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 TruWest Autos and Express Employment Professionals. I’m Wendy Graham Settle. On June 19th, 15 burros from around the four corners joined the 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 had been popular with artists for a long time and as an animal it’s really, it connects with Mancos. It connects it’s all the Colorado. We have so much mining history and all the burros played a big part in that. And I had a thought, if we had a few burros in the street and few artists drawing from it 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 60 seconds or less. Some obstacles like opening an umbrella near the burro’s head or weaving through the trees were easy. Others-