Donate to Fund the Door County Folk Festival

Greetings Friends of Traditional & Contemporary Folk Dance, Music and Singing:

DCFF Requested Your Assistance to Reach the 2022 Fundraising Goal of $8,500 by November 30, 2022.

Current results:

Hello, I'm Paul Collins, director of the Door County Folk Festival (DCFF), a dance and music festival held annually in Northeast Wisconsin (1980-2019) – and held in the Virtual Dance Room since the pandemic (2020-2022) – (click here for DCFF website)

I’m also director of the Virtual Dance Room (VDR), formed at the onset of the pandemic to offer a safe, online forum where the International Folk Dance (IFD) community could continue celebrating traditional and contemporary folk dances and folk music of the world’s countries and ethnic groups – (click here for VDR website)

I’ve initiated this GoFundMe Campaign for the Door County Folk Festival (DCFF)

Here's how your donations will be used:

DCFF Audience

DCFF is reaching out to request support from various audiences who are passionate about honoring and sustaining America's diverse cultural heritages, including:

Donation Methods & Thankyous

You may donate online either publicly (sharing your name) or privately (anonymously) through our GoFundMe page:

You may donate offline by mailing a check (Payable to DCFF) to:

We ask you to leave comments (on the GFM page) describing your most memorable experience(s) at DCFF and to forward this GFM notice to friends and colleagues who might be willing and able to help.

No amount is too small or too large – we appreciate all donations.

We give thanks to all who donate.

Under the new terms and conditions of gofundme.com, no raffles, sweepstakes, giveaways, or promotions may be offered in exchange for any contributions made to a campaign.

More about DCFF and the GoFundMe Campaign below…

DCFF Background

2022 marks DCFF’s 43rd anniversary. The Door County Folk Festival was founded in 1980 by Gerhard Bernhard (Sister Bay, Wisconsin), assisted by Paul Collins (Chicago, Illinois). Gerhard and Paul became partners and co-directors in 1982, and the Festival was transformed into an extremely “user-friendly” extended weekend for dance and music. In some years, DCFF offered a variety of activities in multiple venues (Sister Bay, Ephriam, and Baileys Harbor) before moving most activities to Baileys Harbor Town Hall. DCFF has presented a variety of activities, including folk dance workshops, contra/square dance workshops, singing workshops, culture sessions, group discussions, the “DCFF Folk Dance Olympics”, concerts, pier walks, memorable dance parties with live and recorded music, silent auctions, etc.

Since the pandemic – DCFF 2020-2022

The pandemic disrupted the plans, schedules and finances of many of our favorite dance groups,weekend festivals, camps and workshops. I believe DCFF was the first weekend workshop to take the initiative to go online (July 10, 2020) after the pandemic’s onset. By that time, the VDR had produced over a dozen weekly Friday dances, and I had produced DCFF since 1980, so hosting a virtual DCFF seemed like a natural task for the VDR. Despite the high risk, we proceeded with the "big experiment", of a free event based solely on donations and we had a LOT to learn. The VDR hosted a second online DCFF (July 9-10, 2021).

The pandemic’s restrictions on group gatherings made us eager to return to in-person dancing, so at the end of 2021, we secured venue commitments for a 2022 in-person DCFF (July 28-31). However, in the spring, both venues changed policies to rent only to local Door County groups.

After many calls and emails, DCFF secured the only available summer dates at the Kress Pavilion in Egg Harbor, Wisconsin (June 30-July 1). However, delays in confirming a location and dates undoubtedly contributed to lower-than-expected reservations and some cancellations. A smaller confirmed participant count made a 2022 in-person event economically unfeasible, so we canceled the in-person event.

Having produced online Festivals for two years, we had a viable Plan B for DCFF 2022 Go Virtual! Despite the late cancelation, we were not held liable for the complete facility and lodging rental fees and remained on good terms with Egg Harbor and our lodging partners. On short notice, we reorganized DCFF 2022 to include fourteen dance instructors, six discussion leaders, fifteen party hosts and six live music groups.

Next year – DCFF 2023

Egg Harbor is eager to have DCFF come to the Kress Pavilion in person for 2023 and has recommended that we reserve space as soon as possible – while dates are available. We’re considering a 3-day weekend event for either July 7-9 (most likely) or July 14-16, 2023 – both weekends are currently open. Kress Pavilion’s main hall has many amenities, including a spacious dance floor, scenic views from the veranda, high-speed internet connections and a large projection screen.

We’ll need to pay the total rental fees in advance to reserve these dates. We also need to: (1) plan and budget for dance instructor, musician and staff expenses for transportation, lodging and meals; (2) negotiate terms and deposits with lodging partners; (3) complete our application for 501(c)(3) status (not-for-profit, tax-exempt).

As an online Zoom event DCFF is free, and our ability to meet expenses depends on the effectiveness of our requests for financial support. We were not as successful in raising funds for the 2022 event as we were in 2021, plus our need for working capital for 2023 has increased, hence the rationale for this GoFundMe campaign.

In 2021, DCFF Online received 130 donations from 400 registrants and staff, for a net operating loss of $1,200, covered by VDR funds, Paul Collins' personal funds, and an anonymous benefactor.

In 2022, DCFF Online received 59 donations from 390 registrants and staff, for a net operating loss of $2,696. Some of DCFF's pre-net loss was covered by VDR funds, Paul Collins' personal funds, and an anonymous benefactor.

With your assistance, we look forward to producing a great DCFF 2023 in the beautiful Kress Pavilion in Egg Harbor. We welcome participants from near and far to join us in Door County – known as the Cape Cod of the Midwest. We welcome those unable to travel to Door County to join us virtually throughout the Festival.

Please reach out to me if you have questions or comments - my contact info is on the DCFF website: click here for DCFF website

Sincerely,

Paul Collins