Thanks for taking interest in the first year Kansas Musicians’ Pavilion at the Spring 2011 Great Plains Renaissance Festival! This event is free to those who are participating, and we even provide you with a free ticket to the Spring 2011 Great Plains Renaissance Festival! Festival dates are April 16th & 17th from 10 AM to 6 PM. BUT: I also know some people end up working Saturday or Sunday, or have to take off early for gigs – no worries, you can still sign up, just be sure to mention what your schedule is (hey, we all have real-world things to deal with sometimes 
The goal here is exposure for local musicians – thousands of people attend the Great Plains Renaissance Festival every year, and now is your chance to meet local folks, connect with other local musicians, and of course, sell some CD’s and get your music out there! Lots of musicians only get to play in a narrow niche of venues – bars, for instance – and this gives everyone a chance to introduce themselves to multiple new potential audiences!
We’ll be providing a space for you to sit and have your music available for to see and purchase. Additionally, we’ll be providing a small ‘performance stage’ – this will either be just an open area for you to sit and play, or a very small stage setup. There is no power – this is all strictly acoustic. You’ll also be in a pavilion, so you’ll be protected from sunshine and rain both, so even though it’s an outdoor event, it’s going to be fairly nice. I mention the performance stage – that’s optional. You don’t have to perform to be there, but, the idea is to introduce people to you and your music – you’ll have an easier time doing that if people get a chance to hear what you do! 
While most of this is written from the perspective solo musicians, for those representing a band, feel free to bring the other members – be sure to put on your form how many people are attending, that way we have space. (Note: Bandmembers only. No helpers, girlfriends, etc. – we provide you with a free pass, but only you and direct band members.)
This is a ‘juried’ event – we reserve the right to decline any application based on work or content. The Great Plains Renaissance Festival has been kind enough to give us space, free passes, a tent, publicity, and a ton of other great bennies, so we need to be respectful of the fact that it’s a “family friendly” environment.
If after reading the rules and all that you still have questions – no problem feel free to call the event coordinator at (316) 290-9049!
The Rules: Read them all before agreeing to attend the event and fill out the form.
1) This is a family friendly environment, so please keep the music and products you provide appropriate for that environment. If you think something you are bringing might be questionable, simply flag it in the questions section of the form.
2) Performance time and space is provided, but is optional. To help connect with the crowd, we provide a space for performance – however, this is a very rustic setting. There is no power for instruments, amplifiers, mikes, etc., so it’s strictly acoustic instruments and vocals. Because of the renaissance period setting, do not bring radios, amplifiers, boom boxes, etc. to amplify your performance or play your music. A ‘performance schedule’ will be drawn when the faire draws near – this is mainly to give everyone equal time on the stage, and is somewhat informal. If you don’t want to perform, or if you want to just do a jam session with other performers, feel free! No one is going to hold you to the schedule, or force you to perform.
3) No alcohol, guns, weapons, drugs, etc. during the faire. While it’s not expected to be a problem, it is a family friendly environment.
4) You bring your stuff, and you’re responsible for your stuff. Bring your CD’s and a sharpie for autographing. The faire gates will be open at 9:00 AM for you to come in and set up a little early – the faire starts at 10 AM, and we’d love it if everyone was setup before hand (plus, it prevents you from having to deal with a long walk if you show up at, say, 11 AM!) As an added incentive, if you’re not there before the gate opens at 10 AM, you’ll have to pay for a festival ticket to get in and set up. You’re responsible for anything you bring – that means you’re responsible for sales tax, other taxes, keeping your stuff secure, all of that. The faire closes at 6 PM. While the faire does have light security during the evenings / night hours, the Great Plains Renaissance Festival takes no responsibility for your stuff whatsoever – I highly recommend taking your stuff home Saturday night, and bringing it back again on Sunday.
5) Music and fliers only please. Bring your CD’s (or vinyl albums, if you’re retro), and handouts for your music. However, don’t bring T-shirts and posters – there’s not going to be tons of room, and T-Shirt sales conflict with the other vendors at the festival, along with the festival’s sales of T-Shirts. But feel free to bring handouts to push the sales of your products on your own website!
6) We help promote you, help promote us. While the Great Plains Renaissance Festival is widely known and highly attended, the Kansas Musicians’ Pavilion is a great new first year event. So if you bring flyers, we’d love to see you throw a link to the GreatPlainsRenFest.com on them – however, that’s entirely optional! We’ll be announcing attending musicians on the website and on our Facebook fan page, and linking to your site / or fanpage – we’d love it if you did the same for us, and tell your fan base you’ll be here! (Pssst… OK, I shouldn’t be telling you this, and it’s not official yet, but, there’s a really good reason why you want to link with us. The ‘Like’ button that appears on your profile on the Kansas Musicians’ Pavilion portion of the festival site might become really important. You didn’t hear that from me, of course, and it’s not official yet.)
7) This is a juried event, attendance is not guaranteed. We do review the work of musicians that sign up for the event to make sure they are going to fit with the family friendly atmosphere. We’re pretty laid back, but some things just won’t fly – for instance, horrorcore probably isn’t going to be allowed. There’s really not a whole lot of genres or artists that we wouldn’t allow though, and if we do reject your signup, we’ll be sure to indicate why. Response to all signups are usually within 48 hours.
The Great Plains Renaissance Festival is not responsible for anything. The Great Plains Renaissance Festival, it’s principals, it’s representatives, it’s volunteers, or it’s entertainers cannot be held liable for any losses, damages, or other situations under any circumstances. Additionally, the Kansas Musicians’ Pavilion, an event at the Great Plains Renaissance Festival, it’s principals, it’s representatives, it’s volunteers, or it’s entertainers cannot be held responsible for any losses, damages, or other situations under any circumstances.
9) Follow the rules, and have fun! There’s only 9 rules (8 if you don’t count this one as an actual rule), so there’s not a whole lot to have to follow. But if you don’t follow them at the faire you might be asked to leave, or at very minimum openly mocked by the KMP event director. We’re all here to have fun, socialize, sell some music, and get some exposure!