Telluride Fire Fest: So Hot, It Was Way Cool

21 Jan Telluride Fire Fest: So Hot, It Was Way Cool

The first-ever annual Telluride Fire Festival was a blazing success. As expected, the five-day event drew attendees from Telluride, Mountain Village and the Four Corners, but also crowds from addresses as far away as New York, Texas, Illinois, and California.

The Wednesday night Festival kick-off featuring fire-themed art took place at Telluride Gallery of Fine Art and Mélange.

Keith.D’Angelo’s.Flaming Heart. Image by Diana Ries.

Thursday evening, MarchFourth Marching Band (M4) made a surprise appearance at The Peaks Resort, giving an up-close, intimate, walk-around performance for the invitation-only, VIP/sponsor reception.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, Colorado Avenue, Telluride’s Main Street, (closed to vehicular traffic), and the Mountain Village Heritage Plaza were aglow with spectacular fiery sculptures, fire art cars and fire performers.

Over the three nights, Fractal Tribe (from Boulder, CO) and Dance of the Sacred Fire (from Carbondale, CO), The Dream Team (from Chicago, IL) and numerous local and regional fire dancers performed their choreographed dances on stages alongside the art sculptures.

“I was excited to support the Gala at the Mine event and it did not disappoint. Walking through the mine elevated my curiosity with surprises around every corner. Outside experiencing the intense heat from the big structure fire was captivating,” raved Greg Pack, President/GM Telluride Ski Resort

“Truly impressive how great the fire festival was right out of the box,” marveled Stephanie Fanos, local attorney.

 ”Performing at the gala was such an amazing experience. I never thought raging in a mine would be so amazing. The music was banging, the art was breathtaking, the food was superb, and that location… Man oh man! Definitely a night I will never forget,” exclaimed Bryan Pope, Festival Fire Performer from Denver.

“Just when you think when you’ve seen everything, our creative community comes up with something new and different. I think the dynamic fire art and performances in the Mountain Village Plaza made it come alive this weekend like never before. We’re looking forward to an even bigger-and-better experience next year,” said Dan Jansen, Mayor of Mountain Village, Telluride.

Duane Flatmo’s fabulous flaming “octopus,” El Pulpo Mecanico.”

A breakdown of Fire Fest specifics at glance follows:

Free activities with a fiery component.

The festival’s free workshops— welding, fire spinning, and fire burning rituals — were completely full.

“We had to close the welding, Poi, and Hoops workshops due to the overwhelming number of registrants. We plan to have more classes next year,” said Erin Ries, Festival co-founder/director

 “The welding workshop was terrific. Jon Hubbard is a fine and patient instructor… A wonderful and uplifting experience, with a great, great group of students,” said Telluride local Lawry de Bivort.

(The class – taught one week in advance – created two decorative fire cauldrons, which were on display on Main Street during the Festival.)

Fire installations and art cars.

El Pulpo Mecanico, the 26-foot-tall brainchild of Eureka, CA, artist Duane Flatmo, one of the festival’s headliners, drew enormous crowds on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights in Mountain Village.

In town, Charlie and Gail Holthausen of Steamboat Springs, CO, captivated the crowds with their Phoenix Dragon of Fire, with Charlie inviting guests to punch the buttons to produce flames from the dragon’s mouth.

Also on display were Breckenridge local Keith D’Angelo’s flaming heart; Oakland, CA local Jamie Vaida’s fire flowers; and the Festival fire art car – “Shack To-Hell-You-Ride” — created by Vaida and Grand Junction artist Alvin Sessions.

Gallery shows.

Telluride Gallery of Fine Art presented “Colors of Fire,” and Mélange, a contemporary art/design boutique, presented “The Fire Inside” at the aforementioned opening receptions.

Arroyo Gallery showcased renowned sculptural artist Michael Christian of Oakland, CA.

Fractal Tribe performers, image by Ryan Bonneau

Evening entertainment:

Friday night, M4 (from Portland, OR) kicked off their performance at the Telluride Mountain Village Conference Center with a fiery outdoor show before rocking a packed house.

Sunday evening, Eufórquestra (from Fort Collins, CO) made their first appearance ever at the historic Sheridan Opera House, performing an extra half-hour to a wildly enthusiastic crowd the closing night of the Festival.

Fundraising gala at The Mine.

Anton’s Wheel of Thwarted Ambition, by Erin Ries

The main event of the Festival – the fundraising gala on Saturday—was a flamer, with attendees staying on until after 4 a.m., dancing inside The Mine to the groove of DJ Phoenix and LoveTribe.

Entertainment that evening also included the high-energy quartet, Samurai Gypsies (from Santa Cruz, CA) inside at the “Club” stage, while four DJs—DJ Harry (Denver, CO), Ryan Strangefellow (Grand Junction, CO), and Jacob Goderski (Telluride, CO) spun outside.

DJ Phoenix and LoveTribe brought down the house with the late night groove at the “Club” inside.

Delicious hors d’oeuvres and chocolate truffles artfully created by Chef Elena Levin were served all evening.

Guests gazed in awe at a plethora of fiery art installations by famed Burning Man artist Anton Viditz-Ward, watching his “tower” burn at midnight.

In addition to the above mentioned fire art, fire breathers, performers with wings on fire and powerful propane poofers lit up the skies throughout the evening.

The Gala was a fundraiser for two non-profits: Telluride Fire Festival and Deep Creek Experimental (DCE), the artist’s collective based at the Mine.

More about the Telluride Fire Festival:

The Telluride Fire Festival, a 501c3 organization, is an interactive fire art experience offering free workshops and outdoor displays of fire artistry free to attendees to enable all to immerse themselves in fire arts. Dates for next year are January 14-18, 2016.

For more information about the Telluride Fire Festival and more fabulous images, to become a sponsor, volunteer, or submit a fire installation for consideration, visit www.telluridefirefestival.org, or email erin@telluridefirefestival.org.