Zajac Ranch is a beautiful wilderness camp for children in the summer and a venue for adult retreats and events the rest of the year. See map here. Palomino, Mustang, and Pinto are the dormitories, and the Gym is the dance hall.

The programme will have workshops for new dancers, plenty of dancing for more experienced dancers and lots of opportunities for fun and socializing. Saturday evening party will have a Western theme – Optional, but if you want to share in the fun, dress up in Western style – there will be some fun Western dances in the programme!

After reading everything, do you still have questions? Check the Retreat FAQ and then contact us.

Facts:

• the early-bird base cost per person will be $150 per person for 2 nights accommodation in a lower bunk, 6 meals from supper Friday to lunch Sunday, a full schedule of dancing and other workshops, snack breaks, and up to 6 hours of pool and hot tub access!
• Surrey International Folk Dancing Society will be purchasing event insurance for the weekend. This insurance will only cover members, so everyone will be charged the drop-in fee of $4 per day in order to be covered by the insurance policy. Dancers who join SIFD in September will be refunded this amount.
• we are including in the base price two 3-hour openings of the pool and hot tub.
• there are a limited number of private rooms available for an extra $40 per room for the weekend. These rooms are for one to two persons, with single beds, lower bunks, or queen beds. All the bathrooms are shared bathrooms. The private rooms will be assigned on a first-paid, first-served basis. 2016-07-16 PRIVATE ROOMS WAITLISTED: YOUR PRIVATE ROOM FEE WILL BE REFUNDED IF PRIVATE ROOM NOT AVAILABLE
• participants either bring their own bedding, or rent for an extra fee of $20 for the weekend. All participants bring their own towels and toiletries. There is one towel included in the linen package.
• if you are a dancer with a partner who is a non-dancer, there will be a variety of activities other than dancing so that your partner will enjoy the weekend as well.
• Archery will be scheduled and will be available for an extra fee. The fee will be $5 to participate in archery.
• activities that do not cost extra are beach volleyball, soccer, ping-pong, bocce ball, horseshoes, hiking, and campfire.
• as far as we know, there are no experts in singing coming but song lyrics will be brought along in case a group wants to give it a go anyway.
• Food will be provided by Zajac Ranch. They are very experienced at accommodating special diets which they will do for us for no extra charge. The Ranch is strictly “No Nuts”. We are allowed to bring food as long as it is nut-free even in the “may contains” part.
• there may be a market available for folk costumes and other items if someone volunteers to organize it.
• jamming with musical instruments is possible – bring them along.

Things still to do – DONE! – :

• Create the waivers that dancers will have to sign. Intention is to protect the officers and directors of SIFD. Zajac Ranch has their own waiver to sign because of the archery and swimming. – DONE! – SIFD specific waiver to be signed on Sept 30.
• Playlist voting needs to be set-up – DONE! – vote here now.
• Make a packing list – we received Zajac’s standard packing list. – DONE! – See packing list specific to us.

The ways attendees can contribute:

• Teach dances. Either one or two, or take charge of an hour workshop. – you’ll be happy to know that there are at least 6 enthusiastic folk dance instructors among the registrants!
• Lead an activity – hiking, bocce ball, horseshoes, campfire, singing, music, discussion, crafts etc.
• There may be a market selling folk dance related items and it will need help!
• Set-up, Clean-up, Registration, Decorating
• Photography and/or videography

Timelines:

• Questionnaire released by May 17
• Start analyzing results and designing a programme on May 27
• Begin registration June 14
• Early bird registration deadline July 23
• Zajac Ranch requires approximate numbers and initial payment by July 31.
• No refunds after September 12.
• Final date of registration September 19.
• Event insurance needs to be purchased September 12.
• Zajac Ranch requires final numbers and final payment by Sept 23.