Vinotok 2024 is here!

The 40^th Vinotok Festival has arrived! This year, our community’s Autumn Equinox festival celebrates six generations of co-creators, beginning with the old-timers of the last century and the arrival of this year’s harvest baby. Join us this Sunday, September 15, to celebrate Nature, Community and the Harvest. Come be a part. We do this for you, for us. Here’s to getting rid of our grumps, honoring our place spirit, joining hands as a community and celebrating the abundance we all enjoy. Let us return to balance in all ways. We gather, tell stories, feast and dance through Saturday, September 21 when we put the Grump on trial and burn our grumps away.

Highlights of Vinotok

• “Walking the Way: A Vinotok Pilgrimage.” Visit and engage with the Vinotok Altars. Each Altar has an activity, from journaling and meditating to making staffs and head wreaths.

• Submit your grumps to the Grump Boxes, banishing things that no longer serve you!

• Come to the Community Feast & Medieval Fair. Purchase tickets at Rumors/Townie Books and the Vinotok Booth at the Crested Butte Farmers Market on Sunday, September 15.

• Visit the Fire Temple at the Crossroads Fire Circle.

Vinotok has a week’s worth of events, nearly all of them suitable for kids. Door donations are cash or check only. Read on for the schedule and mark your calendars.

Stoking the external fires

Sunday, September 15 – Sunday of the Sacred Feminine

Celebration of the Harvest Mother and the Vinotok Booth. 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. with performance at High Noon. Crested Butte Farmers Market. Free. 

Celebrate the Sacred Feminine with this year’s Harvest Mother, Mary Nolan, at high noon featuring mummers, drummers, stilters, jesters and forest creatures. All previous Harvest Mothers, Harvest Babies and pregnant women of the community, please come and be honored. Visit the Vinotok Booth to make a headwreath, fill out some grumps, purchase Feast tickets and get more information. Red Tent body art and bodywork will be available for all pregnant women, past Harvest Mothers and Harvest Babies and community members. Great kid’s event!

The Goddess’s Red Tent: Empowered Protection: 6 – 8 p.m. Jerry’s Gym. $10.

Calling all women! Celebrate the goddess within, from the maiden to the crone. This year we will work with the theme “Empowered protection.” This is an evening of embodied movement, storytelling, mythology, creativity, sharing, bonding and uniting. The world needs us! Bring your own goblet, plate, snacks and drink, a chair if you wish, a pillow and blanket, as well as a journal and pen. Wear comfortable, relaxed clothes for dancing and stretching or just relaxing and taking it in.

Monday, September 16

Vinotok: Myth, Meaning & Ritual. 7:30 – 9 p.m. Mallardi Cabaret Theatre. $10.

Join Vinotok Founder, Godmother and Master Storyteller Marcie Telander to learn the secrets, ancient lore, origins and mystery of Crested Butte’s favorite festival and the all-community Harvest Celebration that is unlike any other in America. This event tells you everything you ever wanted to know about Vinotok! Cash bar. Bring your own mug. For adults and mature young adults.

Tuesday, September 17

Frank Orazem Memorial Storytelling Evening. 7:30 – 9 p.m. Crested Butte Mountain Heritage Museum. $10.

It began long ago and endures with stories from the people. The evening begins with a social time of traditional Slovenian Potica bread from Kochevar and Yaklich family recipes and hot chocolate. Celebrate this year’s Green Spirit Award winners Caroline Mclean and Neil Windsor in a special presentation ceremony honoring community members dedicated to stewardship in our home place. Then gather together, like in the old days, to hear way-back tales of Crested Butte and the surrounding area from Sherrie Vandervoort. Sherrie is the second of four Crested Butte generations and has seen many changes in her time. After finishing school at then-Western State College (now-Western Colorado University), Sherrie settled in CB with the love of her life and raised a family. She’s worn many hats, from shop owner to hand-painted clothing creator to ski coach to art teacher. She has a bucketful of stories from the good old days, especially from a child’s POV, and is honored and excited to share them. Bring your own mug.

Thursday, September 19

The Botsie Spritzer Memorial Liar’s Contest. Doors at 7 p.m. Party begins at 8:30 p.m. Lies begin at 9 p.m. at Kochevar’s Saloon. $10.

Kochevar’s is transformed, and community members gather to tell and hear tall tales, whoppers and adventure stories from the community. Prizes for the best liar or raconteur. The Green Man is announced! A naughty, raucous evening. This is a 21+ event. $10.

Friday, September 20

Community Feast & Medieval Fair. 3 – 10:30 p.m. The Crossroads at the 4-Way. To feast: Adults $30 in advance; $35 at the gate. Age 12 & under $15. General Admission $10 (no feast, just fun, gate only). Tickets at Rumors/Townie Books and the Vinotok Booth at the Farmers Market on September 15.

Step into a world between worlds at the Community Feast & Medieval Fair! The entire Vinotok cast will be there in full regalia including the Dragon and the Knight, the Green Man, Forest Creatures and more! Gates open at 3 p.m. so you can make a headwreath, get body art, draw a rune for the year, banish your grumps and beckon your desires. 

The libations tent opens with a cash bar at 3 p.m. with our special Vinotok Village wine by Buckel Family Wines, beer, mead, hot apple cider and non-alcoholic beverages. Ceremonies begin at 5:30 p.m. with a Blessing of the Feast, followed by our Community Feast of seasonal, organic, regional and sustainably grown vegetables and meats. After the Feast, stay for the evening’s celebrations starting at 7 p.m., including an All-Community Marrying the Earth Handfasting Ceremony with Marcie Telander, OISM, where couples, families, friends, partners and the entire community re-commit for a healthy, transforming future dedicated to each other and the earth. Following the Handfasting Ceremony, watch the Induction of the Squires and Dedication of the Grump Indictment Ceremony where the Grump is charged with the grievances of the world and offered gratitude for his sacrifice. Please bring an offering such as a flower or herb bundle to adorn the Grump. You may also leave your paper grumps in the Grump Shrine at the Fire Temple. We’ll have fire-spinning and cauldron fires after the plays. 

Logistics: Rain or shine, we will forge on. This is an outside event, so wear your warm Vinotok best! Bring your own plate, utensils and mug as none are provided. Please no outside alcohol or dogs (service animals excepted) or other pets. Bring your patience and embrace the fluid nature of time – we are a community tribe, not a professional production company. Please note food service is from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. If you have small children and need to bring snacks, please do so.

Tickets: Our delicious feast sells out. Advance tickets are recommended. Tickets are available in person at Rumors Coffee & Tea House/Townie Books or the Vinotok Booth at the Farmers Market on September 15. A limited number of $10 General Admission tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis at the gate for those who’d like to enjoy the festivities but will not be feasting. We encourage you to buy a Feast ticket, though, and bond over a community meal.

Community Feast & Medieval Fair Schedule (please be flexible)

• 3 p.m. Gates open for wreathmaking, body art, runes, minstrels, stilt walkers. Libations tent opens.

• 5:30 p.m. Blessing of the Feast. Food service begins.

• 6:30 p.m. Food service ends.

• 7:00 p.m. Handfasting, Induction of the Squires, Indictment of the Grump and Fire Performances.

• 9 p.m. Drumming, dancing, fire spinning and cauldron fires.

• 10:30 p.m. Feast & Fair ends.

Saturday, September 21 – Celebration of the Autumn Equinox

Street Theatre by cast and crew. 5 p.m. – 8 p.m. (ish). Free.

Cast and Crew of Vinotok take to Elk Avenue for street theatre before the Trial of the Grump.

 Trial of the Grump: 8 p.m. (ish). The Crossroads. Free.

The community puts the Grump on trial with harvest maiden dances and a play of the Harvest Mother, Dragon, Knight and Green Man and Special “Red Lady Forever!” Celebration. 

The performance is amplified and lit so the community can hear and see the tale on the temporary stage. Drumming, dancing, fire performances and cauldrons follow.

Stoking the internal fires

Walking The Way: A Vinotok Pilgrimage 

Vinotok Altars representing the archetypes of the characters are found on Elk Avenue, the fringes of town, and out in the wild. Find an Altar and you’re on your way as each Altar hosts a map; information on How to Pilgrimage; mythology on the Archetype of the Altar; and a special corresponding activity. In visiting all the Altars, you’ll collect all the materials you need to conduct an inspiring and contemplative Vinotok. Meet characters such as the Green Man, Harvest Mother, Earth Dragon, and Knight. Activities range from making a headwreath or staff; a “Marrying the Land” ceremony; meditation and journal prompts; and special Grumps and Gratitudes forms. Original artwork is created by Peggy Morgan Stenmark. In the spirit of reciprocity with the land, you are invited to bring a small offering to each altar. Altar Maps may be found at the Altars. You may also find pilgrimage maps, supplemental mythology, and activity information at www.vinotok.org. A great kid’s activity with tons of fun art projects! (Good for adults too). Altars will be available for the Pilgrimage Sunday, September 15 through Saturday, September 21. They will be fully dismantled by Wednesday, September 25. Free.

The Crossroads Fire Circle

Banishing & Beckoning

The Crossroads at the 4-Way is the cornerstone of our community’s celebrations and the site of the Fire Circle, a sublime and majestic public art installation created by Vinotok Grump Master and Visionary Artkitect Joe Bob Merritt. It will be installed by Sunday, September 15. Interact with the Crossroads Fire Circle throughout the week of Vinotok from Sunday, September 15 through Saturday, September 21. Walk the Labyrinth. Place your grumps into the secure Grump Shrine or deposit them into the Grump when he arrives. Altar activities on the Vinotok Pilgrimage culminate at the Crossroads Fire Circle.

Grump Boxes Are Out!

Got some grievances and gripes weighing you down? Get rid of them in the Grump Boxes! Grump Boxes are found throughout town at CB Ace Hardware, Mountain Earth Organic Grocer, CB Mountain Heritage Museum, The Secret Stash, Kochevar’s, The Talk of the Town, The Daily Dose, Rumors Coffee & Tea House, Mountain Spirits Liquor, The Eldo, The Majestic Theatre, Crested Butte Community School, and the Crossroads Fire Altar. In Gunnison, Grump Boxes will be at The Dilly Deli, Sanctuary Somatics, and Gunnison High School. You can deposit Grumps at the Vinotok Booth at the Crested Butte Farmers Market on September 15. Grump Boxes will be collected on Friday, September 20. You may also submit your grumps at the Grump Shrine at the Crossroads Fire Circle anytime during Vinotok Week, including the Community Feast. Grumps will be ceremoniously disposed of after the Trial on September 21.

For a rousing and image-filled warm-up and the history of Vinotok, watch Founder Marcie Telander’s TEDXTalk, “Transforming Community: Celebrating Our Stories and Spirit of Place” on YouTube. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zO-U8bf3Ihc).

Would you like to help? 

Community volunteers may contact Tricia Seeberg at vinotokvolunteer@gmail.com or (970) 275-2140 for any questions and to find your perfect spot.

Happy Autumn 

Equinox everyone!