Any Fire Performers and Volunteer Fire Safeties wishing to participate in the fire circle(s) at Prairie Pothole; Please read this thoroughly.
For each day of the festival, we will be hosting Daily Fire Safety meetings at 5pm, in the grassy area across the road from the lodge stage (in between the swimming hole and the fire ring.) There will be a sign out by the road pointing toward the location.
If you wish to participate in the Fire Circle(s) for that each day, please come to that day's meeting to obtain your new wristband. Please attend all possible meetings. These will cover locations, times, and safety for those that need it.
Fire toys will only be allowed in the fire circle when the safety cones are placed. Please be safe and use discretion when using fire props. No intoxicated spinning is permitted. If you are found spinning or attempting to spin while intoxicated, you will be required to give up your wristband for that day.
We welcome all Fire Performers with some experience dancing with fire (even beginners) with their own safe and adequate fire props and/or equipment. If you are a beginner please share your experience with us, so we can get you well informed. If you have NEVER danced with fire and/or do not have your own props, it is best not to participate, but please be very clear with the fire leaders about any limitations you have.
Meetings will be held each day at 5pm. We will do our best to keep meetings thorough, but as brief as possible. A the meetings we will cover:
After you have gone through the safety precautions, procedures, protocols, and prop inspection you then can receive your wristband for participating in the fire circle. The wristband will be labeled with the day you attended the meeting.
Once you have fully been through one of the fire safety meetings, we will briefly coordinate the following day and share next set time(s) with you and you will receive your second or third bracelet. For new performers, we will repeat the information and inspection so you can participate and get your bracelet.
If you wish to be a volunteer fire safety, we greatly welcome you. Even if you have never done it before, at the meeting we go over a brief training with a fire blanket and the PASS acronym for fire extinguishers so you will have some experience beforehand. As safeties, this gives you the benefit of a front row seat to all the fire action. For the performers, we wish that you too will take some turns with a fire blanket so other safeties can be cycled out.
Also, when you are receiving your bracelet we will be discussing set times for the fire circle(s). At Prairie Pothole we typically start around sunset. In addition, with the proper amount of fire performers and safeties, we can continue to perform at later times as well. The daily meetings allow us to further understand our numbers and re-coordinate if we have bad weather.
Most of the time, we begin the fire circle at sunset. We will discuss and decide as a group what times we will open the fire circle.
As for the time length of the fire safety meeting(s), we wish to be thorough but also keep them as brief as possible. As supervisors, we too want to have time to prepare for the fire circle and enjoy the festival as well. However, we find that having multiple meetings is the best way we can coordinate with all performers and safeties, so the information and set times of the fire circle(s) is shared. Rain and bad weather is common, so using these meetings as a time and place to communicate is to all of our benefit.
In turn, we wish that fire performers and safeties utilize these meetings not only for better communication with each other, but to have a time and place to gather and build rapport and trust. We want everyone to come together and have a great time!