And feeling safe about it.

Hiring a fire performer can be a scary thing but the benefits of having a great fire performer can do wonders for your event. From shared photo’s/video’s and word of mouth. People love talking about the crazy, beautiful acts they saw at your last event. A well-placed fire act or show can add the WOW! Factor and drive people to return every year and bring more and more people with them each time.
However, as an organizer or event planner the first thing that goes through your head is safety. “How safe are they?” and “are they going to burn my event down or hurt somebody?”
These are great questions to ask and any good planner should be questioning it. After all you want your event to go on without a hitch.
How can you make sure to bring the WOW factor and have a safe event? Here’s the top 3 list of what to look for in fire performer.

1. Experience
   This is huge! Does the performer have adequate experience in the fire arts? Have you seen any photo’s or videos of the performer? All performers will have photo’s or video’s showing their talents. If you have not seen any, ask them to send some! BONUS: you can ask to use those same photo’s or videos for promo!
2. Knowledge of the laws
   Does the performer have a solid understanding of the local laws/By-Laws. In Winnipeg all indoor fire show’s must submit a fire safety plan to the Fire Dept. that includes:
   - Fire Effects
   -Safety Protocols
   - Fuel types and Quantities
   - Floor plans
   - Management Approvals
   If you want more piece of mind you can request that they submit it for outdoor shows as well!
   Outside of Winnipeg may have other bylaws or restrictions.
3. Insurance
   In most cases this does not come up, but I believe that the added benefits of Insurance outweigh the cons. It’s up to you if this is important to your event. I went 5 years of performing fire without insurance as it was not available.

Up until a few years ago insurance for a fire performer was hard to come by. It wasn’t even available in Canada. Performers had to go through an American third-party insurer and that can carry a lot of fine print. Nowadays there is performance insurance available. It can come at a hefty price to the performer, but it adds a little bit more security to your event. You can expect to pay an insured performer more than an uninsured but that comes with peace of mind.
Standard performers liability insurance covers $1-2 Million. Some performers may carry more.
 
At the end of the day it’s important to communicate with the performer. They are trained professionals and will hopefully ease your concerns or offer solutions to any concerns you may have.

Choosing the right entertainment for your event can be hard. There are countless options available. From jugglers and musicians to impersonators and even some so obscure you’re not quite sure what they are. Some will work, and some won’t. So how do you choose the best option for your event?
First, you must ask yourself. What do you hope to accomplish with the entertainment?
are they there to attract people to the festival? (I.E. a headliner). Or are you looking for memorable moment? Perhaps you want you just want to increase the overall “feel” of the festival.
A variety artist has a lot to offer. Let’s look at some of the reasons why a Variety artist can be a positive decision at your event.


Finding that Memorable moment
Have you ever seen something so amazing that you HAD to tell everyone about it? Or laughed long enough that you needed to calm down?
This is where a Variety artist come’s in. Through amazing feats of dexterity and humor. A variety artist creates a world on stage. A world full of possibilities, humor and amazement. They create a relationship with the audience. They share moments and laughter together. By the end of the performance every audience member should feel like they just made a friend.
A variety arts show (juggling, comedy, hooping etc.) varies greatly between each performer. Some are designed to entertain the kids more then the adults, and others are the opposite. You will find that most variety artists tend to keep a broader target audience, and most are family friendly. It’s important to talk to the artist to make sure they are a good fit.
A variety show is a great tool at many festivals to utilize and there are many ways to optimize the show.
You can use a variety show to

• In between bands to keep the audience engaged
  • This is a great technique to prevent “Dead air”
• At a kids tent, to keep them entertained.
  • This also helps to “break the ice” with the shyer kids and get them interacting with their surroundings.
• On a Busking style pitch to keep them there longer
  • There’s a lot of wandering at a festival, especially one’s with kiosks. Many people just wander through once and leave. With the additional “free to them” entertainment, they are more likely to stay longer. That means more potential sales.
• Built in advertising.
  • One thing you will see at every variety show are phones, specifically phones that take video. Whether the volunteer is someone they know or it’s a stunt they think is impossible. Everyone wants to share that memory. Even if they don’t record it you can hear “you’ll never guess what I saw at __________Festival.
  • If you pair this with a conveniently placed banner behind the stage. Every photo taken will have your name on it.
• People will come earlier.
  • This holds especially true for music festival’s, the sooner people arrive the better. Put a variety art show earlier and make sure to advertise it properly. Who wouldn’t come an hour earlier to see someone shoot flames 15 ft with just their mouth.

Putting smile’s on faces before they walk in.
Imagine walking up to an event. There’s a 6 foot fence with security at the door. You see a white tent in the background and a few signs. It’s not that exciting.
Now imagine the same situation but along the fence you see a juggler, or a stilt walker. People are crowding around to take photo’s and every single one of them has a smile on their face. Maybe these people have come to see a single musical act, and instead of them standing at the beer tent awkwardly waiting, you could have them enjoying the spare time with a performer and making memories.
This same situation also holds true for kids. Young children often have a limited attention span. By giving them a visual and interactive character or performer, you are extending their focus even further. This keeps the youth’s engaged for longer and we all know that parents are more likely to spend their money on the Ferris wheel for their kids, rather than on themselves. Furthering the engagement even more.
 
In conclusion a good variety artist, be it a show or walkabout entertainment brings another level of engagement and intrigue to your festival/event. If you are considering hiring a variety artist it is important to talk with them about what it is you are after and what they can offer. They are flexible and largely independent, and if applied in the right ways. They will bring engagement, laughter and most of all, memories.