Burrofest 2021 a Hot Summer Event

After a year off, local burros, their handlers, and local artists, show off obstacle course prowess, independence, and artistic inspiration, at the 2021 Mancos BurroFest. You're watching the Local News Network brought to you by True West Autos and Express Employment Professionals. I'm Wendy Graham Settle. On June 19th, 15 burros from around the four corners joined local crowds to celebrate the second annual BurroFest in Mancos, Colorado. BurroFest, which held its first event in July 2019, is the creation of Veryl Goodnight, a local Mancos artist who wanted to showcase local artists while introducing more people to burros. The Saturday event started at noon with a burro obstacle course in the park where spectators of all ages could gather to watch burros navigate umbrellas opening, digging for gold nuggets, and other obstacles designed to challenge both burro and handler. Before and after each run, spectators had the opportunity to meet the burro competitors and get to know their personalities.

Burros have been popular with artists for a long time, and um, it's an animal that's really, it's uh, it connects with Mancos. With uh, it connects with all Colorado, you know we have so much mining history, and all the burros played a big part in that. And um, I always thought if we had few burros in the street and a few artists drawing from it, it would be kind of nice in 2019, and ended up with 12 burros and a little race.

At noon, each burro was introduced with a short bio, outlining their personality before they entered the course. Most were dressed up, with their handlers keeping everyone on track. The rules were simple. Treats are okay, pushing the burro is okay, but if handlers lose their burros, they would have to start over. Burros and their handlers had to complete seven different tasks in sixty seconds or less. Some obstacles, like opening an umbrella near the burros head, or weaving through the trees were easy. Others like backing up a small path, or entering through fabric saloon doors, proved a bit more challenging.

Uh, you know, I think, the, initially it was hard to get used to that they do everything so slow. But I love how they're just so measured. And, you know, you just, you have, you have to outthink them and be, well, you can't force them, you can't hit them. You can't pull them, or push them, you have to figure out what's going to motivate them. Whoop! And a lot of what motivates them is cookies, huh? Yes? Can you back up for me? Back. Good. You can get a cookie for that.

After the obstacle course, the burros led the way to downtown Mancos, where tents were set up with artists. Each burro was paired with an artist and as spectators walked up and down the street, the artists began working on portraits of each burro.

So, I'm number, I'm in the number one spot. And they, we drew to get our partners, our donkeys. So it's like, and he was number one in the race, and now he's number one here. And so they matched us all up with our donkeys. And, I'm delighted to have Arlo is my, my, my uh mascot.

You know, I think always seeing how happy, I mean just look at the smiles everywhere, but it's not just that it's, you know what this is going to do for the animal itself, about half of the burros in this race were formerly wild burrows. And these are burros that without homes, could be go, they go to a killer. And, so you've got people now, when they, when the MC's asked if anybody wanted a burro about half of the audience raised their arms, yes.

While the afternoon heat wore on, the burros settled down to hay and water, while locals and visitors alike checked in on the progress of the portraits and learned more about these special animals. This year's BurroFest was hosted by the Mancos creative district. For more information on other planned events, visit mancoscreativedistrict.com. Thanks for watching this edition of the Local News Network. I'm Wendy Graham Settle.

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