CPA - Treasurer & Cat Herder

“Mel, what’s my budget for this?”

Upon obtaining my CPA designation in 2017, I never imagined I would have a QuickBooks accounting file with “Pirate Ship” and “UFO” expenses, but here I am and I wouldn’t want it any other way! I oversee GentleFolk finances, budgeting, banking, legal, insurance, grant writing, paperwork, and all the other formal business of the organization. Can I edit that for you? Do we need a new spreadsheet to analyze our options? Let’s pencil in a meeting for us to circle back to this action item! In addition, I typically herd the cats (admins) and inspire teams to work together to create incredible experiences for the community.

Entertainment Curation/Stage Management/Artist Communication

I hate silence. I am nearly always listening to music, searching for new songs whenever possible, making playlists and investigating as many different styles as I can.

What I do for The GentleFolk during the year hinges on being to at least a few shows around town every week of the year in order to curate the tastiest lineup I can for our events.

In preparation of the festival I keep busy doing all the email and social media communication with bands, performers and stage personnel, gathering technical requirements for the performance and scheduling each day's entertainment. During the fest I manage the stage, and do my best to ensure we stay on schedule.

Volunteer Coordinator, Big Picture Person

Hello, My name is Erin Schroeder, I’ve been growing alongside The GentleFolk since its conception as a friend and supporting party as I finished up my education. My role within this group became concrete while planning for GentleFest 2022 by becoming the volunteer coordinator and Big Picture Person.

Since I graduated college and successfully received my RNBN I have been working as a nurse in the surgery department at the hospital. When I'm not keeping my patients alive you might find me at the climbing gym building muscle, honing my technique and crushing routes. I also have two cats and they are the BEST boys and NO you’re wrong my cats are definitely better than yours.

Build Team Lead

Oh hey! I didn't see you come in there. I'm Devon Hebert and I'm the Build Team Lead for The GentleFolk.

I was a main hand building our Shipwreck'd boat art installation in 2019 that sailed to Folk Fest, Emotion and Hoot Owl that now rests at Ignite Retreats (The GentleFest grounds). I was more of a management position in building the UFO stage that we built in 2022.

The GentleFolk likes to do work trade whenever possible when we rent a venue, and I'm the one tasked with getting a crew together, tracking hours and making sure we do a fair amount of work to generate a beneficial relationship with our hosts.

At our events you can usually find me on the dance floor and/or taking a shift to make sure things keep running smoothly in the background.

Marketing, Media, Graphic Design, & Merch

Throughout the year I handle the design and marketing for all of our events as well as our summer festival. Things like our merchandise, logos, posters, etc. Being the channel for all these wonderful creative people beside me is truly a blessing. I work closely with a few members of our team bringing imagery and imagination to life for everyone to enjoy. We are never short on creative ideas and it is wonderful to have this community to share it with.

Merch Team/Admin/Team Coordinator

Hello and Greetings, my name is Ezra Shiznickel. I have been a part of the GentleFolk since the beginning. Helping shape and grow it to the amazing group we know today. I have help and watched as The GentleFolk have grown from a mere egg into a beautiful artistic chicken! When the fun ends and the sun has set to rise again you can find me helping to run “Happy Valleys Cannabis” as a General Manager. The work I do within the GentleFolk is broad. Wearing many different hats. Working on Merch, Vendors, Coffee and much much more. Once all is over I have many hobbies. Fire Spinning is the most notable, having performed across Canada as well as a few places in the USA/EU. I enjoy all things dance and creative related!

Volunteer Coordinator, Beautification Team

Hey I’m Rick! I’ve been around the GentleFolk since the early days when we were just friends camping at festivals to the conversations that helped us build the ship. I was added to the admin team after the 2021 festival to which my main role is to help organize our volunteers to make sure everything runs smoothly. You may see me zipping by on my bike as I check in with my teams, especially on the Friday set up when everyone is arriving. I also assist with the beautification team to help come up with ideas to help make sure the festival experience is beautiful for everyone. During the late night you can find me playing my violin at the fireside jams.

Beautification Team Lead

I went to GentleFest 2020 as an attendee wanting to support my friends, secured a volunteer position for GentleFest 2021, and then decided I wanted to be more involved and joined the admin team soon after that festival. My goal is to make our events look beautiful and feel special! Team Beautification's main project last year was creating a comfortable place to gather, known as the Gentle Temple. I also had a solo project creating a few smaller UFOs to decorate the grounds, you may have seen one next to the 'tweener stage! I'm a wastewater collection system maintenance technician, which isnt the most glamorous job, so I really appreciate having this creative space to flourish. I have a lot of ideas for this year's festival and can't wait to create an enchanted experience for our guests!

Media Team, Beautification Team

Howdy there! My name is Mae, I'm an artist and the art coordinator for GentleFest. I've done some of the t-shirt designs and organized the workshops, including figure drawing. I'm excited to continue to bring more art to the festival and collaborate with other artists.

Webmaster, Media Team

My main role is to make sure our website whoozits and whatsits are all in order! I was brought onto the team to help build a Gentle website in 2022, and have had a blast working alongside this creative and inspiring group of people ever since!

Apart from my GentleFolk activities, I am a music player and enjoyer, and serial board game obsessor.

Build Team Expert

My main roles are pretty straightforward: I build structures on our festival grounds (UFO, new whale tent, garbage bins, new signage, etc) and repair/update/rebuild/repurpose existing structures (the ship, bathrooms, jellyfish, sound booth, old signage, etc). I'm also the tool monkey for the other GentleFolk. "Matt, ya got a knife/saw/drill/sandpaper/sledgehammer/beer for me?!" Yes. Yes I do have the thing.

RMT - Artist Liaison, Beautification Crew

Coming into this peer group in 2018 was a blessing beyond my wildest dreams. Hailing from Thompson, by way of Saskatoon, and then Portage La Prairie, I had experience volunteering at the Great Fests of Ness Creek (SK) and Hoop n' Hollar (MB). I've evolved from the General Hard Work scope, to the niche of Helping Make Things Pretty And Helping Make People Comfortable designation. My regular life occupations are as a Mail Delivery Human as well as a Professional Massage Therapist.

Shameless Self-Plug:
Claus and Effect Massage

Salutations cheeky earthlings! It is I, Cameron Hoeppner! Or perhaps otherwise colloquially known as the resident NKD/HPY!

I’ve been with the GentleFolk since it’s early inception, helping out where I can as a man of the shadows, filling in the gaps in our work force whether it be helping clear the land before the party, creating props and entertainment, or filling in for missing volunteers during the festival!

Outside the GentleFolk I work in retail as a pharmacy technician, slinging drugs and helping sort out all your insurance coverage needs. It isn’t really the thing that keeps me going though and changes are right around the corner!

In my free time you’ll find me hanging from walls and rocks everywhere across this province, as in my opinion, the best days are the ones that involve friends, camping and rock climbing.

Most importantly though I’ve helped shape the collective electronic musical tastes as the resident DJ at both our community GentleFolk events and festival! It’s been a goal of mine ever since I started to expand the horizons of what music has to offer to all those who will listen. So strap on your dancing shoes and let’s get this funky party grooving!

Enviro Lead

My name is Elijah Berard-Froese. I have been a part of The GentleFolk since the second year of GentleFest, and around their influence for much longer. I have known many of them for a long time, participating in camping, artistic events, and anything else they have organized. Meeting everyone back in the Shine On days has been a blessing I have always recognized it as special.

I help with Environmental and Safety for The GentleFolk. Organizing teams and local organizations to get the supplies and manpower to keep all our guests safe and comfortable, while minimizing or eliminating the impacts we could have on the environments we are privileged to use. When not doing those duties I help out with any of the other teams when needed for any event.

During my “normal” life, I work as a Dispatcher and Driver Manager for Adesa Car Auctions. As a car nut I find this to be extremely enjoyable, and pushes my management and people skills to all time high’s and leads to many doors to be opened in my future.

On my free time you can find me in my garage tinkering on Mopeds, Electric Moto’s, Ebikes, and generally anything with wheels and a motor. I also enjoy video games but if you ask my friends, I really only enjoy playing Minecraft.

Beautification and Costuming

I joined this wonderful group shortly before our 2021 festival, and have been making pretty things for us ever since! I help with painting, crafting, and general beautification of our festival experience, as well as creating some of the unique costumes/outfits you see The GentleFolk wearing at events.

Social Media Lead, Beautification Team

Hi there! I am the voice behind our GentleFolk social media and the chef behind the tasty treats at our events. I love working with the Beautification Team to bring our decorations to life and volunteering my time for any setup and preparation for our events.

Volunteer Coordinator, Beautification Team

I contributed my efforts in previous years by volunteering with the Beautification team to help create The Gentle Temple space and assisted with volunteering. This year I am now an official member of the GentleFolk team eager to offer my skills with the Beautification team and the Volunteer team in order to bring a more welcoming and creative space for everyone.

Professional Equipment Observer

Tired: Old job cutting trees for money.
Wired: Cutting trees for partying.

GentleFest admin, build team member, grounds keeping. I pick things up and put them down.

Build Team

Michael established a reputation for meat-based subsistence for both himself and others at music festivals around Manitoba, with some knowing him only as 'Sausage Mike'.

Not content with full stomachs, he used his electrician skills to bring light to the GentleFolk’s endeavors.

Whether sweating with a frying pan, trenching with a shovel, or gulping dark beers, Michael brings a steadfast joy to any occasion.