Songbird Ocarina is looking for a friendly, expressive, music-loving person to join us for the 2026 Texas Renaissance Festival in Todd Mission, Texas.
This is not a typical retail job.
At the Renaissance Festival, you are part salesperson, part musician, part performer, and part ambassador to a magical little corner of the world.
We don’t pressure, pitch, or chase people down.
We play. We entertain. We connect. And we invite people into music.
If you love talking to strangers, being a little theatrical, making people laugh, and turning someone’s curiosity into “Wait… I can actually play this?”, you may have found a very unusual job.
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🏰 THE SHOW
We’ll be at the Texas Renaissance Festival, one of the great Renaissance festivals in the country, in Todd Mission, Texas.
2026 season:
October 10 through November 29
Saturdays & Sundays
plus Thanksgiving Friday
This is an eight-weekend commitment, so we’re especially interested in people who can work the entire run.
The Festival is an immersive 16th-century village with fantasy elements. Everyone who works with the public contributes to creating that world.
That means you aren’t simply standing behind a counter waiting for someone to buy something.
The booth is your stage.
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🎵 ABOUT SONGBIRD OCARINA
Songbird Ocarina has been creating high-quality musical instruments since 1989.
Ocarinas are ancient wind instruments that are wonderfully approachable: small ones sing high, big ones sing deep, and a complete beginner can often make a beautiful sound within minutes.
Our job is to create the moment when someone walking past hears an ocarina, stops, smiles… and wanders into the shop to discover what made that sound.
And sometimes walks away as a musician.
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🌟 WHAT YOU’LL ACTUALLY DO
You’ll:
• Play ocarinas to attract and entertain passing festival guests
• Cheerfully welcome people into the shop
• Talk comfortably with strangers all day
• Demonstrate different instruments and explain their differences
• Help people choose the right ocarina
• Encourage nervous beginners to try one
• Help children and families have a memorable experience
• Learn a playful Renaissance-style character and presentation
• Use humor, storytelling, music, and personality to draw people in
• Transition naturally from performing → helping → selling
• Keep the booth inviting, organized, and alive
You don’t have to arrive knowing how to play an ocarina.
We’ll teach you.
But you DO need to enjoy performing, interacting, and being noticed.
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🎠THIS IS RETAIL THEATER
Texas Renaissance Festival expects its participants to help create the immersive world of the Faire.
That includes things like:
• Renaissance-appropriate costume
• Character and personality
• Period-style greetings and language
• Playful interaction with patrons
• Knowing your “trade”
• Improvising when conversations go somewhere unexpected
• Creating an entertaining way to attract people to your shop
We’ll help train you for this.
You don’t need to arrive speaking like Shakespeare.
But if the idea of developing a Renaissance character sounds fun rather than embarrassing, that’s a very good sign.
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🧙 WHO WE’RE LOOKING FOR
Musical experience is wonderful, but personality matters more.
We’re looking for someone who is:
• Warm and genuinely friendly
• Expressive and outgoing
• Comfortable approaching strangers
• Playful without being obnoxious
• Curious
• Reliable and punctual
• Emotionally intelligent
• Comfortable around children
• A good teammate
• Excited about costumes and the Renaissance Festival atmosphere
• Willing to look a little ridiculous occasionally in the service of making someone’s day
Actors, musicians, dancers, teachers, theater people, cosplayers, Ren Faire veterans, enthusiastic weirdos, and naturally charismatic humans may feel particularly at home here.
Shy people can absolutely learn sales.
But if spending an entire day enthusiastically interacting with strangers sounds exhausting or horrifying, this probably isn’t the right job.
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🎶 YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE A MUSICIAN
One of the great things about an ocarina is that it’s approachable.
When someone tells us:
“I’m not musical.”
Our response is:
“They don’t require talent, just good taste.”
Then we put an instrument in their hands.
Sometimes thirty seconds later they’re playing their first notes.
That’s the magic of this job.
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🧠WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
We’ll train you in:
• Ocarina playing and demonstration
• Our different instruments and their sounds
• Engaging people without pressuring them
• Helping customers choose an instrument
• Moving naturally from demonstration to conversation to sale
• Renaissance-style patron interaction
• Developing your character and presence
• Using music as an icebreaker
• Reading people and adjusting your approach
• Creating memorable interactions
And because you’ll be playing throughout the day, you will become a better ocarina player simply by doing the job.
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đź’« THE SONGBIRD VIBE
We take our instruments seriously.
We do not take ourselves terribly seriously.
Expect music, laughter, encouragement, improvisation, bad puns, delighted children, curious adults, occasional elves, wandering royalty, and people dressed as creatures whose species may require further investigation.
Our goal is for someone to walk away thinking:
“That was one of the most fun shops at the Faire.”
Even if they didn’t buy anything.
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🏹 A REALLY IMPORTANT PART OF THE JOB
Playing beautifully isn’t enough.
If you’re playing an ocarina and someone walks into the shop, the person becomes more important than the performance.
Stop.
Welcome them.
Ask questions.
Help them explore.
Let them try things.
Find out whether they’re a musician.
And if they aren’t?
Maybe they’ve finally found an instrument that’s fun and easy to learn.
• A little about yourself
• Where you’re located
• Whether you can work the full eight-weekend run
• Any experience with music, theater, performance, teaching, Renaissance Faires, customer service, or sales
• Whether you’re comfortable wearing Renaissance costume
• And most importantly:
Why does this particular job sound fun to you?
Musical experience is not required.
Personality, reliability, curiosity, and willingness to engage with people matter enormously.
If you already play an instrument, tell us what you play.
If you’ve never played anything, that’s okay too.
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🎶 For the right person, this is a ridiculously fun job.
You spend your weekends making music, meeting fascinating people, dressing for the Renaissance, and introducing complete strangers to an instrument they may end up loving for the rest of their lives.
Welcome to the Ocarina Shop.
Let’s turn some strangers into musicians.
Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.