Call it the little festival that could.
Five years ago the first City Park Festival of the Arts drew 300-400 people.
Carla Madison started the event in hopes of increasing membership and participation in the West City Park Neighborhood Association, which she headed.
Although the event only produced marginal increases, the festival has taken on a life of its own.
Event coordinator Paul Weiss estimated about 10,000 people visited the one-day event last year and thinks that number could double at this year’s festival Saturday.
The number of people who make up the festival also has mushroomed.
“The first year it was just a little neighborhood (event) for City Park West,” Weiss said. “I think it was more like ‘Hey Tom, want to come over and show your art?’ ‘Hey Delores, come on over and play the guitar.’ The first year I think we had about 20 artists and nine (performing artists) sets.”
This year, 120 artists and craftspeople signed on to show and sell their works. There also will be 28 booths staffed by representatives from nonprofit organizations; many will offer children fun, interactive educational activities.
“For entertainment, we had 110 applications,” Weiss said. “So we’ll have two-full time stages with a total of 37 sets. And a lot of them are quite well known, like Wendy Woo and Frank Ayala.”
The number of performers wanting to play the festival led Weiss to set up an open-mic stage for those he couldn’t book for the festival.
He said the diversity of the entertainers is representative of the broad range of people who attend the event.
“We have 5- and 6-year-old step dancers, and we also have a group called ‘A Step Above,’ which ranges in age from 74 to 91,” Weiss said. “So one minute you are going to see a 5-year-old girl dancing. Then half an hour later you’re going to see someone who is 91 dancing. That sort of shows how we try to embrace everybody in the community.”
Focus on community is another factor in the festival’s growth. “It really is a special event,” he said. “It is in the charter that every thing as to be local.”
During the first year, “local” meant City Park West only. The next year the organizers added three other neighborhoods adjacent to the park.
They embraced all of northeast Denver, including Montbello, last year. This year they opened it up to fine artists throughout metro Denver.
Great food deals are another reason for the festival’s growth, Weiss said. Visitors can buy a complete meal for $5 from several local eateries, including Bastien’s Restaurant and M&D’s Café.
While the West City Park Neighborhood Association may not be any larger, the City Park Festival continues to chug along to bigger and better things.
Staff writer Ed Will can be reached at 303-820-1694 or ewill@denverpost.com.
City Park Festival of the Arts
MUSIC, ARTS AND FOOD|City Park, East 17th Avenue and York Street; 10-6 p.m. Saturday|FREE|720-205-6506 or cityparkfestival.org
