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A Brief History of the Bigfork
Festival
of the Arts |
It was May of 1978 when the idea of a Bigfork Festival of the Arts was
first proposed. As so often happens in Bigfork, it started with a conversation
on Electric Ave. between members of the community. In this case, George
and  Elna Darrow, Jim Manley, Gerald and Sally Askevold, Don Thomson, David
Shaner and Jeff Wilson were discussing how nice it would be to have a
gathering of some kind during the summer season. From that original group
came the energy to turn the idea into a reality. Over the years hundreds
of dedicated volunteers have continued to expand and enhance the festival,
making it an established summer tradition for people from all over Montana
and the Pacific Northwest. |
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It was decided by this group that an arts festival would be a great event for Bigfork and that the first weekend in August would be a good time to hold such an event.
It was also decided that the first beneficiary of the Festival would
be the building fund for the Bigfork Summer Playhouse. |
David Shaner was a member of the Montana Arts Council at the time and
knew they had small amounts of grant money available for startup projects.
He applied for and got a few hundred dollars to pay Jim Manley a small
stipend to do most of the organizing and to pay for some advertising and
a banner and such. |
| The first festival was held on the first weekend in August
of 1978. It was a resounding success despite the committee's inexperience.
The feedback from the community was very positive and the group agreed that
it should become an annual event. Elna Darrow served as festival chair for
several years. |
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The Summer Playhouse building fund became the Bigfork Center for the
Performing Arts Foundation and the money raised by the festival helped
fund the building of the new Performing Arts Center in the 1980's and
establish a permanent trust fund for the maintenance of the building.
In 1995, Larry Jochim, the BCPA Foundation president, approached the Bigfork
Retail Merchants Association, a sub committee of the Bigfork Chamber of
Commerce and asked if they would be interested in becoming the beneficiary
and taking over the job of organizing and holding the festival. |
| After a short period of deliberation, the BRMA decided the
funds generated by the festival would empower the group to advertise events,
sponsor community programs and fund a high school scholarship program. |
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In 2005, a committee of the Bigfork Area Chamber of Commerce took over leadership of the event with proceeds being earmarked for advertising/marketing Bigfork.
Over the years, the festival has grown steadily to its current size. In 2010, there were more than 140 booths representing a wide variety of arts and crafts by nationally and internationally recognized artists and craftsmen. Festival attendance is estimated to be more than 6,000. |
Now in its 35th year, the Festival fills the streets of downtown Bigfork on the first full weekend in August. Attractions include arts and crafts in all types of media, a wide variety of music and entertainment, a mouth watering assortment of food vendors and a delightful family atmosphere. There is something for people of all ages and interests at the Bigfork Festival of the Arts.
The festival has grown to its current size because of the dedicated work of a core group of volunteers and a large contingent of community members that volunteer for work details during the festival weekend. It takes more than 50 volunteers helping with tasks such as traffic control, trouble shooting, booth sitting, setup and tear-down, publicity, judging and office work to make the festival run smoothly. |
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The Bigfork Festival of the Arts is one of the oldest art festivals in
Montana. The established traditions of quality and hospitality make it
one of the most popular festivals in the Northwest.
For additional information, call the Festival of the Arts Voice Mailbox
at 406-881-4636 |
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