...and: here's that discussion!  :D

I've done it, come on over!  :)

Good idea. I think it will be an active discussion.  I was tempted to do start one myself, but it was your idea!

I've been getting back into playing after a hiatus of several years, and I've found the virtual festivals to be helpful to me in getting back into the swing.  Not every workshop is a perfect match, but sometimes you strike gold. 

I think I'll start that thread in the General forum so we can continue the discussion there.  ;)

I will be "in" Albany this weekend. I have booked two Beginner workshops and the Saturday concert, and will be lurking at the jam sessions. Looking forward to it.

I have not yet registered for an on-line festival. I do get together with a few folks once a week on Zoom to play. The reason I haven't participated in these festivals is that I don't go festivals to take workshops. I go to visit with other builders or for conversation during and between workshops. I no longer feel the need to accumulate more tabs or pick up new playing techniques. It is the informal visiting and spontaneous jams that I enjoy most at festivals. Also, most festivals do not offer workshops that meet my interest in the history of the mountain dulcimer and its predecessors, the music of the mountains, or playing techniques that apply. Having said all of this, I am looking at participating in a festival in April which includes my interests.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Excellent point, Strumelia, about the specific thread titles!  I do try to do that. 

Dusty, thanks for mentioning the DPN festival directory!  Actually, back in October I found a link to it on there, and before I knew it I was signing up for the Stephen Foster Dulcimer Retreat! 

Good point, @strumelia.

@ocean-daughter, you might want to check out the Festival Directory maintained by Dulcimer Players News .  It lists nearly all the upcoming dulcimer festivals, most of which are online at the moment.

You guys seem to have figured things out nicely, but one more little tip- whenever you do start a new thread somewhere, it really helps to give the thread a very descriptive title. An example:  instead of naming a thread "Strings?" it's better to be more specific like "Help with string gauges for baritone".  This enables people to zero in on discussions of interest to them while they browse the forums. It also helps people in the future who are searching the site for answers, maybe years from now.  :)

Hi again Dusty!  I guess my topic is more like the good/bad of online festivals.  Sometimes the organizers haven't posted their event on the event pages--maybe they need a publicity person to do that --so posting there wouldn't be very effective. 

I'll try starting a discussion in the General forum.  Actually I have managed pretty well with the technology.  And I'm so grateful for the chance to keep getting inspired without having to travel.  I hope to get in on the Berkeley Gathering in a couple of months!

Once again, Ocean Daughter, I want to commend you for thinking about this issue rather than just posting somewhere arbitrary.

You are right that FOTMD works very differently than Facebook, which often centers on a constantly scrolling stream of recent posts.  We do indeed try to organize things here so that people can find material (hopefully) rather easily.

There is in fact a listing for the DAA virtual dulcimer festival in the Festivals/Gatherings area. You can find it here .  However, you'll notice that other than a few comments I made, little discussion is found there, and that listing will disappear a few days after the festival ends.

If you want to start a a general discussion about the good and bad of online festivals or something like that, I would suggest using the General Mountain Dulcimer or Music area in the Forums. But if your question is really specific, like what kind of equipment you need to be able to take part, you might consider joining the Technology/Software/Amplifying Group and starting a discussion there.  Note in general that we have lots of groups on specific interests, but you can only see the full discussions there if you join the group.

And just to warn you, I have taught at a few online festivals and attended a few as well, so I will likely join your conversation wherever you post it.

(Another question!)  This weekend I'm attending my fourth virtual festival (the one hosted by the Dulcimer Association of Albany), and I was wondering about chatting about virtual festivals on here.  I haven't seen any discussions of festivals.  Is that something that would be okay to post about, and where? 

Is there a place on FOTMD that I just haven't found yet, or do people mostly do their chatting on the Facebook page of the particular festival?  Or in the other Facebook dulcimer groups?  I feel like a forum gives a place for more "focused" chat, in that the threads "stay put," whereas Facebook posts are sometimes harder to track down (and sometimes I don't have the mental energy for Facebook!). 

Hope to see some of you "in" Albany!