I personally do not feel a festival is a good place to "try out" your skills, unless you have had really great feedback from family and friends (along with, preferably, unsolicited, spontaneous statements like, "You should do this for money," "That was as good as a paid reading," "I'd have totally paid XXX dollars for that!" etc.) If I were one of the festival organizers, I wouldn't want someone there who wasn't 100% professional and highly skilled, because I'd want attendees to give good word of mouth and to be eager to return the next time, not saying, "Meh, I went to one of the readers there and she didn't seem to know what she was doing."
Hey Apollonia,
***Thanks for your advice. I guess at some stage, i'd like to gain experience some where and 'try out' my skills. Whether it be with friends or family or some one who is paying you. I've had some good feedback from friends and family.
***As for being 100% professional and highly skilled - I don't have any issues with being 'professional'. As for the highly skilled part, I guess that's up to the individual to decide. I'm sure the organisers of the festival are expecting people to be 100% professional and highly skilled. Due to the amount of tarot readers / psychics that do attend these types of events i'm quite certain that the event organisers don't have the time to individually check each tarot reader / psychic and grill them, make them jump through hoops to see if their readings resonate.
***The festival that i'm specifically discussing has an area where about 50 + readers / psychics sit and do readings. Sitters can read a blurb on a wall, and choose which person they would like to see. In the blurb, i'd be writing that i'm still learning tarot and I wouldn't make outlandish claims that I was a 'psychic' and that could predict anyone's future. I'd also probably include that i'm attending the festival to gain more insight into reading for others. It would be totally be up to the individual sitter to select me for a reading.
Also, you may want to keep in mind that you do not want to undercut the professional readers there, at least some of whom probably make their living, or some part of it, doing readings. That could bring on some ill will and resentment that you don't need when you are starting out.
***That's something to consider. However, I have no control over what other people think about me. Again, i'm considering attending, to learn and experience people whom i've never read for before. And to see where my own skills are....
And as others here have mentioned, festivals are often fast paced and grueling. Seasoned professionals can come away from an event feeling spacey, headachey, and exhausted. If you are going to do this, you may want to practice ahead of time by doing 10-12 back to back readings for family and friends, just to see if you can handle the pace. You will need stamina and the ability to stay focused and energized--don't forget that the person in front of you may be the 30th one you have read for today, but for that person, you may be the first or only reader they have ever encountered, and you want to give them as good, accurate, and enthusiastic a reading as you did for the first 10 people.
*** I understand what you're saying and thank you for pointing out that the festivals can be fast paced and gruelling. But is it honestly a realistic expectation of anyone to say to anyone, oh just do 10 - 12 hours of readings back to back to see I can handle the pace? I think not.
I'm assuming I'd pay for a space - a table and 2 chairs. Perhaps I'd only be paying for a space and I'd need to provide the table + chair. I'm assuming you'd be paying for a certain amount of hours to be sitting doing the readings. So therefore you wouldn't HAVE to do 10 - 12 hours back to back. I'm pretty sure you're allowed to take breaks whenever you need to and you'd organise your readings with a time sheet, so you could allow for breaks.
*** It sounds like you're preposing that I create a sweat shop environment and just churn out the readings, just to see if I can keep up with the pace. Again, I thank you for the advice, and am aware that the event would be fast paced, however - like in any situation, if I don't like it, I can leave. I'm not looking to make a career out of reading tarot. Sure i'd like to do it on the side, if that eventuates. However, I won't be heart broken if I never become a 'professional reader'.
And my final word: Hydrate continuously.