Artist emails - 2024

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 CONGRATULATIONS! You have been selected to participate in the 25th Annual Denver Arts Festival. We are pleased with the quality of art that has been accepted into the festival. We had he most applications ever this year making it one of the most competitive shows ever. We are quite pleased with the quality of the art for 2024!

 PLEASE READ ALL OF THE INFO BELOW

 PAYMENT OPTIONS (PLEASE READ!)
(DUE MARCH 15)

 Please note that you will need to Accept(on Zapplication) but you have two options for payment. If you pay through Zapplication the booth fee is $525. If you want to save money ($30 per booth) you can pay for your booth fees with Checks by March 15. Another reason to pay by check is that I can offer 100% refund if you need to cancel. I can’t offer 100% return with payments to ZAPP since they take a percentage of the payments.

(After that date if you haven't paid for your booth, it will go to an artist on our waitlist.) If you are not able to accept the invite, please let us know ASAP.
 

Payments for electricity, and corners are with CHECKS ONLY. Please use separate checks for each item and we will only cash the checks for those things that we are able to give you. 

Please do not use PayPal since those fees come out of our budget which we would rather use for advertising. I have kept the booth fees the same for the last 18 years due to you paying by checks and the show not losing $3,000+ in fees to Zapp and PayPal. Thanks.

 *Booth $525 (ZAPP)  $495 Check – Save $30
*Double Booth $1050 (ZAPP)$990 Check – Save $60
*Electricity $50 Check ONLY
*Corner booth $150 Check ONLY (limited number of corners)
 

Send all payments to (Make checks out to DAF):
DAF
PO Box 1743
Berthoud, CO 80513
 

Booth Layout:
I have attached the booth layout map. Please email me any booth requests you may have.
We have some early PR opportunities this year so the earlier you accept and pay the better the chances that we can use you in our Press Releases.
 

I will be in touch soon with updates, Hotel deals, Taxes, Insurance, etc.
 

Again, congratulations on being accepted and thank you for supporting the festival.
 

Please contact me with any questions – 303-517-1964.
 

Sincerely,
Jim DeLutes
Director
Denver Arts Festival

Jdphotos7@gmail.com 

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MARCH 8

This email is filled with important info so please do not just skim over it. Thanks!
 

Payments – If you want to check to see if I have your payment, look at your ZAPP status and if it says ‘Received’ that means I have received your payment. If you haven’t paid by the deadline of next Friday the 15th, then you will have to check out through ZAPP which is $30 more for a booth than sending a check.
 

CANOPY RENTAL

If you are needing to rent a canopy, we have a limited number in house that we rent for $200 (Tent, sidewalls and weights) Once those are gone, our rental company has them for $250.

Contact me directly to rent them. jdphotos@earthlink.net 

 DISPLAY PANELS FOR RENT: I have one set of gray ProPanels for rent. They are $100. We will set up and tear down the panels for you. Contact me directly if you are interested - jdphotos7@gmail.com

 Also, keep in mind that if you need any info from the emails I sent so far, you can find them here:
https://denverartsfestival.com/emails 

 INSURANCE AND TAXES
 

These two things are critical to your ability to do the show. As stated in the application, you will need to have liability insurance. 

Insurance –  I have negotiated a good deal on the insurance policy. Go to this link to get your insurance policy and other info about insurance - https://denverartsfestival.com/taxes 

 Taxes (State and City)
 

You will need to have both a special events sales tax license from the State and a sales tax license from the City & County of Denver. You will find applications for both at this link - https://denverartsfestival.com/taxes There are phone numbers for both the city and state listed on that page if you have any questions. If you have issues with the State please call Jamie at the Department of Revenue. That info is on the tax page. You can not get a license online. It must be mailed in or done in person. Do not wait until the last minute since it can take 4-6 weeks to get it.
 

IMPORTANT!!

 BOTH THE CITY OF DENVER AND THE STATE OF COLORADO HAVE STATUTES THAT I MUST GIVE THEM YOUR NAME, ADDRESS, AND SALES TAX LICENSE NUMBERS. I HAVE TO DO THAT AT THE LATEST, 30 DAYS BEFORE THE SHOW. I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE YOU SENDING THOSE TO ME BY APRIL 26.

THEY ARE NOW SENDING OUT $1000 PENALTIES TO ANYONE WHO DOES NOT FILE THEIR TAXES IN THE TIME ALLOTTED.
 

Hotels (These deals will end by April 24thor when all rooms are taken, whichever comes first)
I have a deal for you at both the Staybridge Suites which is half a block from the show and The Residence Inn which is about a mile from the show. The link for the deal is on this page - https://denverartsfestival.com/rentals-hotel-deals 

Do not procrastinate booking since hotels fill up quickly these days.
If you want to search online for hotel deals, the address of the festival’s location is 8304 E. 49th Pl. Denver 80238.
 

Also, I have created a hidden page on the website that has all of the emails that I have and will send. You will also find the hotel information plus the form for tent rental there. There are two ways to access this page. The first is using the following link: -https://denverartsfestival.com/emails

The other way is to scroll to the bottom of any page on the website and you’ll see the pages for the website. At the end of the list is the letter ‘E’ – click on that to go to the email page.
 

Please let me know if you have any questions – jdphotos7@gmail.com
 

Thanks,
Jim DeLutes
Director - Denver Arts Festival
www.DenverArtsFestival.com

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MARCH 26

I have finished the booth assignments and you'll find your booth number at the bottom of this email. If you have a 'C' at the end of the booth number, that means you have a Corner, the letter 'E' means electricity.
I was able to honor about 90% of your booth requests. I did run out of corners before I ran out of artists wanting them. You can see the booth layout map here - https://denverartsfestival.com/booth-layout-map
I still have canopies and ProPanels for rent. Let me know if you are interested.

I will let you know when I have all of the artists posted on the website.

Thanks,
Jim DeLutes
Director - Denver Arts Festival

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APRIL 19

Just 5 weeks away!
Just a few reminders - Please make sure that you have your sales tax license taken care of. There will be someone from the Revenue Dept. coming down to the show and checking everyone. You can show your application and a check that was written if you haven't received your license in time. (At least they gave us a heads-up that they are coming.)

The deadline for making reservations at the hotels is April 24 (this coming Wednesday). Please go to this link for all the info you need for taxes, hotels, insurance and all emails that have been sent.
https://denverartsfestival.com/emails

I've attached the poster so you can use it when posting on social media or sending out emails to your clientele.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

See you soon,
Jim DeLutes
Director - Denver Arts Festival
jdphotos7@gmail.com

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MAY 14

This is a long email but very important. Please take the time to read it. It’s not as long if you just read the info that pertains to your booth for setup instructions.
 

Just 10 days away from setting up on Friday the 24th and I want to fine-tune the setup schedule. Please understand that we have 4 sections to the festival and all four streets are different widths. I’ve tried to figure out the best ways to get everyone in without undue traffic jams. Please be patient during setup. We have all day to do it. If it’s jammed up, go sit in one of the restaurants and come back out when it lightens up. Please remember that we are in a neighborhood so please be respectful especially early in the morning and later in the evening. Thanks.
 

Everyone (with the exception of booths 103-116) will enter the show from one street ONLY and that is 49th Place. DO NOT GO AGAINST THE FLOW OF TRAFFIC OR YOU WILL BE ASKED TO LEAVE AND YOU WILL HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL THERE IS ROOM TO GET BACK IN.
 

I am attaching a map showing flow and direction of traffic. I know that most of you are visual people so I hope this will help. Please print this out and bring it.
 

Just to confuse you more, there are two Valentia Streets, one on the west side of the park and one on the east. Please make sure you’re turning onto the correct one.
 

Booths 1 through 102 will enter on 49th from the east (coming from Verbena St). Booths 1-31 will turn left on Valentia. When exiting you will go out onto Northfield Blvd.
 

Booths 32-44 will continue straight to access your booths. You will exit by staying straight on 49th Place to Uinta Street. Do not make any turns until you get to Uinta
 

Booths 45 – 102 will turn right on Valentia. When exiting you will turn right on 50th Ave.
 

Booths 103-116 will enter on 50th Avenue from the East (coming from Verbena St) and continue straight to access your booths. You will exit by staying straight on 50th Avenue to Uinta Street. Do not make any turns until you get to Uinta
 

Booths 119 through 186 will enter on 49th from the west (coming from Uinta St).
 

Booths 119-156 will turn left on Valentia. When exiting you will turn left onto 50th Ave.
 

Booths 157-186 will turn right on Valentia. When exiting you will go out onto Northfield Blvd.
 

Booths 117-118 Come in on 50th St. from Uinta and park along the curb on 50th near your booths. Please call me when you arrive so we can go over your loading procedures – 303-517-1964.
 

IMPORTANT – PLEASE IGNORE THE ONE-WAY SIGNS ON VALENTIA. THE ROADS ARE CLOSED SO WE CAN GO IN WHICHEVER DIRECTION WE NEED TO. PLEASE FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS ABOVE.
 

LOAD IN TIMES: Due to the sizes of some of the streets we will need to alter some of the load in times. The odd numbers can still come in at 7AM and out by 9:15AM (if you’re done earlier or can get your vehicle out earlier, please do so).
 

The Following Even number booths will begin coming in at 9:30 BUT we will need to stage them into some of the areas due to narrow streets.
 

9:30 - Booths 2-16 and Booths 172 -186 will line up at their respective sides of Valentia at 49th Place. We will then try to get the vehicles that are present into the area in numerical order. You will exit onto Northfield.
 

10:00 - Booths 18-30 and Booth 158-170 will line up at their respective sides of Valentia at 49th Place. We will then try to get the vehicles that are present into the area in numerical order. You will exit onto Northfield.
 

BOOTHS 41-97 AND 110-148
I BELIEVE WE CAN GET ALL EVEN BOOTHS IN STARTING AT 9:30.
 

Remember, you can dolly in at any time no matter what your booth number is, and after 12 noon you can come in anytime there is room.
 

Big Rigs or Large Trailers - We will see if we can get you in. Otherwise, you may have to park on the side street and load in. If you aren’t sure, please call before driving into the show – 303-517-1964.
 

YOU CAN ALSO PARK ON SIDE STREETS AND DOLLY IN AT ANY TIME. PLUS, AS LONG AS YOU CHECK IN BEFORE 6PM YOU CAN SET UP IN THE EVENING UNTIL 10PM (I would advise being done by 8 since it's pretty dark after that). You could also set up just your tent and panels, etc. and then come back in the evening to load your artwork.
 

Again, we have all day to do this. Being patient and working with each other will go a long way in keeping it somewhat sane. I know that’s my personal goal…being somewhat sane.
 

TEAR DOWN - I don’t like a lot of rules with tear down since I believe most of you do this enough times through the year to know what to do. That said, if the weather is dry through the weekend, I want everyone to tear down as much of your booth and artwork before pulling in. The show ends early at 5PM so we have 5 hours before we have to be done. Again, wheeling out may make sense for some of you. Remember, you will enter and exit the same as during setup.
 

Parking - There is street parking all around the festival. If you don’t need to be close, please park a little farther away to leave parking for customers. There is also a lot Northeast of the show at the High Tech Elementary School at Verbena St. & Stoll Place (about 2 blocks from the show). 

THE FOLLOWING PARKING LOT CAN ONLY BE USED AFTER 6PM ON FRIDAY AND THEN ALL DAY SATURDAY AND SUNDAY: At the corner of Northfield and Wabash is the Goddard School (about a block east of the show). IF YOU PARK IN THIS LOT BEFORE 6PM ON FRIDAY, I WILL HAVE YOUR VEHICLE TOWED AWAY. THE GODDARD SCHOOL IS KIND ENOUGH TO LET US USE THAT SPACE AND LAST YEAR ARTISTS WENT IN EARLY AND INTERFERED WITH PARENTS PICKING UP THEIR CHILDREN. 

Although we don’t have an official parking area at the Northfield Mall you probably can park on the outer lots or over by Target.
 

DO NOT PARK IN THE LOTS BY THE RESTAURANTS at Northfield Blvd.
 

Landscaping – When setting up and during the festival please be very careful if you have landscaping behind your booth. Do not lay panels or boxes on any plants (or planters).
 

Check-in - The check-in booth (info booth) will be on the corner of the small park by booth 31. We will set it up temporarily so that we are not in the way. You can pick up your packet. Please put the parking pass on your dashboard. Don’t need it for parking but it will let us know your booth number in case we need to have you move it. Also, you may need to sign the Central Park Right of Entry form at check-in (unless you have done the show in the last few years from.)
 

SECURITY – We have a security team overnight on Friday and Saturday. We have a uniformed Denver Police officer patrolling during the festival hours. Also, I’m at the Staybridge over Friday and Saturday nights in case there are any security or weather issues that need immediate attention.
 

Wind - Since this is Colorado, and for those of you who might be new to Colorado shows, just know that it can sometimes be ‘breezy’ here. That said, do make sure you bring extra weights. Since we are on the streets there is no way to stake your tent. If you’re unsure about whether your booth is secure, feel free to ask me or one of my staff to double-check it.
 

Volunteers (they wear red T-shirts) – Since the pandemic every event I know has had issues with getting enough volunteers. We are also having issues. We’ll have enough to handle everything but instead of getting a scheduled volunteer to watch your booth while you take a break, you will need to call Laura (303-678-3041) and put in your request as you need it. We will send the next available volunteer to you. Please be patient since we might get backed up at times.
 

Insurance - Please make sure to have your insurance forms with you in case we need to confirm that you have it.
 

Show Map – There will be a map of the show at the info booth and also on large A-frame signs at each street intersection. They can also find any artist’s booth number at the info booth.
 

I know this is a long email but the setup instructions have worked great for the past 7 years so please follow all instructions.
 

See you soon,
Jim DeLutes
Director
Denver Arts Festival
jdphotos7@gmail.com
 

MAY 15

I didn’t want to give you too much info yesterday so here are a few items that you need to know.

SALES TAX – 8.81%

RV PARKING (ALSO ARTIST PARKING)

Great news for those who have been asking about staying in their RVs. We have two locations for RV’s: The Goddard School, which is one block East of the show, has allowed us to use their parking lot for the weekend. DO NOT pull into their lot before 6PM on Friday! Please park smart so that we can utilize the space. If there is space left after all of the RVs have been parked, then other artists can use the lot also. RV’s can also park on either side of Runway 35 Park(see attached map) Since both of these are in neighborhoods around the show, be respectful and quiet so that we can use these spaces again in the future. At Runway Park please park on the side of the street next to the park and not in front of the houses.  There is also parking at DSST: Conservatory Green Middle School(see map) but again, do not access this lot until after 6pm on Friday.

WIFI

We tried to find a WIFI service to set up in the festival but could not find one that would work for what we need. The cell signal in the show is okay but not great. So, you may have to do credit card transactions offline and upload later.

 Jim DeLutes
Director
Denver Arts Festival
jdphotos7@gmail.com

__________________________________________

MAY 21

Some further clarity about the setup schedule. The odd number booths come in at 7AM and out by 9:15AM. Even numbered booths come in at 9:30. If you have a double booth you may come in either time and if you want to wait until noon or so, you can come in no matter what your number is (as long as there is room). Also, you can park outside of the show and dolly in anytime you want.

SOCIAL MEDIA - Please make sure you do your part to drive your customers to the festival. Please email or post on Facebook or post on your website. If you haven’t yet, please ‘LIKE’ the festival on Facebook and then ‘SHARE’ some of the posts that we are putting up every day - https://www.facebook.com/DenverArtsFestival/ and for those of you who know how to do live video feeds on FB, etc. – please post some during set up and more during the show.

INSURANCE – If you have your own insurance or if you bought it through our link, please make sure to bring the page showing your coverage and DDAF, LLC as also insured. A clear picture of it on your phone will also work. Remember that Liability insurance is mandatory. You will not be allowed to set up without it. You can get a policy at this link and it takes 5 minutes: https://app.actinsurance.com/events/7590

RESTAURANTS - We have several restaurants at the South end of the festival and several Food Trucks at the north end of the show.

RESTROOMS – There are nice indoor bathrooms on the south end of the show in the building named MCA – The Cube (near Jersey Mike’s Subs) and there are porta johns on the north end on 50th Ave. just east of the show.

PROMOTIONS:
So that you know what advertising and promotions are being done to help you have a successful show, here are some of the promotions we have done:

Our 60+ TV commercials & promos are running on KDVR & CW2. Three hundred Posters have been distributed and 10,000 rack cards are on display around downtown and the Central Park area. Yesterday I was on KDVR Channel 31 during the morning news show. Today I was on Great Day Colorado on both Channel 2 and Channel 31 and on Channel 2 live news show plus Colorado & Company on Channel 9 (NBC). I will be on Channel 9 news on Thursday morning. We have run many online promotions since March with 5280 Magazine. We had a ½ page ad inTHIRST magazine. We had a half page ad in the Front Porch newspaper in May. The Front Porch is distributed to the residents of both Central Park and Lowry hitting 35,000 people. We have a ¼ page ad in Colorado Lifemagazine. We have a ¼ page advertisement in the Colorado APPLAUSE Magazine which is handed out to every patron at the Performing Arts Theatres for the past 4 months and has a 100,000 distribution. We are listed in the calendars of 5280 Magazine, Denver Post, EnCompass Magazine, The Denver Gazette, 303 Magazine and many other outlets.
Our Host Sponsor, MCA, has also done promotions to the residents of Central Park. We have done 2 large targeted emails (110,000) through the 5280 Magazine. Mass emails are going out through several other channels reaching at least 200,000 people who are looking for things to do in Denver. We are on many website calendars (to see how many, Google ‘Denver Arts Festival’). We have done social media promotions through 303 Magazine, 5280 Magazine, KOSI Radio, KDVR and CW2 TV, Only in Colorado plus, the promotions through our Facebook page. We have many online ads and promotions happening this week. Not to mention that our bands have large followings and the bands have been promoting the festival also. Currently, there are large banners on Northfield Blvd. which has over 20,000 vehicles driving by each day plus we have dozens of smaller signs that will be placed once the festival opens.

All told we have well over $90,000 in promotions happening. Please understand that our advertising is very targeted towards upper-income neighborhoods and demographics so to help bring a quality crowd to the show.

There is more that we’ve done but I figured this much should let you know we are serious about promoting the festival. We are still working on more live TV coverage as the weekend gets closer.

I will have at least one more email before the show. I know how much you enjoy reading all of this…

See you soon,
Jim DeLutes
Director - Denver Arts Festival
jdphotos7@gmail.com

PS – Remember, once again this year I am doing booth shots for artists. If you’re interested in getting a booth shot done, talk to me on Friday to set up a time. I usually do them on Saturday morning. Cost is $150.
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MAY 23

Last minute items:

First of all, it looks like good weather. 70’s on Friday and Saturday and 60’s on Sunday (mornings will be chilly with temps in the 40’s.) Please remember your sunscreen and water. Especially those of you not used to the high altitude and the low humidity. The sun can fry you in 15 minutes and it’s easy to get dehydrated when the humidity is 10%. Drink lots of water.
 

No dogs are allowed at your booth (except service dogs).
 

GPS Info – The address to the festival location is:   8304 E. 49th Place Denver 80238

Let me know tomorrow if you are interested in a booth shot this weekend.
 

OK, that should be enough from me. Keep in mind that if you need to get in touch with me on Friday (and you need a quick reply) please call or text me since I will not be checking emails as much –  303-517-1964.
 

See you soon,
Jim DeLutes
Denver Arts Festival
 

PS – If you’re interested in applying to the Affordable Arts Festival, the deadline is next Friday. You can click here to apply https://www.zapplication.org/event-info.php?ID=11881