Every Labor Day weekend for a half-century, a magical village has appeared in Manitou Springs. It’s a village of creatives displaying artwork in various media and their neighbors making music, painting faces, fashioning balloon animals and creating giant bubbles.
Commonwheel Artists Co-op member Julia L. Wright has been the Labor Day Art Festival coordinator for most of those years. She sort of stumbled into the job in 1976 and is so good at herding the creative cats that it’s hard to imagine anyone else doing it.
“I tried to take a sabbatical in 1993 and train someone, who lasted just that year. And again in 2000 for three years, I was not the coordinator, but in 2004, I got the festival coordinator job back,” Wright says.
She doesn’t do it alone, of course — it takes many people to build that village in Manitou Springs’ Memorial Park.
Besides Wright, the festival committee members are Valerie Bartron, Phyllis Cahill, Helen Smithwick, Ginny Maiolo, Frank Maiolo, Susan Odlam and Maggie Quinn. They meet monthly year-round, handle publicity and assign jobs to other co-op members, who are required to spend at least six hours handling festival-related tasks.
Musician Kiera Lynn will coordinate the waste pick-up volunteers and the musical lineup, which is funded by the Manitou Arts, Culture, and Heritage (MACH) program. Artist Katie Curcio will oversee the Kids Arts Activity booth and Susan Odlam gathered more than 20 prizes from local businesses; free prize-drawing tickets will be available at the festival information booth.
The park will be home to 93 artists booths. Some artists share space, while others need two booths. Wright says this year’s participants include 74 from Colorado, with six from Manitou Springs and 36 from Colorado Springs. Twelve artists are from other states, a decrease from previous years that Wright blames on the pandemic and rising gas prices.
🎶 Live Music Schedule
Saturday, Aug. 30
- Noon–2 p.m. — Interrobang
- 2:30–4:30 p.m. — New Vintage Jazz
Sunday, Aug. 31
- Noon–2 p.m. — Amoré Sun
- 2:30–4:30 p.m. — Moonflower Mirage
Monday, Sept. 1
- Noon–2 p.m. — Roma Ransom
- 2:30–4:30 p.m. — Patchwork Jack
Among those artists: jeweler Suzy Hunt Gardner, who has participated for seven or eight years and tried to get in for many years before that.
“I love the other artists and the vibe of the festival! It’s well run and the customers are lovely. You get a wonderful mix of locals and tourists, but they all seem to be people who are interested in art and understand the time and creativity it takes to be an artist,” Gardner says.
David Ball will staff the C.H. Rockey booth, selling the late Manitou artist’s books and prints. He enjoys seeing the locals who like to connect with the legendary Rockey’s work.
“Commonwheel does a great job at managing the festival. It’s great for the entire town and a vital part of the Manitou identity,” Ball says.
For Colorado Springs potter Jennifer Hanson, “It’s a bonus that it’s been around so long. When I mention it to locals, everyone seems to have heard of it.”
As Wright explains, the festival helps patrons learn more about the art from the people who created it. “It also brings people to Manitou Springs to learn about our town and entice them to come back and explore it at some later date.”
The 51st festival takes place 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 30, Sunday, Aug. 31, and Monday, Sept. 1, in the 500 block of Manitou Avenue. Information: www.commonwheel.com/festival.html.
Parking is always scarce in Manitou, so check www.commonwheel.com/map-parking–manitou-shuttle1.html for parking suggestions and information about the free shuttle.
Visit www.commonwheel.com/2025-festival-food-vendors.html for information about festival food.