How to Attend and Enjoy OVFF: The Ohio Valley Filk Fest

Do you love Celts, cats, comics and computers? Like to jam, hum, sing along, or just listen? Then come to Columbus, Ohio for OVFF: the Ohio Valley Filk Fest, home of the Pegasus Awards.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Love of puns, good and bad
• Interest in science fiction, fantasy, or anime
• Guts
• Songs that beg to be parodied
• Love of cats, Celts, and computers
• Wicked sense of humor
• Irresistible impulse to make puns

What Is This Filk Stuff, Anyway?

1. Rob Balder sings about the evils of paintball and the difficulties of loving a Goth girl. What is filk? Filk is folk music for the science fiction and fantasy literature community. Filk is often wicked, barbed humor covering everything from Anakin Skywalker to cats and computers to zombies. Filk styles range from torch songs to hip hop, to classical battle ballads fit for a Pennsic war between rival kingdoms of the Society for Creative Anachronism.
2. Robert Jordan tunes up while Teri and others listen. Celebrity filkers will often show up at open filks for a short time. Robert Jordan, author of the Wheel of Time series, has performed at many filk sessions.
3. The Great Luke Ski and Posse Some filkers work tirelessly to create their own celebrity. The Great Luke Ski is a wicked punster whose hip hop style and over the top outfits refuse to let audiences stay passive.
4. This Israeli filker's voice entranced the crowd. The Ohio Valley Filk Fest draws filkers and fen from as far away as Israel.

Writing and Performing

5. Performing is the biggest thrill of OVFF. There are usually at least two song writing contests. One is a category chosen well in advance. The song must have been written that year.
6. The second contest requires writing a song during OVFF weekend. This is more of a challenge, but has been enormously fun.
7. You are allowed to have someone else perform your filk for you, but it is much more fun to do it yourself.
8. Applaud everyone's guts if not their singing and instrumental abilities. It takes guts to get up there in front of a hundred or more filkers, especially in a crowd full of celebrity filkers.

Tips & Warnings

• Be prepared. Bring an instrument or your own voice.
• Participate in open filks to learn styles before writing your own filk.
• Be polite. Show appreciation for each filker. It takes guts to sing or play in front of a crowd.