Planning for ComFest 2020 is in full stride. It’s almost spring and before long the community’s greatest event will return to Goodale Park showcasing Columbus’ rich cultural, music and arts scene. And of course, ComFest promotes and celebrates the city’s thriving and influential progressive community. Education, organizing, activism and community involvement are vital components of ComFest during the three days in June, as well as throughout the year. “Living Every Day the ComFest Way” guides ComFesters and has positively impacted the open, welcoming, tolerant and progressive city Columbus is today.

ComFest is guided by its Statement of Principles and Mission Statement:

ComFest Statement of Principles

The Community Festival is guided by its Principles. The Principles are statements of what the members believe is basically important. They are:

We think that people ought to work for the collective good of all people rather than for personal gain. We support cooperation and collective activity rather than competition and individual profit.

The basic necessities of life are a right and not a privilege. People have the collective right to control the conditions of their lives.

People should strive to conduct their lives in harmony with the environment.

We recognize that there are primary attitudes which divide and oppress people. These attitudes are usually shown by prejudice against people on the basis of age, class, ability, income, race, sex and sexual preference/orientation.

We seek to eliminate these attitudes.

The Statement of Principles is more important than any other writings of the Community Festival.

ComFest Mission Statement

The Community Festival is an independent, volunteer-organized celebration of creativity and activism in Columbus, OH. Founded in 1972, its purpose is to build bridges between progressive non-profit organizations, artists and volunteers to raise awareness and promote action within our community. Everything we do is guided by our principles which promote community unity, tolerance, and equity.

We will strive to realize this mission through the fulfillment of the following Organizational Goals:

Building community bridges and nurturing collaboration through safe, peaceful, sustainable practices

Initiating opportunities for community involvement and activism including information and workshops at the festival, non-profit networking and communication

Promoting a more unified, tolerant and equitable community

Showcasing and celebrating Columbus and Central Ohio artists, craftspeople, musicians, activists and community organizations

Are you on board and ready to become even more involved this year? Check out the upcoming opportunities below:

Last Chance to enter The ComFest 2020 Logo Contest

Finalists will be selected on March 12

Entries for the 2020 Logo Contest must be brought to the Goodale Park Shelterhouse on Thursday, March 12 at 7:30 pm for public viewing and first round of voting. Three finalists from the March 12 contest will be reviewed at the ComFest General Planning Committee meeting on Sunday, March 22, where a final selection will be made.

This year’s winning design will be featured on over 1,500 volunteer T-shirts, and thousands of mugs and program guides. The winning artist is credited on our website, in the Program Guide, and receives valuable ComFest goodies.

All entries must meet the following requirements:

The entry should be a black and white image. (We do a one-color silkscreen in order to be economical.) Due to the mechanical limitations and expense of the silk-screening process, it is difficult and expensive to do grey tones or shading. If your design has some shading, it must be done in a way that will lend itself to be easily silk-screened. Of course, all entries must be original art, and must include:

The dates: June 26, 27, 28, 2020 or June 26 – 28, 2020.

The name, Community Festival. Those two words must appear together in the design. In addition, you can place the word “ComFest” in the design if you wish.

The place, Goodale Park.

The theme. This year, the ComFest General Planning Committee has chosen the theme “People Power” as the suggested slogan for logo designs. Artists are not required to use those exact words in their design.

The Hopewell symbol, shown above.

Another tip is to create a design with a vertical orientation so that it looks good on a T-shirt. The logo will appear in other places, but the most important place is on the T-shirt. PRINT the artist’s name, address, email and phone number on the BACK of the contest entry. You may enter multiple logo designs, but only one version of a particular design may be submitted for consideration. Have a high resolution digital file of your entry available. ComFest reserves the right to request changes to the chosen design.

Applications Now Being Accepted for ComFest’s Sculpture in the Park

ComFest invites local artists to submit ideas for temporary art sculptures/installations in Goodale Park for the 2020 festival (June 26-28). Up to five (5) art installations will be chosen to be displayed. They will line the path to Peace Village. Each artist will be welcome to be present with their piece and interact with the community about their work.

Concepts should reflect ComFest Principles and a sense of respect and harmony with the planet—and Goodale Park, in particular. Selected work will be installed on Thursday, June 25 and must be removed by Sunday night, June 28.

ComFest is a family event. While the most popular installations in recent years have been interactive, safety is an important consideration, as are weather conditions, electrical needs, overnight security, set-up and tear-down time and impact on the park. Use of toxic materials or damage to fauna or flora is strictly prohibited.

Applications can be downloaded at comfest.com. ComFest offers artists a stipend to help pay for materials. Accepted submissions will be notified and installation instructions will be provided- unaccepted submissions will be returned. All artists must send copies of photos of previous works. The deadline for all submissions wishing to be considered is May 30.

Other important ComFest dates:

Street Fair Applications deadline is April 20th (4/20).

Upcoming General Planning Committee Meetings are Thursday, March 5 @ 7:30 pm and Sunday, March 22 @1 pm. Meetings are at the Goodale Park Shelterhouse. Everyone is welcome.

Spirit & Purpose Committee Meetings (which includes selection of workshops, speakers and emcees) are Tuesday, March 10 @7:30PM, and Sunday, March 22 @12pm, also at the Shelterhouse.

Finally, 2020 volunteer sign-up applications will be available in March.