The story
Who owns the party?
Right now, not you. Denver's festival culture rents its home from corporations, prices climb, the same few acts play every bill, and the money leaves the community that shows up. OurFest exists to change who owns the party.
The problem
Fans make a show a show, and most of the time fans get a ticket stub and a service fee. They don't get a say in who plays, what it costs, or where the money goes. When the lease changes hands or the margins thin, the scene loses its venue and starts over.
The answer is ownership
OurFest is being formed as a Colorado cooperative: a real legal structure where the people who show up own the organization. Not a fan club, not a rewards program, a co-op, with bylaws, elections, and books the members can read.
One member, one vote
Every member holds exactly one vote. No investor class, no golden shares. A board elected by the members answers to the members.
Patronage, not profit-seeking
When the co-op has a good year, surplus flows back to members as patronage rebates, proportional to participation, not to wealth.
Transparent by default
Member counts, revenue, the land fund and the next show fund go out in a monthly member email. The numbers are the trust.
Done right, or not at all
The membership offer was structured the right way before it opened. The bylaws are public, and you can read them here.
How a show happens
It starts with the crowd. Anyone can propose a venue or an artist, or propose themselves. The whole membership votes, and the act with the real audience wins. Then OurFest does the organizing: the booking, the promo, the door, the crew.
So if you can bring people, a band with a following, a venue, a show that already has a crowd, this is the place to bring it. You bring the draw. We run the show around it, and the members own the result.
What $100 a year buys
Three things: a say, a deal, and a story. Membership is $100 a year, for 12 months from the day you join. Members pay half the door price, $10 a ticket, for up to 6 tickets per show. Members buy tickets 48 hours before the public, choose who plays, get an equal vote on how OurFest is run, and share in a patronage rebate in years the co-op does well. Bring a few friends to a few shows and it pays for itself.
What it is not: an investment. Membership is patronage, a stake in the community, not a financial return. Nobody at OurFest will ever pitch it as a way to profit, including from land the co-op may someday own.
Why join now
Every other show in town, your opinion is worth nothing. Here it runs the booking. Members pick the venues, choose who plays, and read the books. That's the trade: one membership, one vote, and the books after every show.
And there's one thing we can only offer once: the beginning. Founding members get their names on the origin story of this thing. That's not a perk we invented, just a fact of showing up early. Nobody can buy it later at any price.
The land is the mission
First we help the community throw great events in the city. Then, together, we work toward acquiring festival grounds held cooperatively, land stewarded by the members, for community use, for good. Every show, every hoodie, every new member moves that day closer.
The roadmap lays out exactly how we get there, one rung at a time.
Who's behind this
A Denver founding team running a Colorado cooperative, structured the way it should be. It gets built by whoever turns up, which is the whole point, and why the form below exists.
Questions, answered
Is this an investment?
No. Membership is patronage, it buys you a vote, member benefits, and a stake in the community, not a financial return. Nobody at OurFest will ever pitch membership as a way to profit, including from land the co-op may someday own.
How do you pick venues and artists?
Anyone can add a venue or an act to the vote, no membership needed, up to three a day. Members pick from what the crowd votes up, and we go after the ones that bring their own crowd, then organize the show around the winners. If you can bring an audience, add yourself.
When do events start?
We're lining up the first Denver show now, picked by member vote. Email subscribers hear about every show first, that's the whole point of the list.
What does $100 a year cover?
Twelve months of membership in the co-op you co-own. Members pay half the door price, $10 a ticket, for up to 6 tickets per show. Members buy tickets 48 hours before the public, choose who plays, get an equal vote on how OurFest is run, and share in a patronage rebate in years the co-op does well. Bring a few friends to a few shows and it pays for itself.
Who's behind this?
A Denver founding team running OurFest as a Colorado cooperative (FAIT Coop). One member, one vote, and the bylaws are public, read them here.
Get the first invite
One form, whole movement. Email is all we need. The rest is optional.