About ArtsFest
Allentown ArtsFest was created in 2014 as an
alternative to the modern art festival. The event strives to fill in gaps
frequently left by festival programming. Many talented artists miss out on their
chance to get involved in such an event due to being too different or not
fitting a mold. ArtsFest has no mold, it’s an event that is always searching
for something people have rarely seen.
The mission of ArtsFest is to challenge
not only ‘what is art?’ but also what
art can be. For this reason, ArtsFest
covers a wide variety of mediums, such as: graffiti, stand-up comedy,
technology, upcylcing, assemblage sculpture, dance, film, theater, spoken word, and a vast range of
musical genres. The festival is run solely by volunteers and will always be
FREE for everyone, of all ages.
2014 saw nearly 6,000 guests in attendance and 2015 is expected to draw more than 10,000!
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We Want YOU To Sponsor ArtsFest!
The festival does not currently have any major corporate sponsorships. It is too unique and too new of an event for many larger companies to take a gamble on. And at the same time, we will only work with companies & organizations that reflect the mission and idea behind ArtsFest. We won't take money from just any company and slap their logo on our brand. ArtsFest is important to us, we want it to stay pure and will not sacrifice our morals for funding!
We are more interested in working with small businesses and individuals as sponsors. It gives those involved a feeling of ownership in the event and it builds on the community aspect that the organization was founded on.
We'd rather have small sponsors who support what we do and want to be on the front lines with us, much more so than some faceless company who wants to promote their new product!
So that means we need YOU to step up and help ensure ArtsFest keeps going for many years to come!
Why Are Sponsorships Important?
The only way funding comes in for ArtsFest is through vendor booths, grants, donations & sponsorships.
We've already covered the sponsorship category... and we're a very new Non-Profit (March 2015), which hasn't given us enough time to receive grant money. So the only other funding that comes through for us is from vendor booths and donations.
Our vendor booths are VERY reasonably priced, if you compare them to other festivals of this size or smaller, they are actually pretty cheap. We do this to help ensure that our vendors make money off of the event. This means the vendor booths are only able to cover a small percentage of the total cost of the festival.
Donations come in many forms; this could mean a company donates use of equipment instead of having to outright pay for it, that cost would be calculated and they would become a sponsor at that price range. Since we're a Non-Profit, all financial support, regardless of where it's from, is a donation. Which makes the contributor a donor. This is how many companies such as PBS or NPR stick around.
We've had a handful of donations, but nothing to put a dent in the actual cost of the festival. Which again, leaves the best avenue for covering the rest of the funds in the hands of the sponsors!
The only other funding that comes through for us is that we actually handle the sales of all alcohol. Being a non-profit, we are able to apply for a limited liquor license through the Liquor Control Board and sell alcohol legally. But this means more costs, much more. We have to buy all of the alcohol up front, and as last year proved, that can be a costly venture. Because of the long rainy day last year, not enough people bought the amount of beer needed to cover expenses and it only put us FURTHER in the hole!
We will be selling delicious craft beers again this year from Sly Fox, Hijinx,
The Other Farm, Saucony Creek, Funk Brewing & newcomer Soul Brewing. Our goal is to go INTO ArtsFest breaking even so that any profit will fund future gallery programs.
The Cost of Doing Business
Now that we've covered how the festival relies on paying its bills, one thing that hasn't been covered is the COST of running a festival such as this.
For those who haven't been involved in organizing outdoor events, there are A LOT of expenses that you would never expect to have to pay.
- Fencing in the entire festival ($4,300)
- Tents, tables & chairs ($2,500)
- Generators & Lights ($2,500)
- Stage, stage equipment, backline & sound team ($4,300)
- Portable restrooms & hand washing stations ($2,800)
- Allentown Police Department, EMT, Fire Police & Overnight Security ($6,000)
- Insurance ($3,000)
- Water, Dumpsters & Trash Removal ($1,000)
- Clean Team ($900)
- Permits/Fees/Licenses ($500)
- Advertising/Merch ($2,500)
- Cups & Beverages/Beer ($5,000)
TOTAL = $35,300
And that's not even ALL of the expenses. Those are rough estimates of some of the things we had to pay for, with probably another $4,000-5,000 in addition to that. Which means ArtsFest costs about $40,000 to put on!
Once you start to break it down, even $8,000 doesn't go a long way.
In 2014, the festival made nearly $30k LESS than what the bills added up to. Which meant the Alternative Gallery spent the better part of the year paying off those expenses out of pocket. That's no small amount of money either, imagine what programs we could have created or what else we could have used that money for.
Our goal for 2015 is to go into ArtsFest breaking even, so for the next year, we can fund MANY more programs.
ALL funding obtained through this fundraiser will cover some of our larger expenses such as fencing & staging.
What's In It For Me?
Aside from that awesome fuzzy feeling you get all over from doing a good thing and supporting a community event, there are some really great perks for becoming an individual sponsor of ArtsFest.
We've taken the time to see what people like to take home with them from festivals, art shows, looked through cool perks in other campaigns, and overall just tried to avoid giving away run of the mill items.
NOTE: We WILL ship International, please message us with your location to determine shipping rate.
Obviously one of the things people love the most are shirts. Shirts can be a way to promote something you love or support, they can give you a clear voice without having to say a word, or even offer insight into what kind of stuff you like.
So this year we have 3 different shirts for ArtsFest!
Our first shirt is the ArtsFest Logo Shirt. This is a 1-color screen print on a cotton shirt. We had these last year and they've become a crowd favorite so we brought it back! IMPORTANT: Make sure you note what size shirt you need and select either White or Black shirt.
Our second shirt is the ArtsFest 2015 Shirt. This is a 1-color screen print on a cotton shirt. IMPORTANT: Make sure you note what size shirt you need and select from the following color shirts: Red, Green, Yellow or Blue.
Finally, we have the big daddy of the shirts, the FULL COLOR ArtsFest 2015 shirt! The additional colors makes this much more difficult to make and more expensive!
These are limited edition so get yours while you can!
Again, please note what SIZE you need. These shirts will only be printed on white.
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Next we have the poster for ArtsFest 2015 by artist Steven Leibensperger.
The $10 level will get you a regular 11x17 poster print.
The $100 level will get you a 18x24 beautiful EXCLUSIVE velvet poster print.
And the $250 level will get you a hand signed & numbered Limited Edition Full Color Screen Printed Poster!
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And for those of you unfamiliar with the Alternative Gallery, the organization that hosts ArtsFest, we do this type of stuff all year long!
The Alternative Gallery is a Non-Profit (501-c3)
organization founded in 2012 in Allentown, PA. The mission of the gallery is to
strengthen communities through art and education. The Alternative Gallery aims
to create a space that is open and welcoming to all, and involves those who
wouldn’t typically enter an art gallery. Located in the Cigar Factory, the
Alternative Gallery hosts hundreds of events a year including live music, a
weekly open mic, dance competitions, art classes, screenings, workshops, art
exhibits & more.
Many of the events the Alternative Gallery hosts are free, but there are also a LOT of other events that are pay at the door. This is how we help to cover the expenses of running events and also help to pay the performers & artists who take part in these events.
Starting at the $50 level, you can earn free entry into either events OR classes at the Alternative Gallery!
Other Ways You Can Help
We know not everyone can spare the extra change to help support our cause, and that's ok! There are plenty of other ways you can pitch in and help us out!
Most importantly, would be sharing this campaign and letting people know what we're doing. We want to keep ArtsFest as grassroots as possible and word of mouth is as grassroots as it gets!
You can also invite people to attend ArtsFest when it happens, from Sep. 11-13th. It is after all a FREE event!
https://www.facebook.com/events/1601064986812559/
And of course, ArtsFest is only able to happen at all because of the amazing team of volunteers we have running it. Literally every single person from the Event Coordinator to a 1-shift volunteer does this solely for the support of the cause.
You can easily sign-up to volunteer by following this link:
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c054baaaa2aaaf...
We thank you for even taking the time to read this far, you must REALLY love the arts!
Thank you all and we hope to see you at ArtsFest 2015!
Sincerely,
The ArtsFest 2015 Crew