Volunteer
2023
Common Ground
Country Fair
It’s full steam ahead for the annual Common Ground Country Fair held on September 22, 23 and 24, 2023 here in Unity, Maine!
This event wouldn’t be possible without the amazing community of volunteers who donate thousands of hours- thank you!
To visit our volunteer website and view available shifts:
mofga.vomo.org
To view our volunteer website tutorial and learn how to sign up for shifts, as well as our volunteer camping webinar, scroll down!
Information for Fair Volunteers
Fair Volunteer Benefits
Benefits
For any additional 4-hour shifts you will receive
Meals
Additional Benefits
Camping
Benefits
- One Fair Volunteer T-shirt
- Fair Admission for the day you work
- One meal at the Common Kitchen for each shift you work
- Camping privileges – tent site (one night per shift, either the night before or the night after your shift). Registration required– CLICK HERE.
For any additional 4-hour shifts you will receive
- One Fair Admission for each shift (max. three days admission)
- One meal at the Common Kitchen for each shift you work
- One extra night of camping per shift (registration required.)
Meals
- Meals:
- The meals provided for Fair staff and volunteers are prepared in the Common Kitchen by volunteers with ingredients generously donated by MOFGA members and supporters. Over the course of Fair set-up and Fair weekend through clean-up, thousands of meals are served.
- You must have a meal ticket in order to enter the Common Kitchen dining area for a meal.
- Meal ticket(s) are distributed by Area Coordinators to volunteers upon completion of each shift. Be sure to remember to get your meal ticket after your shift.
- Meal Times: Continental Breakfast 6:30 – 9:00 | Full Breakfast 7:00 – 8:30 | Lunch 12:30 – 2:00 | Supper 6:00 – 7:30
Additional Benefits
- Sunday Shifts:
- Volunteers who work at least one shift on SUNDAY are eligible for a raffle of items donated by Fair vendors held twice, once at 3 p.m. on Sunday afternoon and once after the Fair at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday evening. Inquire with the Volunteer Check-In Tent for details.
- Overnight Shifts:
- The 7-hour Overnight Safety Patrol shift counts as two 4-hour shifts.
- Volunteer T-Shirts:
- All volunteers at the Fair receive one of our classic organic cotton Fair t-shirts. If you are working multiple shifts you will be able to redeem your shirt voucher during or after your first shift. These shirts are custom sewn for the Common Ground Country Fair by Liberty Graphics and are made in the USA with 100% domestically grown organic cotton.
Camping
Camping:
- Volunteers working one or more four hour shifts are invited to camp at the fairgrounds. You may use your earned night of camping either the night before or the night after your shift. Camping registration is required. REGISTER HERE. Sites will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis by the camping coordinators. Space permitting, volunteer camping is available in the South Volunteer and Exhibitor Camping area. There are no water or electricity hook-ups for RVs.
- RV Lottery: We can only accommodate 3 RVs. Spaces are limited to exhibitors, planning team members, staff and volunteers who will be onsite September 22-25th. Volunteers are only eligible if they have preregistered for three 4-hour shifts. All RV owners must be able to drive and park their own unit to be eligible. The RV Lottery is active now! Click this link to register. Please see the Camping & Accommodations page for local options.
- All campers must abide by the following Camping Rules:
- All sites do not have running water or electricity.
- All campers must sign up for a camping spot by using the online Camping Preregistration Form (check back here for the link in August 2023.)
- Campers must camp in the designated camping areas. There is no camping allowed in the parking lots.
- Campers may not engage in illegal activity on the Fairgrounds or MOFGA grounds.
- Pets are absolutely forbidden on Fairgrounds and in the camping areas at all times.
- No unauthorized campfires.
- Cooking is only allowed in the designated areas with 1 lb propane or butane cylinders. No solid fuel may be used without permission of the Fair Office. Any participant using cooking equipment must have an appropriate fire extinguisher with them. The approved Designated Cooking areas are in South Camping, between the North Coordinator Camping and the Bike area, near the Rabbit Barn area, and in the Livestock area near the Maintenance shop. These areas are designated by signage.
- To minimize impact, campers must stay on marked paths in the North and West Coordinator Camping areas.
- Use port-a-potties or the Common Thrones in the camping areas. Do not go to the bathroom in the woods.
- Quiet time is from 10:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m.
- Volunteers not actively volunteering between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. must stay off the Fairgrounds.
- Common Ground Country Fair assumes no responsibility for lost or stolen items.
- Members of the CGCF Safety Team are authorized to ask volunteers for identification in the form of their volunteer shift registration. Safety Team members represent the CGCF and MOFGA in determining whether certain persons and/or their conduct is permitted to be on the Fairgrounds. Any person not abiding by established Fair guidelines may be asked to leave the fairgrounds by the Safety Coordinator in charge, the Fair Director or a Waldo County Deputy.
- Campers must take gray water to the Compost and Recycling area.
- Generators may not be used unless specifically permitted in camping areas rules & guidelines.
- Please carry out what you carry in. Thanks!
Review or download the 2023 Camping Information, Policy, and Rules and the Fairground Camping Overview Map
Eligibility
Arriving at the Fair
Volunteer Check-In
Volunteer Guidelines
Eligibility
- Volunteers under the age of 18 must have parent or guardian signed consent. Volunteers must be at least 13 years old to volunteer without a guardian. Children between the ages 10 – 12 may volunteer if accompanied by a guardian 21 years of age or older with at least 1 adult : 2 children ratio.
- For families who want to volunteer with children 10-12 years old, we encourage you to volunteer for set-up or clean-up. There are also limited opportunities in the Compost & Recycling area during the Fair.
- Special cases
- Children’s Area: Minimum age 13 years old.
- Auto Gates, Common Kitchen, Country Store, Entertainment, Low Impact Forestry, Parking, Fair Gates: Minimum age 16 years old.
- Safety: Minimum age 16 years old for daytime shifts and 18 years old for nighttime shifts.
Arriving at the Fair
- Give yourself plenty of time to get to Unity.
- Consider camping the night before or arriving in the early morning to avoid traffic and to be on time for your shift.
- Check in at the Volunteer Check-In Tent at either the Pine or the Rose Gates.
Volunteer Check-In
- Set-up and Clean-up volunteers (the heroes who help before and after the Fair) should check in at MOFGA’s main office – the yellow building in the middle of the fairgrounds.
- Volunteers helping during the three days of the Fair should go to the Volunteer Check-In Tent (one located at each gate) upon arrival at the Fair. The Volunteer Check-In Tent is the only place where you may obtain your Admission Pass. Free entry is NOT available anywhere else.
- If you do not attend your scheduled shift and do not cancel your shift through your volunteer profile, you may face restrictions when volunteering at the Common Ground Country Fair in the future.
Volunteer Guidelines
Carpool to the Fair
Interested in carpooling before or after the Fair? Use our volunteer carpool option! If you are looking for rides to the Fair September 22-24, click here.
Watch our Volunteer Sign-up Tutorial Here:
Watch our Volunteer Camping Webinar Here:
Volunteer as an Area Coordinator
Area Coordinators organize every aspect of the Fair – from organizing speakers to laying out parking lots to working at the gates. Coordinating is an amazing way to support the Fair and work with a group of amazing people. We have openings for coordinators, assistant coordinators, and understudies. We have leadership opportunities before, during and after the Fair.
Would you like to join the Fair Planning Team? Fill out our Area Coordinator Questionnaire!
