The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“We’re here to bring the festival culture back, free to everyone”
By Katherine Nettles
After being displaced for the past several years due to COVID and other factors, the 2024 Crested Butte Arts Festival is preparing to return to its historic location on Elk Avenue this year from Friday, August 2 through Sunday, August 4. And according to festival executive director Andrew Arell, vendors and attendees alike have expressed their approval of this return. There will be a few changes to the Arts Festival layout and footprint within the historic district along Elk Avenue, but Arell says so far things are looking smooth aside from the need to gather more critical event volunteers.
This year will be the self-described “contemporary mountain eclectic” art festival’s 52nd occurrence. After being cancelled in 2020 due to COVID, with a virtual art auction held to assist artists in promoting their work, the arts festival was relocated to the Crested Butte Community School (CBCS) parking lot beginning in 2021. This allowed a gated entry and helped maintain social distancing measures. The festival remained located at the school for the succeeding two years, as the advent of restaurant “parklet” seating on Elk Avenue presented operational challenges to carrying out the event in its pre-COVID layout.
That location in some ways allowed the festival to have its own dedicated area, but many people also felt it took away from the spirit of a festival in the heart of town. Arell took the reins of the festival in 2023, so this is his first time putting on the iconic CB event in its original location. “This is my second go-round, but my first time trying to pull it off on Elk,” he says. But he recognizes it has been long desired by many.
“I’ve heard nothing but clamoring by the public to get the festival back on Elk. And the school is under construction, so we can’t continue in that location this summer,” he explains. “We’re trying to integrate it back to its native home and do so in a way that doesn’t impact the businesses negatively.”
Arell says he began reaching out to the businesses along Elk earlier this year to be proactive and that communication has worked well.
“We have a great slate of local business partners, some of which are brick and mortar on Elk,” he says. “We’re not displacing the CB Farmer’s Market either,” he says of the Sunday market that occupies the first few blocks of Elk.
“We won’t have the full run of Elk as in the past,” says Arell.
The festival will cover four blocks of Elk Avenue with vendor booths, starting on the 500 block and ending at Third and Elk. The 200 block of Elk (the post office block) will also have about 10 artist booths, and therefore the entire 200 block will be closed to allow for pedestrian travel.
On the Fifth Street art alley there will be the festival’s usual kids’ crafts, and then the north side of Fourth Street will hold the art auction tent. “So we’re spilling into the side streets as well,” says Arell.
The festival’s traditional food vending on the north side of Third Street will continue with some food trucks and booths. However, the live entertainment component of the festival will be moved from Third Street to a portion of the parking lot by Sherpa Café on Sixth Street near the Four-Way. There will also be a beer garden in that area.
Arell encourages attendees to check out the entertainment schedule and support local performers. “Another way we like to nurture and sustain local art is we only hire local talent,” he notes.
There is no gated entrance (a COVID relic being discontinued) and no charge for entry to the festival this year, which means attendees can browse freely or come and go throughout the long weekend. “We’re here to bring the festival culture back, free to everyone,” says Arell. “We will be able to have more of an outdoor beer and wine garden adjacent to the entertainment. We heard people really loved that in the past, so we’re happy to bring that back this year. And we’re hoping that it is all going to function really well.”
As far as the booth space layout, that is left to a seasoned expert, Jason Green, who Arell refers to as a legacy contractor for the festival and who also lays out the Cherry Creek Arts Festival.
“He knows how to get it done, and I have put my full faith in him to pull off a successful event.”
A juried affair
The return to Elk may already be paying off, as Arell says the festival is experiencing less attrition than in previous years. Being a juried fine arts event, artists must apply anew every year, and a jury of five judges makes the final choice of vendors.
Applicant numbers have been slightly lower in recent years than in the past, but appear to be coming back a bit. “That may have been associated with the pandemic or dropping the Elk Avenue location,” says Arell. At the height of CB Arts Festival popularity, there were applicants in the range of 700 or so, and the past few years those applicants dropped to the 400 range. “So, we’ve had a much smaller pool to jury from. But we are now in the 500s, so we are happy to see that. And there are so many more arts festivals to compete with now,” he acknowledges.
Each year applicants apply from November to February, and in mid-February the festival seats a five-member jury panel. “There is an online platform artists use to submit their artwork, and juries spend about a week judging the participants,” says Arell.
The judges include three local artists and two regional artists from within Colorado. “We do like to have some representation locally, and had Ivy Kim, Michael Mahoney and Mary Schmidt,” says Arell of the local judges who selected artists for this year. “We want local insight, local perspective, but also some diversifying perspectives. Without going too far afield, we found other artists from within Colorado including James Dixon, a sculptor from Denver, and Keith Secola.”
In the heyday, the festival had about 170 artists on Elk. “This year we put out invitations to about 150 artists, knowing not all of them would come, and we have seated around 125,” says Arell. He emphasizes that the continued support of the festival’s presenting sponsor, Signature Properties, has made a huge difference in putting on the event, and all sponsors contributing to the arts in Crested Butte year after year make a difference in its success. “We appreciate their support,” he says.
He says the idea is to re-establish the festival on Elk Avenue into the future, if possible. “I certainly hope we can. We always prefer to host this on Elk Avenue. And we always hope for good weather.”
Arell notes that the festival is still seeking critical volunteer support, and anyone interested in helping out can visit the volunteer sign up linked on the website at www.crestedbutteartsfestival.com/volunteerrecruitment.
More information can be found at www.crestedbutteartsfestival.com.
