4th Annual Telluride Fire Festival, 12/7 – 12/9: Overview

03 Dec 4th Annual Telluride Fire Festival, 12/7 – 12/9: Overview

The 4th annual Telluride Fire Festival takes place this year from Friday, December 7 – Sunday, December 9, with an opening reception at the Slate Gray Gallery on Thursday, December 6. All-access pass, $95, here.  (Tickets includes Fire Ball and Fire on the Mountain; both nights at Transfer Warehouse; Fireside Soiree at The Bob.)

The over-the-top, super hot Fire Ball in the Great Room at the St, Sophia Ridge takes place Saturday, December 8, 9 p.m. – 2 a.m. Tickets for that here.

For a “Hot Time in the Old Town,” visit Telluride Arts’ Transfer Warehouse, a new venue for Fire Fest, Friday and Sunday evening, 5 – 8 p.m.

For further information about Fire Fest, go here.

The Doors released their monster hit in 1967.

Erin Ries and Chris Myers, co-founders and directors of the Telluride Fire Festival, are making the refrain of “Light My Fire” real again in 2018.

Come on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire

The 4th annual three-day fire art happening takes place Friday – Sunday, December 7-9. Festival-goers will be entertained by mesmerizing fire spinners and towering fiery art in Town at the 100-year-old, iconic Transfer Warehouse, a new and matchless venue for this year’s event titled “Hot Time in the Old Town.” Friday and Sunday, 5 – 8 p.m. Tickets $15; 12 and under are free, but must be accompanied by an adult. 

Each year in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, a city of more than 70,000 people rises out of the hot dust for one very special week. During that time, enormous fire art installations are erected, many of which are ritually burned to the ground, never to be seen again. The Telluride Fire Festival honors that cultural phenomenon by showcasing stunning works of art that are largely exclusive to that now-legendary gathering.

Phoenix Dragon, image, Ryan Bonneau

Maciej, by Nicko Ferguson.

Keiths Heart & Aerial, by Nicko Ferguson.

LOVE by David Westman.

The Telluride Fire Festival ignites on Thursday, December 6, 5 – 8 p.m., with an exhibit and reception at Slate Gray Gallery featuring the work of Keith D’Angelo in a collaborative project titled “Out of Focus.”

Fire performances and fire art installations Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights; during the day, free flow arts workshops will be available for people of all ages at Telluride’s Wilkinson Public Library.

Friday evening, after the Transfer Warehouse event, the many highly skilled fire performers invite guests to head over to The Black Box (aka, Bob Saunders Theater) for an up-close and personal cabaret style performance of mind-bending stunts and comedy – sans fire.

Saturday night, December 8, features the wildly outrageous Fire Ball in North America’s highest nightclub at 10,535 feet: St Sophia Ridge. The event should wow all with music, fire performers, aerial silk spinners, jugglers, open bar and more. Plus, Fire Ball attendees have access to the Fire Sculpture Garden atop the ski area in Mountain Village.

A few of the new fire installations:

Arizona fire artists Chris Turner and Michael “Oaks” Wright, new to the Festival, are creating a unique piece, which will be lit from within. Their work is entitled “Pinwheel Snowflake.” Skiers get to marvel at the complexity of its design during the day. Then, in true Burning Man form, “Pinwheel Snowflake” burns to the ground Saturday night during the Fire Ball.

Returning artists:

Returning artist Keith D’Angelo has a new fire sculpture at the Fire Sculpture Garden along with an exhibit of “Out of Focus – A Visual Commentary On Gun Violence” at Slate Gray Gallery.

Jamie Vaida’s contribution to the Festival is an interactive sculpture called “Flaming Marionettes.”

Telluride Fire Festival Daily Event Schedule:

THURSDAY, December 6
Out of Focus: Keith D’Angelo Slate Gray Gallery, Reception, 5:00pm – 8:00pm

FRIDAY, December 7
Gallery Exhibit: Keith D’Angelo Slate Gray Gallery 10am – 5pm
Intro to Hoop Juggling: Juan Guardiola Wilkinson Public Library,* 11am – 12pm
Musicality of Motion: Jacquie Imhoff Wilkinson Public Library,* 12pm – 1pm
Fire Performances, Fire Installations: Historic Transfer Warehouse, 5pm – 8pm
Fireside Soirée: Homestead Circus Productions, The Bob, 8pm

SATURDAY, December 8
Stained Glass Workshop: Marty Langion Ah Haa School for the Arts** 10am-4pm
Glass Blowing Workshop: Dave Jordan Ah Haa School for the Arts** 10am-4pm
Gallery Exhibit: Keith D’Angelo Slate Gray Gallery, 10am – 5pm
Buugeng Workshop: Kimberly Bucki Wilkinson Public Library,* 11am – 12pm
Beginner Juggling: Jared Janssen Wilkinson Public Library,* 12pm – 1pm
Free Fire Dancing Performances: Reflection Plaza, 5pm – 7:30pm
Fire Ball with Live Entertainment: Great Rm-Gondola Station St. Sophia, 9pm – 2am
Fire on the Mountain, atop chair 7 (Free with the purchase of a Fire Ball ticket)

SUNDAY, December 9
Stained Glass Workshop: Marty Langion Ah Haa School for the Arts,** 10am-4pm
Glass Blowing Workshop: Dave Jordan Ah Haa School for the Arts,** 10am-4pm
Gallery Exhibit: Keith D’Angelo Slate Gray Gallery, 10am – 5pm
Poi Workshop: Ben “Dreads”, Dream Team Spinners Wilkinson Public Library,* 11am – 12pm
Fire Staff Workshop: Aidan Gibbons Wilkinson Public Library,* 12pm – 1pm
Fire Performances, Fire Installations: Historic Transfer Warehouse, 5pm – 8pm

* Workshops at the library are free, but must be reserved online, in advance as space is limited


**People can choose either Saturday or Sunday for Ah Haa School for the Arts workshops

Gallery exhibit, Flow Arts Classes at the Library and Saturday’s fire performances at Reflection Plaza in front of the Madeline Hotel are free to all. 


Historic Transfer Warehouse:

Transfer Warehouse became a shell of its former self. Image, Molly Perrault of Telluride Arts.

Before its roof collapsed in 1979, the stone building was a downtown garage and filling station. In 1906, before the advent of the automobile, the cavernous, two-story space was the barn for the local livery and the center of the Warehouse District that served the mining industry. It was a bustling hub where people and goods flowed from the trains, through the building, and out into the town and the mines. The stone (roofless) building is a perfect backdrop for fire art, Plans are now in work to transform the skeletal structure into a center for the arts on Telluride’s art corner.

Sponsors
:

AmeriGas, Brown Dog Pizza, CCAASE, Cosmopolitan Restaurant, La Pizzeria Lasagneria, Gelateria, Madeline Hotel & Residences, Mountain Living Magazine, MTNtown Magazine, New Sheridan Hotel & Chophouse, Oak, Beer, Bourbon & BBQ, Scott’s Printing, Siam, SilverStar Luxury Properties, Telluride Ski Resort, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, and The Victorian Inn.