Dear Dragonfest Community!
We are halfway through March! The light is returning and Spring is beginning to show itself. Here are the latest updates as we plan our 40th anniversary retreat which is themed “Calling the Dragons Home.”
Dragonfest’s 40th Retreat
What we’re up to, and how you can get involved
The committee assigned to planning the festivities for this year has started with the belief that this year’s retreat should be community focused, honoring the past 40 years while we look towards the future. We also always want to honor mother earth, so we are focusing on reusing and upcycling items we already have but cannot be used in their current form. To that end we have started two projects to reuse past t-shirts, silicone bracelets and dragonfest buttons.
Here are the projects currently being worked on:
T-shirt banners: we are collecting old t-shirts that will be turned into banners that will hang throughout the retreat. This project will allow us to showcase the artwork from past festivals and hopefully spark memories and the sharing of stories. It is our hope that we can collect as many shirts as possible covering as many years as possible with the end goal being at least 40 banners.
We have begun accepting shirt donations and are also asking for donations of construction materials:
- 1” or larger bias tape, any color
- ¼”stitch witchery
- ¼” dowels at least 18 inches long
- ½” rebar at least 5’ long
- ¾” PVC at least 5’ long
There are two dates scheduled for gathering in person to help build the banners:
Apr 27, 2025 from 10 am – 2 pm
Jun 22, 2025 from 10 am – 2 pm
The location for the craft parties will be announced once we have volunteers. Skills needed are ironing, cloth cutting, machine and hand sewing. If you have a sewing machine that you could bring with you, that would be great.
Pin and bracelet garland: we will be taking Dragonfest buttons and silicone bracelets and making garland with them. While we seem to have an abundance of these materials already on hand, we welcome any donations towards this project. This project will be completed during work weekend.
Labyrinth rock painting: we have a wonderful labyrinth on the land and this year we would like to bring color and beauty to this special place. We are asking members to spend some time leading up the retreat to find a rock and paint it how they want and bring it with them (one big enough the animals can’t mess with, think softball size)
While you are free to use any type of paint you would like, enamel paint may work better than acrylic paint for longevity. Sharpie oil paint markers may also be a good choice. Once your rock is painted, sealing it with an outdoor polyurethane varnish will help your artwork withstand the elements.
Please place the year somewhere on your rock and most importantly, have fun with this project.
It is our hope that the end results of these projects will be used for years to come.
If you’d like to be involved, fill out this form.
Registration is now open!
Registration for the 2025 retreat is now open. We will also be sending out our postcard announcement and a digital postcard. We can’t wait to see you at Dragonfest’s 40th retreat!
Dragonfest Newsletter to Move Platforms in April
Dragonfest’s monthly newsletter and announcements will be moving to a new platform in April. As the size of our audience grows, so does the cost to send out our newsletter each month. We are making the shift to a new platform that will allow our audience to grow to 1000 contacts before our cost increases. This won’t impact members very much except that the first email you receive may be incorrectly labeled as spam by your email provider. This is just because of the email being routed through the newsletter platform and many email clients have a button that allows you to mark the email as not spam so that it doesn’t get flagged anymore. If you have any questions about this, please email communications@dragonfest.org.
Art Contest Now Open!
The 2025 Art Contest is now open and accepting entries. Submissions must meet the following requirements to be accepted for review:
- Entries are due May 16 at 11:59 PM MDT
- Your design should be inspired by the theme of this year’s retreat. The 2025 theme is “Calling the Dragons Home.”
- Designs should be limited to one-color line art. Thin lines, shading, hatching, crosshatching, and greyscale do not translate well for t-shirt printing.
- Designs should not include text or logos for Dragonfest, the theme, or the year. These elements, if used, will be added to your design at the time of printing.
- Designs should be no wider than 12 inches and no taller than 14 inches.
For more information about the rules and regulations please see the Dragonfest T-shirt Art Contest Rules. Please send submissions to ops@dragonfest.org.
Submissions will be reviewed and announced at the May staff meeting. Winner will receive a free registration for Dragonfest 2025!
Dragonfest Coffee Meet and Greets
Have you always wanted to attend Dragonfest but don’t know anyone and have questions? Do you know someone who might be interested, but just needs more information?
Good News! We are hosting Coffee Meet and Greets in various parts of Colorado throughout the year to meet people in person and answer their questions.
Come meet with folks who have attended Dragonfest before and who can give you insight into what the community is like and answer any questions you (or your friends) may have.
When and Where:
Colorado Springs
March 22nd 2025: 11am – 2pm
Where: Third Space Coffee Roastery Cafe
Address: 5670 N Academy Blvd, Colorado Springs, CO 80918
Fort Collins
April 26th 2025 11am – 2pm –
Where: Starry Night Espresso Cafe
Address: 112 S College Ave #100, Fort Collins, CO 80524
Dragonfest Staff
If you would like to sign up for Dragonfest Staff, please click here to sign up: Dragonfest Staff Sign-Up Form. Interested in volunteering but need more information? Please click here for a list of all staff positions and the time commitment required to perform each role.
The April Staff Meeting meeting will be Virtual ONLY! Join via Google Meet
Here is the schedule of staff meetings for the remainder of 2025:
- April 19, 2025
- May 17, 2025
- June 21, 2025
- Work Weekend – Friday June 27th – Sunday, June 29th (optional)
- July 19, 2025
- July 29, 2025 (Tuesday, on the land – required)
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to reach out to Directors of Operations at: Ops@Dragonfest.org.
2025 Pricing Announcement
As you may know, inflation has impacted many industries, which in turn increases our operating costs. After careful consideration, we’ve made the difficult decision to adjust Dragonfest’s membership prices to reflect rising operating costs. This change will help us continue providing the quality experience you expect. In addition to the membership price adjustment, we’ve restructured our hot breakfast offering. Going forward, members will have the option to sign up for a separate breakfast plan if they wish to enjoy a hot breakfast in the mornings. You can read the announcement here and review updated pricing, breakfast plans, and all membership tiers on our registration page.
Handy Links for Members
If you’d like to download and print a Dragonfest flyer to share with your friends and community, click here.
If you’d like to opt out of this year’s physical The Dragons are Coming postcard, click here.
If you’d like to sign up to present a workshop or ritual, click here.
Dragonfest has multiple ways to keep you informed on what’s happening with the current year’s retreat and our organization, click here to see them all.