Residents to discuss future of Creative Arts Festival

Kay Jarrett

Creative Arts invites residents to an open discussion about the future of the Creative Arts Festival on Thursday, January 29 from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. in the Quail Room (woodcarver’s area) of the Creative Arts Center. For more details about the background leading to this meeting, a letter recently sent to past Creative Arts Festival vendors follows:

As one of the PebbleCreek Creative Arts Festival vendors, you know the festival has been a major annual event in our community for almost twenty years. During that time the festival has expanded from a few tables set up in front of what is now the Activities Center in Eagle’s Nest to a gathering of nearly one hundred resident and nonresident vendors selling their one of a kind creations from beneath eighty odd tents spread throughout the parking area between the Creative Arts Center and Toscana’s. Many vendors, both resident and nonresident, return every year because the festival is well-run, profitable and an enjoyable day in the PebbleCreek community.

Under the aegis of the Creative Arts Committee, the PebbleCreek Creative Arts Festival is staffed entirely by volunteers. Long before, during and after the festival, they work hard to make sure all goes smoothly and any loose ends are gathered in. It’s a big job and the number of people actively involved in putting on the festival has become fewer as the years have passed.

Given the amount of time and work involved in the Creative Arts Festival in its current format – a one day outdoor event on the last Saturday in October hosting both resident and nonresident vendors – and the declining number of volunteers participating in festival operations, the Creative Arts Committee voted to suspend the 2015 Creative Arts Festival at its December meeting. Instead, the committee invites you and other PebbleCreek residents to an open discussion of issues concerning the festival including (but certainly not limited to): timing, participation, format, venue and staffing.

The Quail Room (woodcarvers’ area) in the Creative Arts Center has been reserved for festival discussions on Thursday, January 29 from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. Please plan to attend. Bring your ideas and suggestions. We look forward to your participation.