Posted on May 20, 2014 by Chad Bergman
Where else will you find a family-friendly-fair where more than forty artists offer their creative handiworks within sight of Roxborough State Park’s soaring red rocks and pine-crested Pike National Forest? Add five shaggy “bears,” a car show, food, music, and kids’ activities and you have a week-end the whole family will enjoy.
The Seventh Annual Awakening of the Bears fair will be held on Saturday, June 7 and Sunday, June 8, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Roxborough Park’s Community Center, 6237 Roxborough Drive and adjacent Haney Park.
The heart of the festival is the art. Paintings, sculpture, pottery, jewelry, photographs, wood and other artistic works will be available to enjoy and purchase in the community center and outdoor booths. Proceeds from the fair will be used to enhance the natural beauty of the community with future artworks.
One of the more popular events each year has been the bear parade. Using pots, pans, whistles and noisemakers, children and adults coax the critters out of their camping tents and march with them through Haney Park.
“The kids really enjoy waking up the bears and getting to take a little toy bear home,” co-chair Judy Jones said. After the parade, children can enjoy an art table set up with paint, brushes and other art supplies to encourage the budding artists.
What’s a festival without music and food? A variety of Celtic, bluegrass, jazz and blues musicians will perform on both days. Meals and snacks can be purchased from food truck vendors and affordable, commemorative festival T-shirts will be available.
A few special events are planned for Saturday only. Volunteers from Colorado’s nationally recognized Hawk Quest Raptors Rescue will explain how they recover and care for the wild birds. Car enthusiasts will be able to walk among 25 to 30 autos at the fair’s “Art on Wheels” show. And children can climb aboard a fire truck to operate the fire hose.
Roxborough’s Art Council artists, who operate the Art Gallery at Roxborough Market Place, have planned a new activity for Saturday fair-goers over the age of 12. A one-and-a-half-hour “Paint with Pat and Take a Bear Home” session will be directed by art council president, Patricia Jenkins. Jenkins will provide step-by-step instructions on how to create an acrylic painting of a bear cub which participants keep. Both materials and instruction are included in the $7 registration cost. Since space is limited to 20 people, reservations can be made before the fair by emailing the art committee (see below).
Kids are a focus on Sunday, when after the “Awakening of the Bears” parade, local librarians will offer a story and craft time and children can catch a ride on a 1949 Ford/Pirsch fire truck.
The fair is free and open to the public. For more information, email: theartcommittee@gmail.com
