Kaleidoscope festival calls it quits after 36 years

Call it the end of an era.

The Kaleidoscope festival, a once important local resource that helped organize, market and promote annual events celebrating life in Central Virginia, has decided to close its doors after 36 years.

“We just aren’t as relevant or needed with the age of social media and the Internet,” said Johanna Calfee, Kaleidoscope board president.

The inaugural festival was held in September 1975. Over the years, the organization grew to cover events throughout the months of October and November, averaging more than 35 events per year at its peak.

Calfee said as things declined, the timing seemed appropriate to disband instead of trying to rebuild momentum.

“We feel this is a wise decision,” Calfee said. “You have to be willing to put things on the shelf when it’s time to retire them.”

The organization’s board was comprised of local citizens, who served as its directors and focused on sponsorship, event recruitment and marketing.

The directors held monthly meetings to plan, promote and coordinate the festival, which served as a marketing vehicle for people interested in holding an event in the greater Lynchburg area.

The board did not run the individual events, but rather provided exposure for larger events and those that might not have received as much coverage on their own, Calfee said.

The festival’s goal was to assist event holders through a stream of advertising, which included TV, radio, brochures, area magazines and the Web.

For a $45 fee, Kaleidoscope would promote recreational, cultural, educational and entertainment opportunities to the community on behalf of non-profit organizations, companies, individuals, schools and churches.

The Virginia 10-Miler, the art show at E.C. Glass and Day in the Park were staples throughout Kaleidoscope’s history.

Calfee said she expects these events to continue. The festival had a reputation within the community for bringing people together by providing mostly free events and even attracting the occasional out-of-towner to the area.

But Calfee said the festival has a history of being misunderstood, as well.

“After 36 years, it seemed a good portion of the population still doesn’t understand what Kaleidoscope was all about,” she said.

The board also faced an uphill battle trying to find new board members, and lost its non-profit status because the proper paperwork was not filed.

After some discussion and exploring several possible options, Kaleidoscope’s board members announced the decision to discontinue the festival.

“We chose this path because it would have been more difficult to move forward,” Calfee said. “We were covering our cost, but there were too many things saying this wouldn’t work long-term.”

Kaleidoscope did offer a marketing presentation Feb. 1 to help future event holders going forward, which included tips on how to best use social media, how to write a press release, how to get media to cover an event and a Q & A session with the Kaleidoscope board.

Calfee said she anticipated a larger turn out for the presentation, but the crowd was small and there was little resistance from long-time event holders when the announcement to disband was made.

“I expected some of the event holders to give us some push back, she said. “But they seemed OK with it, which only helped to confirm the board’s decision.”