As Program Chair and Board Member of NEFFA for the last 12 years, I
can attest to the fact that during this time, the NEFFA Board never
intentionally planned the Festival to conflict with NESRDC. NEFFA has
been held in April for decades, and our major reason for choosing the
weekend which follows Patriot's Day (in Massachusetts) is because this
week is a school vacation week. As a result, we can get into the
school much more easily in order to do advance work for the Festival
(hanging speakers, etc.). Occasionally, we will vary our dates, but
only to avoid major religious holiday conflicts.
Also, in all of this time, I have never heard feed-back, or seen an
evaluation which suggested that we should change NEFFA dates based on
the timing of the NESRDC. NEFFA is celebrating its 68th year; NESRDC
its 54th.
I checked the NESRDC website, and this Festival is actually the
weekend after NEFFA (NEFFA is 3rd weekend, NESRDC is last weekend in
April). While it might be challenging for performers and attendees to
attend both, it is possible for this to happen. And for those who
attend both: kudos!!
Although I have no personal knowledge of the planning process on the
part of NESRDC, what I do know of the folk song & dance community in
general, and the thousands of volunteers who help make all Festivals
happen, is that we *all* do it for the love of the art forms, and the
intentions are always good ones. We want to share the experience and
joy with as many folks as possible. From my point of view, any
conflict in timing would be purely unintentional, and based on logical
reasons that may not be obvious to those who are not involved with the
many details of planning. So, let me add my voice to those who have
encouraged us to "be kind to one another".
warmly, Linda Leslie
On Mar 19, 2012, at 3:32 PM, Charles Hannum wrote:
and quit holding your festivals
(NEFFA and NESRDC) at times that intentionally conflict.
