New plans for a virtual event to help local businesses that normally target Boulder Creek Festival attendees were announced Monday. The event was rescheduled from Memorial Day Weekend to later this summer because of the coronavirus.
Denver-based event company Team Player Productions has launched a new “Bazaar Times” platform online for artists to host live sessions from a virtual booth aimed at achieving the experience that can be had by patrons of the festival, a city news release said.
Many of the small businesses that participate in Team Player Productions’ summer festivals, including Boulder Creek Festival, do not maintain brick-and-mortar storefronts. A majority of their business sales come from hosting vendor booths at live events typically busy throughout summer, the release said.
“We approached this idea originally to promote our artists and vendors that usually participate in the Boulder Creek Fest as that event was postponed until July 31. As many staple summer events began to cancel, we saw a bigger need for something like this to support our local community,” Jason Ornstein, owner of Team Player Productions, stated in the release. “We’ve been lucky that we can reschedule several of our events for later in the year, but that does nothing to help these businesses now, as they’re usually ramping up into their busiest season.”
The virtual edition of the Boulder Creek Festival will be open for online business this holiday weekend from Friday to Monday.
“Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, the city has pivoted to work and offer services remotely,” Boulder Director of Parks and Recreation Ali Rhodes stated in the release. “We’re excited that this virtual marketplace helps support small businesses and with this kick-off, honors the event’s long-standing history as the beginning of summer.”
Those who log into the online event will be able to speak with vendors.
“What really takes this to the next level is that artists can interact with visitors to the site. There are live video functions to converse with vendors as if you’re actually in their booth with them to ask questions, place orders and hear their story,” Skyler Radis, Vendor Manager at Team Player, stated in the release.
Businesses can sign up at bit.ly/BoulderBazaarTimes. Participation is limited to Colorado local businesses, and applications will be reviewed on a first-come-first-serve basis. For more information, visit BoulderCreekFest.com/, or follow @bouldercreekfest on Instagram and @bouldercreekfestival on Facebook.
The Boulder Creek Festival event is currently set to to take place July 31 to Aug. 2 this year, instead of in May, due to the pandemic.
