 How It Started |
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| Sweet Corn Helped Put Olathe, Colorado On The Map |
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In 1992, a few insightful people in the small western Colorado town of Olathe, decided to celebrate the community's agricultural jewel... "Olathe Sweet" sweet corn by organizing the first Olathe Sweet Corn Festival. This hometown crop was and continues to be more than just another of the many agriculture products of the region. Sweet corn is the crop that kept this rural American community alive when other efforts were failing. Indeed, the citizens of the Town of Olathe, Colorado had cause for celebration. |
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| Breaking New Ground |
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| Sweet Corn Helped Put Olathe, Colorado On The Map |
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With the festival growing beyond the Town's ability to accommodate, the OSCF Board of Directors determined that a dedicated site was necessary to continue the event in Olathe. By the spring of 1996 a site had been located but the funds required to secure and develop the property were not to be found. Again, operating on the premise of "giving the people what they want," the OSCF team conceived a 37 acre multi-use park that would provide year around recreational value and become the permanent home of the festival. The park was to be underwritten in part by the revenues from the Olathe Sweet Corn Festival. With help from the Town of Olathe, Great Outdoors Colorado, The Montrose Economic Development Council and other friends of the festival, the land for the park was purchased in 1996. Development began immediately and the Olathe Community Park was born. |
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| Economical Impact |
| The regional economic impact of the OSCF reaches throughout the entire Uncompahgre Valley. Many small businesses report their highest single-day sales of the season on festival day. Retail, lodging and restaurant business all feel the positive impact of the visitors to the festival. This increase in sales also brings much needed additional tax revenue to the towns and cities of the valley. Communities in the greater Uncompahgre Valley region are already planning to accommodate larger crowns as the Olathe Sweet Corn Festival grows to a two-day event in the future. Infrastructure such as off-site parking, shuttle services, camp ground, and public services are all being addressed to meet the event's growing demands. |
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| Bushels and Box Office |
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| Sweet Corn Helped Put Olathe, Colorado On The Map |
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Attendance at the Olathe Sweet Corn Festival increased each year, leveling off in 1998 averaging about 16,000 people. More and more regional residents are making the OSCF a part of their family's summer calendar. A recent survey indicated that over 70 percent of the OSCF attendees had been to previous Olathe Sweet Corn Festivals. Further, 85 percent of those surveyed were accompanied by more than one family member. In many cases, multiple generations of the same family attend the event together. |
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| Humble Beginnings |
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| Sweet Corn Helped Put Olathe, Colorado On The Map |
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From its earliest beginnings, the Olathe Sweet Corn Festival (OSCF) has been about people. Sweet corn was a way of bringing people together and providing them with a sense of community and accomplishment. Operating under the premise of "giving the people what they want," the festival staff set out to become a catalyst for improving the social, economic and cultural environment of the Town of Olathe. From its inception, the philosophy of the OSCF has been to give local non-profit groups the opportunity to earn additional operating revenues. But how could a one day event built around sweet corn achieve these goals? The answer was found in the event itself. Beginning in 1992, area non-profits were encouraged to take on various event jobs and vendor responsibilities. |
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| Festival Blossoms |
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| Sweet Corn Helped Put Olathe, Colorado On The Map |
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The Olathe Sweet Corn Festival gives non-profit groups the opportunity to earn money instead of just asking businesses and the Town of Olathe for contributions. From the Boy Scouts of America to Habitat for Humanity, a job is found for every group that wants to be part of the OSCF. Many area non-profits have booths at the event and earn money that sustains their operation for the entire year. These funds underwrite projects from education assistance for migrant workers to recreation equipment for at-risk youth. Annual volunteer support of these projects through the OSCF exceeds 400 motivated people. Providing incremental revenues to area non-profits is only one aspect of the social and cultural impact of the event. Through interpretive programs, school children are learning about the significant contribution agriculture has made to the area. More importantly, children of farming and ranching families share a sense of pride in their families and the community. |
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| Planting For The Future |
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The Olathe Sweet Corn Festival is more than a day of fun in the western Colorado sunshine. It is an ever-growing symbol of a community committed to making the future better for the generations to come. The OSCF is creating parks, providing youth with positive play environments, building affordable housing, education for children and adults who speak little or no English... and it's about celebrating a town's survival through ingenuity, positive attitudes and hard work.
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