2008 Craft Vendor Information

As we are gearing up for the 2008 Festival season, we are eagerly searching for the best vendors who will offer fine crafts and complete the Festival experience for our Festivarians.

Please download a copy of the craft vendor letter and read it carefully before submitting any vendor applications.

Amazingly creative and unique booths add extra sparkle to each event. If you've got such a booth, then you can earn a little jingle while enjoying three weekends of great acoustic music throughout the summer. Deadlines for each event are as follows:

  Application Deadline Acceptance Notification
Telluride Bluegrass March 15 March 29
RockyGrass March 29 April 12
Folks Festival March 29 April 12

Please note that due to the quantity of applications we receive, deadlines are strictly enforced. Applications must be postmarked on or before each deadline date. Please do not call to find out whether or not you have been chosen. Those who are accepted will be notified prior to or on the acceptance deadline.

What We’re Looking For...

Telluride

We are in search of 30 Craft Booths. We are once again expecting a sold out crowd of 11,500 lively Festivarians on each of the four days of the Festival.

RockyGrass

We are looking for 12 Craft Booths. We anticipate that we will once again be joined by 4,000 joyous Festivarians on each of the three days of the Festival.

Folks Festival

We are seeking 12 Craft Booths. We anticipate that we will once again be joined by 4,000 joyous Festivarians on each of the three days of the Festival.

General Booth Information

Booth space is limited to a single story, 10' X 10' square area, including all wires, stakes, poles etc. As vendors are placed in a line, each vendor is only given ten feet of space that is open to the crowd. Vendors are allowed an additional prep area directly behind their booth, which is not to exceed 10’ X 10’. However, the size of individual prep areas varies by event and by booth location due to the physical layout of the festival grounds. Also, no vehicles are allowed in the prep area.

If you require additional space you must make ADVANCE arrangements and you will be charged accordingly. Your booth fee includes only ten feet of space open to the crowd. If you require more, please submit a diagram of your booth and be prepared to pay for additional space.

You are responsible for constructing, furnishing, lighting, maintaining and removing your own booth materials, leftovers and trash. You must have:

The appearance and ambiance of your booth is critical to the overall atmosphere of each of the festivals and the audience's perception of the events as a whole. We highly encourage imaginative booth designs, flags, banners, etc. and expect cleanliness and a safe, well-maintained area for all Festivarians.

At each of the events the concessions line is laid out on dirt, so it can get a bit dusty. We do water the area in front of the booths throughout each of the festivals in an attempt to keep the dust to a minimum.

Due to the ever-changing weather conditions in Colorado, we recommend that concessionaires lay down some type of flooring (preferably wood) in their booths to avoid the possibility of damaged merchandise due to snow, rain and mud. Be prepared for any and all types of weather.

Booth Fees

Booth fees for each event include:

Telluride

Booth fees are $1,125 for Craft booths. Additional employee tickets are $175 for a 4-Day Pass and $60 per day for single day tickets.

RockyGrass

Booth fees are $535 for Craft booths. Additional employee tickets are $125 each for a 3-Day Pass, $45 for Friday and $50 each for Saturday and Sunday.

Folks

Booth fees are $415 for Craft booths. Additional employee tickets are $105 each for a 3-Day Pass, $40 for Friday and $45 each for Saturday and Sunday.

Please be sure to order your extra tickets early! Due to the fact that we have experienced sell out capacities over the past few years, additional tickets most likely will not be available at the festivals, and may not even be available through the above stated deadlines.

Booth Selection

With each passing year, we have seen an increase in both the quality and quantity of applications we receive. This makes the process of picking the lucky few who will join us on Planet Bluegrass more and more difficult. We are interested in incorporating actual Artisans and crafts people (i.e. products that are created by the concessionaire in the booth vs. items that are imported) into the lineup, in order to add to the overall creative ambiance of each event. In the juried selection process we take the following into account, in roughly the order stated:

  1. Handmade and/or self designed products.
  2. Uniqueness, creativity and quality of products.
  3. Previous relationship with Planet Bluegrass, including; sales success, event cleanup, as well as staff and other concessionaire relations.
  4. Community and county residency.
  5. Willingness to comply with sponsorship, recycling, composting and other production plans.
  6. Applications to have booths at other Planet Bluegrass events.
  7. Complicated or unusual physical needs, including set up, size, electrical, etc.
  8. Willingness to remit sales tax within the county.

Booth Placement

Booth placement is included with the acceptance information and is made at the discretion of Planet Bluegrass based on the following:

Deposit

A booth deposit of $100 is required for each festival. The deposit is collected to ensure payment of sales taxes, respect for the festival grounds, and proper clean up. Deposits will be returned by mail (generally within one month), after an inspection of your site by a representative of Planet Bluegrass and your sales taxes have been paid. Your site must be clean with all trash, building materials, food leftovers and waste removed from the area. If you leave your taxes or area in disarray, you will be forever banned from being a Planet Bluegrass concessionaire.

Electrical

Each booth will be supplied with two 110 volt outlets. Any additional power needs must be specifically set forth in the application.

You will need to furnish your own interior and exterior lighting. All electrical equipment that requires electricity and all other electrical conducting equipment including steam tables, grills, power strips, or multi outlet taps and extensions cords must be grounded and rated for OUTDOOR USE. Extension cords should be 14/3 and at least 50 feet long (preferably 100 feet). We ask that each booth bring electrical tape with them to waterproof all connections. All the power outlets in the festival grounds are very sensitive to moisture and will trip the circuit breakers if extension cords aren’t grounded or if any connections between cords get wet. Detailed electrical requirements will be set forth in the acceptance letter.

Pets

No pets. No pets. No pets. No exceptions.

Insurance

All concessionaires must have insurance before they will be admitted to the festival grounds. If you have an active liability insurance policy for a minimum of $1,000,000, and can provide a certificate of insurance, great. Please staple a copy to each event application that you are submitting. If your policy will be renewing between the application deadline and the event, it is your responsibility to make sure that we have a copy of the current certificate at least two weeks prior to the beginning of the event.

If you don’t have your own policy, we need to collect $75 per event, and will provide you with a certificate of insurance upon request. If you fail to include a certificate or payment, and we are unable to contact you prior to our purchase of the festival insurance policy, be forewarned that you will be added to the policy and therefore liable for the $75 before you will be given access to the festival grounds.

Employees & Families

As always, children 12 and under are free and we encourage everyone to bring their families to all Planet Bluegrass events. Upon arrival, please bring all children to the Box Office to get a kid’s wristband. We have had some problems in the past with children twelve and under not being able to gain access to concessionaire areas through restricted gates, due to their children’s wristband. If you have children or employees that are twelve and under, be forewarned that they will only be allowed to enter the area through the front of your booth. Please make all of our lives easier, and only hire employees over the age of twelve.

Product Restrictions

Due to town contracts, no glass containers, Styrofoam, breakable plastic, carry-in alcohol or weapons are allowed in the festival grounds. Please adjust your product line accordingly.

If you carry products that are made of glass or other materials that could be potentially harmful if broken, you will be required to supply and use packing materials such as boxes or bubble wrap to ensure that these items can be transported outside the festival grounds without any damage to the item or to any fellow Festivarians.

Booth acceptance is based on the understanding that you will sell only those items listed on your application. You may not sell any additional items without our express consent. In addition, you may not sell any items that refer to the festivals, such as "Telluride Bluegrass," "Bluegrass in Telluride," "Bluegrass," "Planet Bluegrass," “RockyGrass,” “ The Rocky Mountain Bluegrass Festival,” “ The Folks Festival,” “Folks,” “Mabon,” Festival of the Mabon,” etc. In some cases we make arrangements for the licensing of our goodwill, but we strictly protect our tradename and would hate for you to have a garage of inventory and nothing to do with it. Please call should you have any questions at all.

Taxes

Sales taxes must be paid on all items sold at the Festival. If you have your own Colorado sales tax license, then you may remit your taxes directly to the state. However, you must report your gross sales to Planet Bluegrass at the end of the Festival. If you do not have your own sales tax license, you may remit your sales tax to Planet Bluegrass and we will pass it along to the state.

Application Procedure

To apply, please complete and return the following, postmarked on or before the above stated deadlines:

Download applications:

Mail all information to:

Laura Larson
Planet Bluegrass
PO Box 769
Lyons, CO 80540

Acceptance

On the date of acceptance notification as set forth above, I will call or e-mail all of those lucky concessionaires who have been accepted. Shortly after notification I will deposit the checks of accepted applicants and return the checks of those declined. Additional details and other important information will be sent upon acceptance.

Feel free to call or e-mail with any questions. Because I work from my home office most of the time, e-mail is my preferred method of communication. However, you may leave me a voice mail and I will get back with you as soon as possible.

We are eagerly at work on another great festival season for everyone. Any comments you can provide regarding any area of the show will be greatly appreciated!

Laura Larson
(303) 823-0848 Ext. 108
(303) 823-0849 Fax
[email protected]