2025 Year End Campaign

Hello Friends,

For more than 25 years, the Colorado New Play Festival (CNPF) has been a home for new voices in American theatre—developing over 125 new plays that have gone on to stages in Colorado and across the country. Thanks to your support, Steamboat Springs has become known not only for its Olympians and outdoor adventure, but also as a place where world-class theatre begins.

One shining example is Purpose by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, first developed right here at CNPF in 2019. The play has since gone on to win two Tony Awards, the Pulitzer Prize in Drama, and the American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award—a historic “Triple Crown” of recognition that started in our own backyard.

This year, CNPF helped develop four new plays and welcomed sold-out audiences to our June performances at the Bud Werner Memorial Library. We also entered the fourth year of our Youth Storytelling program with the Boys & Girls Club of Steamboat Springs, giving 20 local students in 4th-7th grade the chance to learn creative writing and have their original stories shared on stage by professional actors. 

As we look to 2026, we’ve set a year-end fundraising goal of $20,000 to sustain and grow this important work. With recent changes to federal arts funding, your support is more important than ever. 

Your tax-deductible gift will help us:

• Bring world-class artists and events to Steamboat Springs

• Offer the Youth Storytelling program free of charge to local students

• Support Steamboat’s creative economy—arts and culture tourists stay longer, spend more, and directly benefit local businesses at higher rates than tourists in other sectors

In 2026, we anticipate it will cost $160,000 to produce our summer festival alone—most of which will be spent locally on lodging, meals, marketing, and rehearsal & performance spaces. Your support ensures that every dollar we raise not only advances the arts but also strengthens Steamboat’s local economy.

Thank you for being an essential part of our story. Here’s to the next act—one we can write together.

With gratitude,

Colt Neidhardt                         Jim Steinberg
Executive Director                    Board Chair