How to Save the Fire and Flow Festivals

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The fire and flow festivals declined in attendance and popularity in the latter half of the 2010s--is there any way to bring them back to prominence? I think so! In this video I outline several proposals that I think could make enormous differences in improving the experiences of flow festival attendees and appeal to newer artists as well. Some involve very radical shifts from the current paradigm, but I think such changes are going to be necessary to keep the festivals an essential part of flow culture going forward into the future!
Check out other videos I've done on the flow and fire festivals:
#FlowFestivals #FestivalSeason #FlowArtsCulture
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A huge thank you to this month's Flow Supporters:
Lane Lillquist
Ky Lee
Pleiadian_Lights
Mike Pierce
BJ ✨
Samantha Ponga
Daniel Popescu
Clayton Burke
Ben Reynolds
Rachel Weber
William Pearson
Michael LaHood
John Gruber
Kathleen Griswold
Achille Brighton
Kimmie Cherry
Christina S
Yuna Kim
Willem Olding
Daewyn Harrison
Catherine Hackett-Brooks
Kourtney Hunsader
Sean Connell
Dom
Matt
Maxim Fateev
Ma Li
Samuel Cabrera
Carmen
Will
Ralph Furman
Brandi Hine
Mikey
Deon Fox
Kathleen
Marco Del Rosario
Melissa Igyarto
Nancy L.
Tyrone Phillips
Spyro Wilburn
Luke Wuertemberger
Matthieu Miller
Kathryn White
Liene Verzemnieks
Austin
Adrian de Leon
Alon Cohen
Christoph Mau
crackinthekraken
Alison Keroack
Cameron Olguin
Jennifer Packard
Vitaly Gashpar
Zachary Stephens
Jordan Aguirre
Pamela Newham
Christaff
Skyler G
Ollivander Wheeler
blake kennedy
Angie Watson
Tina McDonald
Sarah G
Jason Kupski
JF
Carys Matar
Austin Yo
Manuela Bellydance
Rachelle Bassen
Phlip Purple
Jessica Nunno
Hannah Boler
Zach Sanders
Fabiano Eccel
Stephan Scheiderer
Sarah H.
Anna
Mindi Luke
Megan Thompson
Anna Nguyen
Peter Lynch
Kenny Nham
Dean Ritts
David Diaz
Paul Kim
Elizabeth Ellis
Pleiadian_Lights
'@whistlepunk.labs
Brian Huddleston
Nate Techlin
Patricia Lee
Christian
Jay
Eric Montijo
Randall Morgan
geoff
Dan Sulfaro
Yvonne Harlacher
Alexey Gilman
Dana Ma
Bloodsong
Jim Martin
Alex Ciminian
Kate Farah
skrullqueen
Siryn
ana mc
Aaron Freeman
Steffi
Mike Pierce
Alfred Blackman III
Desert
Hailey
Matthew Riordan
Debi filkins
May
Lexi Nichelle
Lunaris
S Jones
jimid
Auron Wyse
Rejoy Marsella
Aleksander Poppe
Finn Bell
Laura Conner
Arlene Smith
Flow Mayhem
Scott Coley
Jeremiah Johnston
Parmita Dalal
Kali Marie Hill
Stephglo
Kelly King
Alexis
Russell Paac
Sterling Bishop
Jameel Alsalam
Mr Mom
Minas S

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Опубликовано:

30 апр 2022

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Комментарии : 33

@Firefaerose 2 года назад

This hits home as a instructor and performer. Early on in performing and people requesting workshops to learn from me, I became painfully aware of these structures (I hadn't attended flow events before) and couldn't justify time away from work, to then put out more work at a festival for free just to teach. Never made sense and as time went on and experiences were gained, this became down right insulting to consider. Flow fests also projected a sort of clique of teachers who, if you weren't them, you weren't going to be "selected" or voted to teach. Almost a competition of who was more publicly recognized enough to obtain these coveted slots to teach for free (or close to it) regardless of skills or need for variety. Having taught at only one flow event, it was for people I know and respect who did what they could to atleast show they were trying to pay their instructors for their time even if their event was small. That effort and the genuine respect to try goes a long way imo. I hope more events take your suggestions to heart ❤️

@mr_dabble 2 года назад

Hey drex! I shot you a message a few months back, i would like to organize a flow festival in chicago. I agree with many of the concepts you describe and i came to you because i know you have more experience in this space than i do. I am an ambitious creature and would love to create a space where all the flow people can come together. We have some flow drum circles but i would love to organize something bigger! Thanks for all the inspiration

@hashtagcircus5980 2 года назад

Chicago here-Midwest flow festival is in Chicago ;)

@FlowFests 2 года назад

Thank you!! YES, MIDWEST FLOW FEST happens at PING TOM MEMORIAL PARK in September, since 2017. Flowfests.com for info!

@mr_dabble 2 года назад

@@hashtagcircus5980 holla! Where can i find info for events?

@DrexFactor 2 года назад

I am a fan of ambition in the flow community! I'm not sure how many events you've attended thus far, but would strongly recommend going to a couple of the current flow festivals to get a feel for what you think works and what doesn't (it looks like Midwest Flow Fest is in your neck of the woods!). It's definitely a big leap to go from organizing a drum circle to doing a flow festivals but I would certainly love to see more options out there and more people experimenting with the format!

@bekahlynn3270 2 года назад

I attended several festivals over two seasons and I definitely agree that I experienced festivals with the same instructors as well as the same attendees. I got to a point where the instructor line-ups were not motivating to me. I want to learn different skills. I want to meet new people. I think there are some festivals that have a “go big or go home” type of philosophy. They want a huge crowd, massive number of classes, art installations, burn circles… they try to do everything with very little money, no experience, and far too few employees (volunteers). When this happens, there are problems everywhere. I think it would be better to do less, but do those things well. I feel strongly about paying for work. Some festivals take advantage of their instructors and volunteers. Extremely talented flow arts that are living paycheck to paycheck should never be asked to lose money to teach at a festival. Child care, travel costs, lost wages… should all be considered. Everyone’s situation is different and it enrages me to know that poverty is keeping people out of this part of the community. Volunteers need to be treated like volunteers. Feed them and keep their shifts short and manageable.

@noslowerdna 2 года назад

Event organization is difficult. As always appreciate your enthusiasm and insights.

@DrexFactor 2 года назад

It definitely is! Organizing live events is one of the riskiest kinds of business out there and believe me, I can totally understand why the current business model has been more or less locked in place for a decade and a half. When you've got something that at least kind of works, it's a lot safer to stick to that than it is to try new things, even when you see numbers start to drop. I think there will always be an audience for this old model but I think it will continue to shrink year after year and I'm not sure where the bottom of that decline will wind up being. I also think there's potential for a much larger market out there if people should be willing to experiment and try new ways to appeal to both older and newer flow artists, too. The post-COVID world is one we're all working to navigate, so we'll see how this shapes out!

@ruttonoise69 2 года назад

is what you are describing a US phenomenon? To my knowledge and experience, the scene in Europe got massively hit Covid (read: 2 missed Phoenix Conventions) but other than that, it feels like the community and quality of the events is just getting better and better. There are events that cost 300€ for a weekend, and others that go for 50€. Other than uncontrollable factors like weather, I've hardly ever heard of a "bad" flow festival. Maybe I'm just blind and ignorant!

@DrexFactor 2 года назад

Short answer: I don't know! I haven't hit up a European festival now in over a decade and I have no visibility on what attendance numbers have looked like in that time. Any European organizers out there care to share this info?

@omerlewy 2 года назад

@@DrexFactor maybe Christian is the person to talk to. As EJC is hosted each year in a different place and with a different team. Phoenix is maybe the other great European flow event to consider. I can see for IJC that people were willing to keep their already paid tickets on hold for 2 years so they'd have a ticket I place for this year's IJC. IJC was probably the same size as before. But our viewpoint is pretty different than American events as most of the workshops are volunteer based and only a few are by invited guests in two levels - Gala participants and final show/workshop guest participants. Gala show participants are about 10-12 guests scouted by us and invited to participate in the event with main goal - give their best performance in the big gala show. They will be fully compensated for flights, meals, and get stipend. The other final show/workshop guests might not have a show that is good enough for the Gala, or it might be that the gala is already planned and they might still want to come. So this is BI-directional and they don't get fully compensated but get some money which may or may not cover their expanses fully or partly. Some of them might have really nice teaching skills or interesting workshops. Everyone else is a volunteer, including the team of organizers.

@azurefeline 2 года назад

Happy to chat here as a fairly large festival organiser- from my pov we do not have the same issues, and European festivals are still growing. I panelled recently with US flow festivals and was amazed at how we view things differently, specifically on inclusion.

@omerlewy 2 года назад

@@azurefeline ohh sorry Rob, I wasn't sure if play was on hold or not happening anymore. That's the only reason I didn't suggest you as a great source about European events

@FlowFests 2 года назад

Hey thanks for your insight! I know that our events are a DIFFERENT model than what you are describing here... But I found some elements of value for our events and I'm really grateful for your insight! I agree WHOLE HEARTEDLY that we can do and be better! Thanks for your "modest proposals" ;)

@DrexFactor 2 года назад

Agreed...Flow Fests is definitely an outlier for this model and I think there are already some areas of this y'all are doing. Thanks for watching and listening anyway and I'm excited to see how some of these ideas inspire you!

@Ava_The_Avatar 2 года назад

I never went to a flowfest and from your videos i am hoping it will change soon

@carltor3107 2 года назад

Throw your own flow fest bro

@Pyroterra 2 года назад

Drex you are rigt. Here in EU the festivals we visit are always professional paid festivals - people have their work paid as well the teachers etc. I think the era "work for free" on flow festivals is done... Of course you don't do this for money, but your time needs to be paid to stay and work each year with commitment on the festival. Martin from Pyroterra

@TavernScoundrel 2 года назад

are you coming to fire drums?

@saltlight-journey5989 2 года назад

Hi drex good day where I can buy a poi in U.S?

@DrexFactor 2 года назад

Hi! Here are some prop vendors I'd recommend: For contact poi, hit up Lanternsmith at lanternsmith.com and use the code "drexfact0r" to get a discount at checkout. For podpoi (which are great all-around poi for both people starting their journey, partner poi, and for trying out new things with low-impact LED poi), head to Flowtoys at flowtoys.com and use the code "dr3xfact0r2022" for a discount. For LED contact poi and glowstick-like poi, I recommend Ultrapoi. You can grab sets of both Orb Poi and Helix Poi over at ultrapoi.com and use the code "drexfact0r" for a discount there. I don't currently have a preferred set of fire poi, but have sets by Dark Monk, Juggling Calling, and Crispy Clowns that I spin with currently.

@sserf463 2 года назад

👍

@quackerduck17 2 года назад

You're drscribing Burning Man principles! Have you ever been to a Burning Man event? (Not necessarily the main one, there are others) Plenty of poi people there, me included!

@carltor3107 2 года назад

The world is bigger than BM...

@omerlewy 2 года назад

He has been to several events. He knows BM pretty well

@azhiazim 2 года назад

I think Drex hasnt thrown his own event, funded or organized one. If things worked the way youd like it to, then there still would be pisspoor events, and yours could be in that category but you havent thrown one. You cant make everybody happy all the time bud, and you act as if people have lots of money to hire some kind of proffesional force, meal plans, cabins, add more value? Let see a drex factor funding page for any of this and donate to an event your biased decisions say is the best and maybe youll have a little traction on "how things should be". And yes, i helped put on all five years with Univerasal Flow Gathering and most the pitfalls with throwing events you completely missed.

@DrexFactor 2 года назад

I was a director at FLAME Festival for 8 years. Yes, I've clearly never ever thrown or organized an event or even came in hundreds of dollars under budget for my department during my final year with the event. /s Based upon the resistance and learned helplessness I'm seeing from many festival organizers, though, I really am tempted to just throw my own if for no other reason than to show how much of the bellyaching about change is more about fear than it actually is about business.

@azhiazim 2 года назад

@@DrexFactor well I apologize for my ignorance on your experience in the festival scene. But I remember you never even replied to us the three years we did try to get you going to be an instructor. But the real issue with most these events is exactly what you're griping about, the fact that you were paid hundreds of dollars under your department or what you think you should have been paid. That's when it's obviously not about fear but about business, and it even comes down to people's egos they like to stroke and feed to fill one of these events you're going to need a lot of volunteers because there's no way you can Finance the amount of people it takes to build setup breakdown, pay your instructors, pay your DJ's artist producers or whoever you have playing oh, and that's not even including your vendors, your security your organizers with stagehand, porta potties cleanup Crews permits the list goes on. And to top it off if you're expecting all those things to be professional or a top-tier level of standard that you have to screen and then check on throughout the event on you're going to be sorely disappointed. Not only does it become extremely expensive to put your own event on but to be able to keep it under control as well as to a level a standard that you would like, as well as your attendees instructors artist Etc, would like, your going to to fail. You cant make everyone happy all the time. There's so many more things to mention that could go wrong cause mishaps or inevitably make somebody unhappy. And 2 time all this to go along with the schedules of your attendees, instructors, workers, musicians, artist, with the weather as well as the festival seasons schedules, extremely hard to do and make it at keast make your money back. And thats not paying most workers, so volunteers are inevitable and theyre wild cards as well. But the main reason why festivals or events dont work, s because of finances and the people who decide to put it on not having an agreed upon common goal. Thats the core reason, and catalyst for things to start going wrong. If you have the skills, ability and finances to prove my theory wrong, ive yet to see it and challenge you to do so. My apologies for my lack of knowledge again, on your service to the community in the directors position of an event. But that one position is not nearly enough experience, 8, 9 or 10yrs of working one roll at an event in my eyes doesnt give someone the window to wide spread "how to save" our scene or inherent them to label "what went wrong" to the masses. This is a good subject after you prove yourself in doing so or at least try to throw your own, but until then its just a biased video of an unhappy attendee or instructor who doesnt have all their feelings wants and needs catered too, so they shame everyone's event but choice few.

@RichardHartnell 2 года назад

@@azhiazim Please attend more circus events than UFG and whatever other regionals. The events you seek, ones that pay decently and don't suck, are out there and have been running for years.

@azhiazim 2 года назад

@@RichardHartnell ive been attending firedrums, OJF, and equilibrium for years(6 at firedrums alone )and helped put on, in my opinion, one of the best flow events ive personally been to as well as heard any apositive feedback about. .And i worked it 5yrs strong for free for the love of it. But i dont see how your comment pertains to me. Im not looking to help or throw another FLow event, nor do i need help finding gigs to make money and havent asked.

@azhiazim 2 года назад

@@RichardHartnell I remember how your workshops didnt go well year 4 or 5 because of the wind factor. Your a prime example of something i had stated giving people an issue because of weather. The date change made it hard for all jugglers and aerial performers.