Stewarding

Stewarding is an important aspect of any event and is a great way for people with a range of skills to actively participate in the festival. Girvan has been fortunate in that many of its attendees include organisers with a lot of experience, many of them ‘mucking in’ to help the event run smoothly.

Stewarding needs to be efficient and friendly – but above all it has to be friendly. Stewards are the first point of contact for any new person coming to the festival – and the answers to most questions has to be along the lines of “yes” or “we can sort that for you” or “we can help with that”.

Over the years Girvan has been friendly in specific ways according to need. We have always been ‘family friendly’ and ‘child friendly’, particularly during a time when many of the people attending, including the organisers, had young families. This ‘friendliness’ translated in practical ways, such as in some events where children were expected to be part of the audience, and others, such as our main evening concerts where we had professional carers in place to provide creche facilities for children.

Times change, and as well as still catering for children, many of us have friends or family who suffer from dementia. We are still exploring what it might mean for the event to be ‘dementia friendly’ – but it might mean stewards and audience being aware of some behaviour issue, or it might even extend to providing a carer who might take someone out for a walk whilst a partner or friend is enjoying a concert.

We need people with people friendly skills to help us with running the festival over the weekend. If you think that you can participate in this way please contact us.