Churchill Square after being away from the Square since 2017 due to construction and COVID-19. Our return marks the 39th installment of our in-person festival.

Responsibilities of the Festival Director

The successful candidate will be responsible for the following:

• Work under the direction of the Executive Director to create the Festival artist roster with the goal to present a stellar array of artists to our audiences.
• Contact the roster of potential festival artists regarding interest and availability.
• Negotiate festival artist contracts, i.e. terms and conditions.
• Coordinate, execute and manage any work permits required by the Government of Canada for International artists.
• Facilitate and manage festival artist contract terms and conditions.
• Manage the festival artist budget as directed by the Executive Director.
• Provide the Executive Director an accurate festival artist budget status update, upon request.
• Schedule festival artist shows/roves/installations/Busker Academy/Kids World prior to and throughout the run of the Festival.
• Oversee festival artist shows/roves/installations/Busker Academy/Kids World throughout the run of the Festival.
• Staff and manage the Artist Technical Support Team, i.e. the Clippy Team.
• Facilitate a nurturing, collaborative, cooperative and positive experience for all festival attendees, e.g. artists, volunteers, sponsors, etc….
• Adhere to and enforce the EISPFA Safe and Respectful Workplace Policy.
• Work, in consultation with the Executive Director, to coordinate and manage festival artists for street performing skills workshops held during the run of the Festival.
• Work, in consultation with the Executive Director, to coordinate and manage Festival artists for Comedy Care visits during the run of the Festival.
• Work, in consultation with the Executive Director, to coordinate and manage Festival artists for other summer festival programming partnerships.
• Produce and submit a daily Festival Director report/log addressing Festival activities, including any incidents.
• Submit a Festival Director final report to the Executive Director at the close of the Festival.

Qualifications

The successful applicant’s résumé will support the following criteria:

• A BFA or equivalent Performing Arts or Arts Management diploma.
• A minimum five years’ experience in street performance or street performance festival management.
• Knowledge of the variety of street performance disciplines, i.e. acrobatics/contortions, clowning, and escapes, etc…
• Knowledge of the basic forms of street performance, i.e. circle shows, roving, live statues and other installations.
• Knowledge of the programs and activities offered by the Edmonton International Street Performer Festival.
• Knowledge of the local, regional, national and international street performing community.
• An understanding and appreciation of audiences in relation to street performance.

How to Apply

This is a contract position with compensation to be negotiated commensurate with experience of the successful individual.

The official start date is no later than March 14th, 2022.

Interested candidates are invited to send their résumé with a covering letter to:
Festival Director Search Committee
fdsearch@edmontonstreetfest.com

The deadline for receipt of applications is 11:59 p.m. MT, Friday, March 4th, 2022.

We thank all applicants in advance for their interest in EISPFA, however, only shortlisted applicants will be contacted for an interview.