Volunteer

2023 Festival Dates and Times

Friday, July 7 | 1 – 8 p.m.
Saturday, July 8 | 11 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Sunday 9 | 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Volunteers are the backbone of the Colorado Black Arts Festival. Volunteering can be a deeply rewarding experience where you can make an immediate and lasting difference by building a stronger community.

To make this community event successful, the Colorado Black Arts Festival needs 300 dedicated volunteers for the three-day festival event, pre-festival set-up, and post-festival tear-down.

These are great volunteer opportunities for individuals or groups to help at the Colorado Black Arts Festival and be a part of something that supports the entire community. Please help us make the Festival a huge success!

For Corporations

When your business partners with the Colorado Black Arts Festival, you instantly get access to volunteer opportunities to connect your employees to a community event where they live and work. Whether your employees want to invest in their community through charitable giving or volunteerism, or both, the Colorado Black Arts Festival provides the opportunity.

For religious organizations and social-civic groups

Partnering with the Colorado Black Arts Festival provides excellent opportunities for civic engagement, team building, and sharing.

Visual Artist Relief Staff

Provide relief to the visual artists from their booths in order for them to take needed breaks during the hours of the festival. You will oversee the artist’s booth as well as communicate with festival guest. This is a great way to talk to the guests and get to know the visual artists and their work. Volunteers must be age 18 or older.

Inventory Specialist

If you want to make sure the Festival is successful and support our partner community non-profit organizations at the same time, this is the position for you! You will work with the Beverage Manager to ensure that our beverage booths, and lemonade stands are well stocked at all times. As the beverage inventory manager you will be responsible for the distribution, tracking and documenting of product inventory and supplies. If you are age 21 and want to make a real meaningful contribution to the Festival and get acquainted with people making a real difference in the non-profit sector we could sure use your help. Some lifting will be required.

Opalanga D. Pugh Children’s Pavilion for Art and Learning Assistant Coordinator

This is a kid’s place for fun! Join the Museum of Nature & Science, History Colorado, the Denver Zoo, Colorado Symphony, Denver Botanical Gardens, community leaders and CBAF’s staff to create a place for fun, art making and interactive learning activities for kids ages 2-13. This is a popular spot for parents too as they make art along with their children. We need your help helping kids have a wonderful time.

Facilities Maintenance and Clean-up

Roam event venue, collecting trash from bins that are at capacity, replacing bins with new trash bags, and taking trash to designated collection area; tearing down trash bins at the end of the Festival. Identify opportunities to clean up trash or other items detracting from the aesthetics of the event. Golf carts will be used for these tasks.

Preferred skills: manual dexterity, ability to walk/stand for long periods of time (~4 hours), ability to lift full trash bags out of trash bins and place new bags in the bins; communication skills to alert event managers of the need for additional trash supplies.

Help CBAF be the cleanest arts festival in the country!

Performing Arts Stage Crew Member

If you have experience with the production of stage acts or want to learn about all aspects of producing a stage this is the position for you! You will set-up and strike down stage equipment and props for all acts and will be responsible for the protection of stage equipment. You will be available for assistance to performers if they need it and you will be responsible for proving hospitality to the performers. You will be responsible for helping to make sure the show goes on without a hitch!

Performing Arts Production Technician

Want to assist the stage manager with the smooth production of some fabulous acts? If you have experience as a stage production backline technician or want to learn all about it we need your help. You will be responsible for setting up and striking-down, and maintaining backline equipment on the stage. You will also be responsible for assisting the sound and lighting technician, if needed.

Festival Set-up/Tear-Down Crew

Ever wonder how City Park West is transformed into a colorful spectacle over-night? Well, it’s because of dedicated people who want to make the festival a place that the community will be proud of. We can use your help on Thursday starting at 8:00 AM and Sunday night after closing to make this happen. We will also need help on Monday morning after the festival.

Festival Grounds Keeper

Believe it or not, stuff needs to be repaired or maintained during the festival. Things happen and we need the help of people like you to make sure festival structures and equipment are in tip-top shape for the duration of the festival. Join us in keeping things looking great and working right for all to enjoy – be a part of grounds keepers’ crew.

Sponsorship Fulfillment Specialists

This position makes sure the Colorado Black Arts Festival provides a sponsor the rights and benefits in accordance with the sponsor’s contract. You will work with the Director of Development to make this happen. This is a very exciting job!

Documentation Specialist (Photographers and Videographers)

Documentation of the festival is essential to the success of the Colorado Black Arts Festival (CBAF). Documentation is used in our marketing and sales materials to promote the festival event on the CBAF website, Facebook, YouTube, print media, television commercials, and press kits. Documentation is required to solicit grant funds, and it provides historical documentation of the festival event and the organization. If you have digital or video camera experience, and want to make a significant contribution to the CBAF this is the job for you!

CBAF Office Assistants

If you would like to give us a hand as a virtual office assistant, we can use your help. The CBAF is also looking for people to help with laminating.

Marketplace Vendor Assistants

This is a very busy and people savvy position. You must have good communication skills, able to problem solve and be willing to practice diplomacy to ensure the Marketplace runs smoothly and efficiently. This position will require pre-festival preparation and a very heavy time commitment during the actual festival with early arrival times. This position is responsible for marking vendor spots, checking-in vendors, making sure vendors comply with set rules and space assignments. Also, you will be monitoring for “guerilla marketing” from non-registered vendors and other duties as assigned.

Traffic Attendants

This is not the most glamorous job, but it is one of the most important jobs during the Festival event. We need courteous but firm people to handle this responsibility. Observance of Denver Park and Recreation’s traffic and parking rules must be upheld to ensure we continue to have use of the City Park for our Festival event! You will guide vehicles to designated parking areas as specified on the hang-tag displayed in the vehicle (Such as staff, VIPs, performers, emergency vehicles, handicapped). Ensure there is no double parking. Ensure vehicles enter and exit the park on designated streets only (one way in and one way out) for smooth traffic flow. Assist security, and police to direct vendor traffic during festival set-up and strike-down. Ensure that vehicles are not blocking emergency lanes.

Ample signage and barricades will be in-place to help you with this key assignment.

The goal is to have 2 traffic attendants for each assigned area.

Volunteer Coordination

You will assist the Volunteer Coordinator pre and post Festival. You will help operate volunteer headquarters located at the event site. If you are upbeat and ready for anything, we need you! These responsibilities include:

Coordinating with local and national volunteer centers and organizations
Emailing and/or making calls to volunteers who have registered on-line
Matching volunteer interest with opportunities and needs
Assist Volunteer Coordinator with volunteer training
Establishing positive and friendly rapport with volunteers
Scheduling volunteers
Greeting volunteers at check-in
Offering snacks and beverages to volunteers

Survey Data Collector

You will encourage our festival audience to participate in an online survey at our survey kiosk at the Festival. People that participate will spin the wheel for a chance to win a prize. This is an important position because it lets us know who makes up the festival audience so we know how to market the festival for the next year and so our sponsors know who is being exposed to their brand. To support the festival financially, it is important that our sponsors want to return as repeat sponsors.

It also gives us important information regarding our programming so we know if we should make program improvements to make sure that we keep our audience coming back and so we can increase our attendance.

Information Booth Attendant

You will be available to give answers to the questions the audience has about the festival. You will give our audience the location of the different pavilions, stages, restrooms and other information. The Information Booth is also our lost and found station, including help to reunite lost children with their parents. As you can see, this position is very important to our audience!

Public Relations Team Member

If you have a PR or marketing background this is the position for you! If you don’t have PR or marketing experience but you are a fast learner with computer skills, you can still do what it takes to promote the festival. This is the marketing arm of the festival. You will help get the word out about the Festival by way of press releases, community calendars, public service announcements over the TV and radio, help with writing and obtaining talent for commercials over network and cable TV stations, and help write articles for print media.

Assistant to the Gospel Stage Coordinator

The Gospel Stage Coordinator is responsible for the production of African-American gospel music for one of CBAFs most popular stages. Responsibilities of this position include, but are not limited to:

Booking and staging performances with church choirs, gospel ensembles, soloist, quartets, musician, etc. – ability to ask for free performances to support the community is a great asset
Ensure the stage has dynamic emcees
Ensure the stage has backline technicians to look after, set-up, and maintain backline equipment and assist the sound and lighting technician as required
Ensure stage hands availability for set-up/strike-down
Ensure adequate hospitality is available for performers
Ability to communicate effectively and professionally with CBAF staff, performers, corporate partners, church ministers, and volunteers
Ability to determine, discover talented performers, and talented budding artist
Ability to manage the production, collaboration, and all technical elements of a performing arts stage

Scavenger Hunt Attendant

This fun and engaging volunteer opportunity is responsible helping to operate the event-wide scavenger hunt. Festivalgoers love the Scavenger Hunt! You will ensure that selected Festival venues and activity areas have the answer assigned to their area prior to the start of the hunt. You will explain the hunt procedures and directions to the venues and activity area staff. You will give participants scavenger hunt instructions and a list of clues; then send them on their way throughout the entire festival grounds to gather the answers from festival venues, sponsors, vendors, etc. At the completion of the hunt the participants will have learned a lot about African American arts, culture and history. Once done, the hunt participants will submit their answers to you for scoring; then they will be allowed to spin the wheel for a prize. Needs: 2-3 attendants on duty at the point where hunters turn in their answers at all times for this activity.

Colorado Black Arts Festival