Posted by The Disability Collective
JOB TITLE: Festival Coordinator (Canada Summer Jobs)
DEADLINE: May 16, 2025 at 11:59 PM EDT
Location: Toronto, Canada (mostly virtual with occasional site visits plus day-of onsite support)
Position Type: Full time (35 hours per week), contract
Salary: $26/hour
Contract Dates: June 23, 2025 to August 15, 2025
About The Disability Collective:
The Disability Collective (TDC) is the only fully disability-led multidisciplinary arts organization in Toronto. Dedicated to celebrating and showcasing work created solely by disabled artists, TDC strives to de-stigmatize disability and challenge perceptions of disability by providing disabled artists with paid opportunities to share their work in a variety of forms, along with actively advocating for and improving accessibility and inclusion in the Canadian arts community by providing disability consultation services. We are committed to strengthening the disability community’s presence in the arts and creating a space where disabled artists can connect and grow their practices together.
Position Overview:
The Disability Arts Festival is an annual multidisciplinary arts festival that centres and celebrates disabled artists, curated and produced by The Disability Collective. The festival aims to provide radically accessible spaces for performance, community, and connection, where disability is celebrated as a valuable part of the creative landscape.
The Festival Coordinator will play a vital role in the planning, coordination, and delivery of The Disability Arts Festival. This role requires strong organizational skills, excellent communication, and a passion for inclusive arts practices. The Festival Coordinator will be the primary liaison for artists, vendors, and rental companies, while also providing crucial administrative and on-the-ground event support.
Key Responsibilities:
- Artist and Vendor Liaison
- Communicate with participating artists to coordinate schedules, technical needs, and contracts
- Serve as the main point of contact for vendors (e.g. food, merchandise, exhibitors)
- Ensure all required documentation and information is collected in a timely and organized manner
- Rental Coordination
- Liaise with rental companies for equipment, staging, technical gear, and accessible infrastructure
- Manage logistics around deliveries, pickups, and on-site setup
- Administrative Support
- Assist with scheduling, document organization, and internal communications
- Support tracking of festival timelines, deliverables, and budgets
- Help prepare festival materials including programs, signage, and schedules
- Event Support
- Assist in day-of coordination including load-in/out, artist support, and vendor management
- Ensure accessibility features are in place and functioning
- Act as a key support to the Artistic Director and TDC team throughout the event
Qualifications:
- Be between 15 and 30 years of age at the beginning of the employment period
- Lived experience with disability
- Strong organizational and communication skills
- Experience in event coordination and arts administration
- Ability to manage multiple moving parts with attention to detail
- Knowledge of and commitment to disability rights, accessibility, and inclusion
- Creative thinker with strong problem-solving skills
- Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced environment
- Flexibility to work evenings and weekends as needed
How to Apply:
Interested candidates should submit a resume and cover letter to jobs@thedisabilitycollective.com with the subject line “Festival Coordinator Application – [Your Name].” Successful applicants will be contacted for an interview by May 21, 2025. Interviews will take place between May 26 – 30, 2025. Applicants who are invited for an interview will be paid an honorarium of $50 CAD for their time.
The Disability Collective is committed to reflecting the diversity of our community, and will make every effort to identify and remove any barriers to inclusion. We welcome and encourage submissions from individuals of any ethnicity, age, gender identity or expression, colour, country of origin, citizenship status, language, physical and mental ability, size, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, or any other characteristics that make our communities and individuals unique. We recognize that disability has a compounded impact on those at the intersection of other marginalized communities, such as Black, Indigenous, and 2LGBTQIA+ communities, people of colour, women and femmes, fat people, religious minorities, and more.
As a disability-led organization, we want to remove any and all barriers and strive to meet all access needs! For access support, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at team@thedisabilitycollective.com. We will work together with all applicants to ensure their access needs are met.