Ushering

This is perhaps the most popular arena for student volunteers. Not only do ushers get in free to our shows (!) but ushers also come into immediate contact with our appreciative audiences. Yet it's not as easy at it looks. Crowd management definitely requires "people skills:" the discipline to "be there" when you're scheduled, the confidence to be courteous and helpful to strangers, and the ability to tell patrons to please put away that camera, refrain from talking during the show, or inform them where the restrooms are located!

Backstage Work

A lot of work goes into building our shows each season: sewing costumes, welding steel, gluing props, hammering nails, cutting fabric, moving the sets around and so much more. If you have skills in this area we can probably put you to work for short or long periods of time. All production tech work is conducted in our Allendale theatre shops located in the Performing Arts Center; and if you're a GVSU student, you can earn one semester credit for every 20 hours you devote to our various productions.

Production Assistance

A number of volunteers are needed each year to distribute our advertising materials on and off-campus, serve as rehearsal assistants, help out at our high school performances as hall monitors, or run our concessions at performances. For those wishing to give our Festival a little boost each season but who lack a lot of free time, these assignments are ideal and very much needed!

Festival Planning Committee

This committee is comprised of GVSU faculty and staff who are drawn from all areas of the campus, ensuring that Festival remains an interdisciplinary effort serving and involving the entire University. During the fall semester, our GVSF committee manages the events of the current season, and plans during the winter semester for the upcoming one. While the committee meets every three weeks year-round except during the summer, some committee members do work through the summer months and receive compensation for their additional time and service. Guiding our PR efforts, developing educational outreach in the local schools, managing student interns, establishing the budgets, arranging catering, developing fundraising strategies, and helping with recruitment are some of the tasks that our committee accomplishes each year to make the Festival happen.