Sweet Pea Festival Forced to Cancel Bite of Bozeman
Bozeman, MT - Sweet Pea Festival of the Arts announces The Bite of Bozeman is going on hiatus this year. Several reasons have contributed to the Festival’s decision, chief among them an inability to procure the number of food vendors needed to give the community the top-notch event they should expect from Sweet Pea. In its heyday, The Bite of Bozeman had 50 local restaurants and food vendors participating in the annual event. This year, the number of food vendors able to commit to the event was much lower. Of those who declined to participate, most cited a lack of staffing as the main reason for their inability to participate. Sweet Pea Festival of the Arts Executive Director Kris Olenicki states, “We will take this next year to reimagine and revamp The Bite of Bozeman. We believe this is a great opportunity to bring something new and exciting to Bozeman. Although it has been a much-anticipated summer event for many years, we are simply unable to host The Bite of Bozeman the community has come to know and love. We already have begun the process to create a new event for next year that is true to our mission—“where (food as) art and community meet.” Vendors that did sign up to participate will receive a full refund, and the Downtown Bozeman Association has offered to try to fit any committed vendors into the August 4th “Music on Main” event should they wish to participate.
ABOUT SWEET PEA FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS:
The Sweet Pea Festival is a three-day festival of the arts held in Bozeman, Montana, since 1978. Festival dates are always the first full weekend in August with other events, such as Chalk on the Walk starting off the festivities of Sweet Pea Week. The festival includes everything from music, theatre and dance, to children’s activities, an Artist Marketplace with vendors from Bozeman and around the country, and workshops. The Sweet Pea Festival is committed to its mission statement of “promoting and cultivating the arts.”
Hundreds of volunteers run and organize this annual event, a testament to the community’s desire for its ongoing success. All monies raised above what is needed to operate the festival are given back to the community in the form of grants for the arts, art education, and special projects in the Bozeman area. “Where art and community meet.”
