The city of Boulder has entered into negotiations with
Boulder Creek Events for a contract to put on the Boulder Creek Festival.
Boulder Creek Events (BCE) has traditionally run the
Memorial Day weekend event, but the company has
been in a dispute with the city for years about who actually owns the festival.
Calder Grey, purchasing coordinator for the city of Boulder,
confirmed in an interview with Boulder Weekly on Thursday that the city
attorney’s office has entered into talks with Boulder Creek Events, but no
contract has been issued yet. Grey said the deadline for completing the
negotiations is Oct. 28, but that date could be extended if the two sides are
nearing an agreement.
He said the fact that the city and BCE are negotiating was
intended to be confidential.
“I think the cat got out of the bag,” Grey said.
The other companies bidding to manage the festival were DBC
Events and Colorado Events. The request for proposals was issued on May 27, and
bids were due June 30.
Grey said he doesn’t believe that compensation for running
the festival or the dispute over the event’s ownership are part of the
negotiations. Payment to the event production company is usually a set percentage
of the proceeds, he said, and the legal wranglings over who owns the festival
are a separate issue.
In response to a request for comment, the three BCE directors — Executive Director Chris Dailey, Director of Communications Meg Denbow and Director of Business Operations Kara Wiegand — issued the following statement: “Boulder Creek Events is entering into contract negotiations with the City of Boulder for the 2012-2014 Boulder Creek Festivals. It has been our privilege to produce the festival over the past 13 years, and we are looking forward to continuing this community tradition in the years to come.”
