Ohio Valley Filk Fest 36

Thursday Night

Thursday night is not officially a part of the convention. That being said, more and more people have taken to arriving early, so that they can hang out in the hotel lobby and see their friends arrive, followed by a relaxed open filk that has come to be known as the Frisky Puppy Filk. This is a great time to meet people, since programming hasn't officially started yet, and no one has anything they absolutely have to be doing. Folks tend to start gathering around 8pm, and stay until they get tired.

Friday

The convention "officially" opens at 7 pm with the Mad Hatter's Tea Party (remember your hat!) , then is followed at 8 pm by our famed Pegasus Nominees Concert. This is the event wherein all the nominees for this year's Pegasus Awards are presented for your listening pleasure, performed by folks who have come from near and far to entertain you. We follow the concert with an apple-tasting party in the con suite. Sometimes we throw in a a workshop or two. And of course there is open filking late into the night.

Saturday

Workshops & theme filks run throughout the day starting out bright and early (for filkers, that is) at 10 am. Formal concerts by our guests of honor and other stars of the filk community begin at noon. Slates of one-shots are sprinkled throughout the afternoon concert schedule.

We feed you at 6 pm with the fabulous Pegasus Awards Banquet during which this year's Pegasus Award Winners are announced. This is followed by the first of our songwriting contests, the Interfilk Auction, and maybe another workshop or two.

Open filking threads throughout the day and late, late into the night often until dawn. (Sleep is for the weak & sickly!)

Sunday

Sunday opens with a couple workshops (yoga, anyone?). There is a concert or two (the Chamberfilk ensemble performs after rehearsing all weekend, and the Iron Filker songwriting contest). The afternoon closes with our traditional Farewell Jam Session.

Sunday evening, we gather whoever's left at the convention for the Dead Dog Dinner Run. For the last several years, we've gone to BD's, which is the best Mongolian barbeque in the world.

Once the beast has been fed, everyone gathers back at the hotel for one last big filk circle, the Dead Dog Open Filk. We sing until the last person leaves for home, falls asleep mid-refrain, or is carried off to bed. In recent years, this has gone on past 5 am, (The record is 8:30 am!) Many people consider this to be the best open filking of the entire convention each year, so it's worth sticking around for if you can.

To Make Suggestions

If you'd like to volunteer to teach a workshop or have any suggestions you'd like to make about our programming, you can reach our programming director at 'programming AT ovff DOT org'.