Apogaea (meaning "far from Earth") is an annual collaborative outdoor arts and music festival held as a Colorado regional counterpart for the Burning Man event.
Typically held in late spring (scheduled for June 7–10 in 2018) in southern Colorado, Apogaea ("Apo"), establishes a temporary autonomous zone where radical self-expression, inclusiveness, and self-reliance are the hallmarks of its participants.
2008: Smells like Community Spirit 2009: Organized Chaos 2010: Artropolis ("Hailogaea" became the unofficial theme for the event after a hail filled weekend) [12] 2011: Illuminate 2012: The Spiral 2013: Alchemy 2014: Emergence 2015: Synchronicity (Event was canceled) [13][14] 2016: Moist [15] 2017: Propaganda [16] 2018: Reflection [17] 2019: Analog 2020: Portals [canceled due to coronavirus, theme carried over to 2022] 2021: [canceled due to coronavirus] 2022: Portals Apogaea is organized and run by an unpaid Board of Directors and a wider circle of volunteer leads ("Apogaea Ignition") in areas such as Art, Safety, Operations, Communications, Administration, Outreach, and Volunteers.
Apogaea is an all-ages event, though minors must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian, and those under 21 are given a different color wristband.
All state and local fire-bans are strictly observed and Apogaea's volunteer leads work with county officials to implement safe and reasonable alternatives during fire bans.
Isolation from populated areas, proximity to the Front Range of Colorado, suitability for camping for hundreds of people, cost, terrain, and altitude/nighttime temperatures were considerations in finding a place to hold Apogaea.
A steady annual increase in attendance presented certain challenges for the festival in terms of size and space limitations of its former home at Happy Ass Ranch.
The approximately 1,100 participants in 2010, while successfully accommodated on the site, presented parking and camping challenges for the organizers of the event.
The Valdez location is capable of supporting art cars and bicycle travel and features a slightly more desert-like terrain although the property has several ponds and large stands of pine trees along the perimeter.
Fortunately, Apogaea volunteers have worked hard to implement an organizational scheme and infrastructure to meet the demands presented by its recent spike in popularity.
Also, eliminating gate sales helped to reduce the number of unprepared last-minute attendees who were drawn to the festival.
As a result, in part, of eliminating walk-up gate sales, 2012 was the most dynamic and varied Apogaea yet with a high level of participation and interaction amongst all attendees.