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52nd Carbondale Mountain Fair, Carbondale, CO, July 28-30, 2023

Fees: Jury $50, Booth $400, pick your space $435, corner $500

Medium: Leather: plain and hand carved equestrian, K-9,

personal leather goods and gun leathers.

Price Range: $4 cast iron skillet handle pad to $9,800 silver mounted

saddle.

Web site: https://www.carbondalearts.com/mountain-fair/

This event is not listed on Zapplication

     The 52nd Carbondale Mountain Fair was held in Sopris Park, a grassy city-block park with large old shade trees. The big draw for the event is the live music.  The stage is at the NW corner of the park, about 130 artist booths are along park perimeter and internal aisles. The booths are far enough away from the music, whose volume was well controlled, so artists could converse with clients.  All mediums were represented, the quality was high, and there was no buy/sell.

     Carbondale is a small town with a population of about 6,500.  It is in the northern end of the Roaring Fork Valley which extends from Glenwood Springs at the north on I-70 to the ski areas of Aspen and Snowmass to the south in the mountains. It is a bedroom community for workers in Aspen.  Forty-four percent of Carbondale is Hispanic. The Roaring Fork Valley is one of the most affluent areas of Colorado and the US. The Aspen/Snowmass skiing complex and summer recreation drive the economy of the region.  Carbondale is about 3 hours from Denver and about 1 3/4 hours from Grand Junction, CO by way of I-70 and Colorado 82. Travel through Glenwood Canyon is still subject to brief or total closure due to flash flooding. Debris from burn areas has closed I-70 when it rains in the canyon.

     Mountain Fair is a BIG COMMUNITY DEAL! Besides the live music there are: runs, raffle, yoga, police-firefighter tug-o-war, aerialists, and a creative art canopy. Then there are competitions for: singers/songwriters, pie and cake baking, fly casting, horseshoes, limbo, pottery throwdown, and wood splitting by men and women. There is always something going on that draws crowds who then disperse to the artists’ booths. For a more complete list of events, visit their website. A bilingual program is published.

The event is ecofriendly.  Besides the usual “trash” and “recycle” containers, there were “compost” containers. No bottled water is sold.  Utensils and plates from the food vendors were also compostable. Single use plastic bags are banned. Besides the artists, there were booths for massage, Gay for Good LGBTQ organization, Hemp/CBD products, and silent auction. Beer was sold and there was an alcohol-free zone. Crowd estimates are over 20,000 and it is said that the town population triples during Mountain Fair. Besides locals, I made sales to people from all over the US. I especially like bartering with my Hispanic friends where I get to use my rusty Spanish.

     Locals refer to Carbondale and area as ”a bubble” different from everywhere else.  The crowd was a mix of 30 somethings Aspen chic; scruffy ski bums and snowboarders waiting for the first snow; a few bikers and ranchers; lots of ink, dreadlocks, wealthy retirees, young families, and everything in between and on the ends. Fashions, jewelry and bearing spoke of lots of money. Many arrived on very expensive bicycles and large bike corrals are provided.  Overall, I was thinking 1960’s hippies fast forwarded to 2022.  There were young girls, teens, young women and the older generation with flower crowns and theme of the day costumes. Saturday the police wore “oil slick” as they described it or tie dye. Bubbles the Rainbow Trout composed of over 4,000 salvaged aluminum cans paraded through the park. I felt right at home with my long locks, gold earring and headband. It was not the usual western saddle maker image.

SET UP AND TAKE DOWN. Check-in was at 2:00pm Thursday and extended until noon on Friday when the fair opened. The Rules say you have 30 minutes to unload before beginning your setup. Take down began at 5:00pm Sunday and artists were supposed to have everything down and ready to load before parking on the perimeter of the park.  This was well managed this year with volunteers after a free for all in 2022.  Musicians played after 5:00pm during take down.  Professional security is provided Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. During the day, Carbondale police were doing walk abouts.

     Show hours are noon until “dark” Friday, 10:00am until “dark” Saturday and 10:00am until 5:00pm Sunday. There was misleading information in the artist packet this year which stated the show opening 9:00am. I stayed open until 7:00 on Thursday and 8:00 on Saturday. Once the live music starts there are few buyers wandering around. Electricity is not available. 

Sunday morning was slow, but a gospel rock band livened it up.

WEATHER. The temperature was in the low 90’s. I errored in  choosing my booth by one space and the sun from 3:00 to 5:00 was brutal.  There was a brief light sprinkle Thursday, and a microburst and shower Saturday. It was humid for Colorado, but nothing compared to eastern US humidity.

THE SHOW.  This is a well-organized and managed show run by Carbondale Arts, a volunteer organization.  This was the fourth year I have done this show.  Sales tax of 8.4% is collected at the end of the show. This saves you from reporting it to the state.  They request that you have a FEIN or SS when paying your sales tax. Booth sitters were available.

THE NUMBERS.  Sales were slower this year than 2022, which was one of our record shows, however, sales exceeded expectations. There were sales of belts, holsters, canteens, check books, suspenders, billfolds, wallets, dog collars and small cases. Belts with sterling silver buckles and multiple item sales kicked up the gross. Sales ranged from $4 for a cast iron skillet handle to a multi-item $500 sale. The average sale was $66 and total sales were in the low $5K range. I will apply to this show in 2023 and pick one of the shady booth sites. Lodging costs in the Roaring Fork Valley were up this year and, in some cases, more expensive than ski season. We stayed in Battlement Mesa with our daughter and commuted 1 hour 10 minutes to the show. Fuel costs for the entire trip and the commutes ($385) were about equal to one night’s lodging.   

SHOW SUGGESTIONS. For the most part you could not ask for a better managed show but there is always room for improvement.

1. The no plastic bag rule was not observed by the popcorn vendor again this year. I specifically bought Kraft bags for this year after I was told not to use my plastic bags imprinted with my logo in 2022.
2. The website and program published the opening time as 10:00am but the artist packet says opening time is 9:00. I heard about that one from Jean who likes to sleep in.
3. Kudos to the volunteers managing load in, morning entry manning the barricades, and load out. It was a BIG improvement over 2022.
4. Suggestion: I had more than the usual number of returning clients from years past. Would management consider a page or two in the program for returning artists to advertise with business card size ads? It’s another source of income for the show and a benefit for artists.
5. Photos, crowd, Bubbles, Gospel rock group, early Sunday morning rockers