Due to its continued success, The Downtown Improvement District will once again be offering its Winter-Spring events contest which invites businesses, organizations, and individuals to submit their best ideas for events in February, March, or April 2019 for a chance to receive production support. Winning events will be awarded funding, as well an event consultation session.

“We are looking forward to return of the Winter-Spring Events Contest. This program has fostered vibrancy in Downtown Fort Wayne during the off-season months and has supported the launch of multi-year productions such as Weather the Fort, the Art This Way Art Crawl, Maumee Mary and Joseph Comedy Festival, and Spring Forward Fest,” said Downtown Improvement District President, Bill Brown.

In the initial phase of the contest, the Downtown Improvement District will be accepting concept submissions until Wednesday May 1st at 5:00 p.m. Those chosen to advance as finalists will be notified no later than July 1st with instructions on how to submit a final proposal for consideration. Final event winners will be chosen in September of 2019.

Contest rules are as follows:

Rules:

1. Fill out the online submission form at www.DowntownFortWayne.com/New-Events/ . Concept submissions must be received by Wednesday May 1st at 5:00 p.m.
2. Submissions must be entirely complete. Incomplete submissions will be automatically disqualified with no exceptions.
3. The event must take place entirely within the Downtown Improvement District boundaries. (See Map)
4. The choice of vendors used for the event is at the discretion of the event planner, but at least 50% of the event vendors must be located within the District as defined by the 99 blocks. This may include, but is not limited to: food, security, graphic design, web design, printing, installations, décor, venues, performers, and logistical needs.
5. If selected, a brief event report must be submitted each month for the months leading up to the event due on the first day of the month. For example, a March event winner must submit their report on January 1st, February 1st, and March 1st. The format of this report is at the discretion of the Downtown Improvement District, but will be brief.
6. The Downtown Improvement District will provide event consulting to the winning event(s). This mandatory one hour consultation will be provided primarily by the Downtown Improvement District Marketing Director, but may include other staff as necessary at the discretion of the Downtown Improvement District President. The consultation must occur at least three months before the event takes place.
7. If chosen, funds from the Downtown Improvement District’s award will be allocated for the event’s marketing, entertainment, and venue costs. Any other use of fund’s must be pre-approved by the Downtown Improvement District’s President.
8.  The Downtown Improvement District must be considered a top-level sponsor on any winning event. Sponsorship benefits must include logo inclusion on all marketing materials, inclusion in press/media materials, and any and all other applicable sponsor benefits.