Pulling the wool
THE TAOS WOOL FESTIVAL has been a fall staple for 30-plus years. It happens the first full weekend in October in Kit Carson Park, attracting hundreds of visitors and fiber artists from Colorado, Texas, New Mexico and beyond. There are wool presentations, sheep of every ilk hanging out in the park next to spinning wheels and lively vendor booths. Local hotels, restaurants and businesses enjoy the influx of people in a good mood looking for something warm and beautiful. It’s an interactive event, a Northern New Mexico tradition.
This year, the Colorado-based organization responsible for producing the Taos Wool Festival is moving the event to Santa Fe. Mountain and Valley Wool Association (MAVWA) Board of Directors member Kim Perkins said there are many reasons the MAVWA board is relocating the Taos Wool Festival. “Volunteer shortages, aging vendor ranks, the reduction of a usable foot print for booths and demonstrations because of the addition of the concert stage in Kit Carson Park, and unreliable cooperation and support necessary from the Town of Taos to make the event happen.”
In a letter to vendors announcing the change, MAVWA Board of Directors said “every year we struggle to have enough volunteers for the basic needs, including setting up signs, show tents, traffic control, monitoring and judging shows, and the many details that happen behind-the-scenes each year. Without board family members, we would not have been able to maintain the quality and content of the festival.”
Lukewarm Town of Taos support, coupled with last-minute changes every year, have eroded the confidence of MAVWA Board Members, and the decision that the Town of Taos was no longer the right fit to continue the festival.
“Town of Taos staff is often hard to reach. They changed agreements lastminute or reneged. Last year, there were changes made while we were setting up rental and vendor tents requiring water barrels or stakes to secure the tents. Then a last-minute decision to change from our Town of Taos-approved COVID-19 safety plan, which nearly forced us to shut down the festival less than a week before.
Although we have all loved our time in Taos, if we don’t continue to grow, we’ll continue to shrink. The educational aspects of our mission are not as vibrant as we would like them to be. There is limited room for animals, and limited classroom space for workshops within manageable distance of the festival. With our core volunteers and board members needed to fill in for the basics, they don’t have time or energy to focus on improvements, like enhanced youth outreach, and new activities. The MAVWA region has a rich fiber tradition that we could not tap in Taos with all the issues that crop up each year with the town.”
Perkins said the MAVWA board of directors thought long and hard about making the “difficult but necessary decision” to move the festival to Santa Fe. “Every year we explored ways to revitalize the Wool Festival in Taos. We have tried several things to add elements or to encourage participation over the past several years without success. Every year, we continue to lose help, vendors, students, contest participants, and attendees. The space in the park continues to shrink. There are plans in the works for further development in the park that the Town of Taos has not been willing to share with us. They plan on additional sidewalks and roadways, buildings for concessions. Each change has reduced our usable footprint.”
Perkins said the MAVWA board of directors realized this year we would need to explore other venues, and have been considering this option since the stage (in Kit Carson Park) first appeared. Several long-term vendors suggested a move, considering the struggles we have with the town every year. Perkins said so far, the vendors’ response to the Santa Fe move is positive.
Tempo reached out to Taos Mayor Dan Barrone’s office for a response to the MAVWA issues with the Town of Taos, and to ask if there were plans to continue the Taos Wool Festival with another organization, or for the Town of Taos to host the event. As of publication, we have received no response.
Perkins said for those who are interested in continuing to take part, the Taos Wool Festival will be renamed the Mountain and Valley Wool Festival. Vendor applications and teaching proposals for the event will be moved to the website mavwawoolfest.org.