PoloFest nabs Phantogram for sports, music festival
Although it debuted last year, PoloFest 2018 is in many ways the first official outing for the sports-and-music festival in Sedalia.
That’s because the 2017 event at the Denver Polo Club came together quickly and mostly reached existing fans of the horseback sport, which has a longstanding reputation for exclusive, well-heeled audiences.
The second outing, however, will attempt to bring in younger, more diverse crowds to both the festival and the sport, with sets from electro-pop act Phantogram — which co-headlined Red Rocks on May 21 with Tycho — as well as dance-ready Detroit pop singer and producer Quinn XCII, and more.
“We’re really excited to change people’s perception of the sport and also showcase this beautiful venue,” said Ty MacCarty, cofounder of both PoloFest and Littleton’s Horseplay.TV, a film production company he runs with fellow devotee Rob Jornayvaz. “(Denver Polo Club) is this place south of Denver where people can get away from the city and hide in the trees and green grass — a little oasis with mountain views.”
As an official United States Polo venue, Denver Polo Club has hosted matches from local and international teams since its formation in 1986, according to the venue’s website. Building “a new, more inclusive perception
of the sport,” as MacCarty puts it, means taking the stuffy connotations out of polo and sprinkling in concert-going basics such as food vendors and multiple bars, as well as a emphasis on casual attire and a feel-good, nonprofit element.
Organizers are hoping for about 5,000 attendees at the event, but the sprawling grounds of Denver Polo Club can hold many more than that, organizers said. Venue staff first introduced MacCarty and Jornayvaz to mega-promoter AEG Presents’ Scott Campbell, who booked this year’s event. (Last year’s headliner was festival-favorite duo Boombox.)
This year’s PoloFest will once again benefit Equine Partnership Program (EPP), an Elizabethbased program that provides therapy horses and mental health services to children, as well rescuing and rehabilitating horses in need. The program runs on volunteers and donations to serve its at-risk and economically disadvantaged youth, so contributions — especially from music-festival revenues — are welcome.
“We are really excited to do this event again this year. It was pretty fabulous last year,” said Lee Dudley, executive director of EPP, via email.
PoloFest co-founder Jornayvaz said he hopes to raise a minimum of $40,000 for EPP, which will enable the nonprofit to expand existing programs for kids “dealing with trauma, cognitive disabilities and mental illness,” Dudley said.
EPP’s involvement is a definite selling point, he added: Not only will PoloFest feature matches from “the world’s top players and horses,” including longtime No. 1-rated Argentinian pro Adolfo Cambiaso, but it will also offer the chance to interact with and ride horses with the EPP and Denver Polo Club players. (Waivers are required, naturally.)
“It’s proven that they’re very therapeutic animals, and it’s important to share that healing power with people,” MacCarty said.