Members of the VEP Film Festival and Large Event Task Force learned last Wednesday that organizers plan to test a 10-day shuttle service between Boulder and Estes Park during the Sundance Film Festival. They also heard details about a new January running event.
With fewer than six months until the Sundance Film Festival makes its Colorado debut 36 miles away in Boulder, the proposed shuttle has become a primary focus for the 21-member task force formed earlier this year by Visit Estes Park.
“We want to make sure people can get back and forth throughout all the films,” Dana Paiement, VEP’s senior destination stewardship manager, said in discussing the shuttle plan.
While some logistics are pending, a free shuttle operated by Estes Park Shuttle is planned to arrive in Estes Park at 10 a.m., noon, 4 p.m., and 9:30 p.m. Return trips to the festival hub city will leave Estes Park at 10:30 a.m., 3 p.m., and 8 p.m.
Point-to-point travel in Estes Park for those using the free system is in the works.
VEP is not alone in working to make travel to the Sundance Film Festival easier for attendees. The organization is participating in the Sundance Regional Transportation Coordination Group alongside Boulder, Denver International Airport, Denver Union Station, Longmont, Loveland, Berthoud, Fort Collins, Louisville, Lafayette, Superior, Nederland, Golden, and other regional partners.
The task force’s work to promote Estes Park during the Sundance Film Festival is just one element of VEP’s efforts to strengthen Estes Park’s position as a year-round arts and cultural destination.
To help local businesses learn more about Sundance Film Festival-specific promotions and how to participate, VEP has developed a film festival toolkit, which is accessible from the partners pages on VisitEstesPark.com. Some information is already available, while other details, including a content and copy library, graphics, and templates, are still in development.
“As we are developing the consumer side of these campaigns, we would love for all of our partners to submit events, offers, any sort of packages that you all have around Sundance, and that will all aggregate into that consumer-facing page where we’ll be driving campaign traffic, and then finally some key partner resources,” said Amanda Scherlin, VEP’s vice president of brand experience.
In other large event news, Kevin Benes, owner of Running Wild Events, announced plans for a major seven-mile race in Estes Park Jan. 22 and 23.
“We have officially greenlit our Red Rum Run,” Benes said. “We’ll have live music, a full expo center with vendors, and then Sunday will be the run through town.” Plans are for the race course to go to The Stanley and travel Elkhorn Avenue, he said.
“Sept. 1 will be our go-live date with logos and registration, and then getting people involved,” he said.
Benes said an expo manager will be complemented by also having an elite athlete coordinator. He said the goal is to recruit 100 runners to compete for a $40,000 prize purse, which would be the third-largest prize purse for a seven-mile run in the United States.