More than 300 volunteers plan and run the festival

Algonquin Founders' Days is possible thanks to the legions of volunteers who will work throughout the four-day festival this weekend.

Algonquin Founders' Days President Kevin Myers estimated more than 300 volunteers will be on hand at some point during the festival.

More than 80 percent of those volunteers are from local businesses affiliated with the Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Chamber of Commerce, according to the group's executive director, Sandy Oslance.

"Businesses volunteer because it gets their name out there and also helps the community," Oslance said.

The Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Jaycees, Lioness Club and the Chamber of Commerce team up each year to work on the festival, and the Chamber's contribution is to organize volunteer efforts.

To keep costs down, the festival employs no paid staff outside the people who operate the carnival rides.

The festival's volunteers are responsible for running every other aspect of the festival, with a focus in four areas: the front gate, the information booth, selling carnival tickets and working the individual free events.

"We learned years ago that the beer garden is always the most popular place to volunteer, so we try to fill up other things first," Oslance said with a laugh.

Most of the festival's events are free, including the musical performances and the parade.

Some volunteers only work a couple of hours during the festival, while many board members dedicate hundreds of accumulated hours over the span of a year, planning every detail of the festival.

"The board takes a month off after each year's festival, and then starts meeting to plan next year's," Oslance said.