Thank You for Another Amazing Mountain Fair!

All I have to say is: GO TEAM! Holy moly, Carbondale, you showed up! Thank you, to all of you who arrived at Sopris Park day after day to create so much community, so much community fun. My heart is filled by the generosity of spirit of the 500+ volunteers who helped build the fair (literally), the local restaurants who fed the fair, and the incredibly hard working and brilliant problem-solving Carbondale Arts staff + Mountain Fair Directing team. If you know them, please give them a hug --- and then give their partners a hug. It is no small feat.

Thank you to Laurie Loeb, the mother of the fair, and Amy Kimberly/Mark Taylor, the soul of the fair. Your big hearts, incredible creativity, and endless talents leave me humbled and inspired. 

And thank you to everyone who came to the fair. Thank you for every drink you drank at the Cantina, supporting our nonprofit community, thank you for supporting those amazing vendors, participating in the contests, cheering everyone on, and hopefully dancing, dancing, dancing.

You're the best, team. Let's do it again and again. 

xoxo

Jamie Abbott
(Carbondale Arts Executive Director)

Each year we hear folks say, “Mountain Fair is my favorite weekend of the year,” and in its 52nd year, we felt that community love for fair-time in each nook and cranny of our three-day celebration of art and community spirit. It’s a time in the year where folks unabashedly don their favorite bold colors and try out new modes of expression; youth perform original songs on the Oasis Stage; budding aerialists of all ages climb and stretch on silks in the Open Space; a local artist pops up their very first vendor booth; first-time fair-goers try out a hippie shimmy shake on the dance floor; the Mother of the Fair, Laurie Loeb, tries beat-boxing during the Opening Drum Circle! What a unique and beautiful culture we have created together during the Fair that makes this kind of creative sharing and expression possible in community with one another. 

Even though the favorite weekend of the year has come and gone, the culture and spirit of Mountain Fair is alive and well beyond the last full weekend in July. The fair reminds us of who we are, together, while also celebrating each and every one of our generous contributions. We had record volunteer sign ups and more helping hands during set up days than we can remember. The numbers are still coming in, but we know we had a successful event raising funds and making friends at Carbondale Arts.

Until next year,

Deborah Colley
(Mtn Fair Chief of Operations)