This Denver Arts Festival Has Been Named the Best in the World

The Cherry Creek Arts Festival has been honored with the title six times.

October 3, 2024

The Cherry Creek Arts Festival fills Cherry Creek North with art, music and more. Liz Levy

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The Cherry Creek Arts Festival has again been honored by the International Festivals & Events Association with the Gold Grand Pinnacle award, the highest accolade provided by the world's largest association of festival and event producers.

The mammoth festival has won the award six times now, but this is its first victory since 2013. The Grand Pinnacle award is defined as "recognizing festivals and events that excel in balancing all key elements essential for a successful event."

The annual arts festival, which is put on by the CherryArts nonprofit, will celebrate its 35th anniversary next summer, when it runs from July 4 to July 6. Artist applications are open now through December 1 on the festival's website.

At the most recent iteration last July, Cherry Creek Arts Festival's artist sales topped $4.6 million. But while the event is CherryArts' largest by far, the nonprofit also works year-round to fundraise for the arts in Colorado schools. Last year, CherryArts provided mobile outreach programs to more than 40,000 students.

"We're incredibly honored to receive this award, solidifying Denver's position as home to one of the world's best festivals," says Tara Brickell, executive director of the nonprofit CherryArts, which produces the festival. "We produce our annual festival for an international audience of more than 150,000 visitors, and we do so while promoting artists and raising funds to help bring art to Colorado schools all year long. Seeing the efforts of our hard-working team recognized on this scale is fulfilling and motivating, especially as we launch our call for artists this week for the 2025 event!"

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Emily Ferguson has been the music and culture editor atWestword since November 2021. In her role, Emily writes and edits profiles of local and national musicians, previews of upcoming performances and guides to the best of Denver’s entertainment scene. Her previous work experience includes contributing to the arts sections of the Wall Street Journal, The Spectator and the Free Beacon. While attending the College of Charleston, Emily was a fire performer and worked at music festivals.

Contact: Emily Ferguson

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