New details announced for attractions, experiences and contests at nation’s largest Valentine’s Day festival
Interactive Art Installations
Four interactive art installations allow visitors to add their creative flair. All are free and open to the public.
- “For the Love of the Earth” – Pinwheel Project: This Earth Friendly Up-cycled Art Piece will be made of 240 colorful pinwheels created out of post-consumer plastic bags fused and decorated by the attendees of the Sweetheart Festival. The Pinwheels will then be nailed to a plywood backdrop to create a kinetic mural that will decorate a wall in Downtown Loveland. This project was created by Loveland Artist Heather Rubald with building support from Loveland Creator Space.
- Community Mural at 4th and Lincoln Ave. : The community will come together to create a mural out of 320 individually painted nine-inch-square tiles. Festival attendees will visit the tent to help paint the mural tiles throughout the festival and the mural will be built afterward. The mural design will be unveiled before the festival. This project is created by Loveland Artist Scott Freeman with support from Beggars Gate Church.
- Heart String Art: Sweetheart Festival attendees will work together to build a rainbow-colored heart art piece out of string.
- Ceramic Raku-Firing Demos: Watch as Amy Joy Hosterman creates custom ceramic pieces to give away to the public during the Loveland Sweetheart Festival. She will make and give away 100 ceramic pieces that fit the love lock imagery and include words like "Loveland 2019", "Sweetheart City", or "Love, Locks & Lights".
For the Love of Beer and Wine tasting area
Beer and wine drinkers can toast together in the “For the Love of Beer and Wine” area featuring Seagrams, Grimm Brothers Brewhouse and the Bleeding Heart valentine brew, Big Thompson Brewery, Verboten Brewing, Loveland Aleworks, Crow Hop Brewing, Rock Coast Brewery and Sweetheart Winery.
Palace of Sweets
Step inside the Igloo and enter Loveland’s own palace of sweets. Desserts, chocolate and candy galore await you with treats from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, B Sweet Cupcakes, Starlight Dessert Bar, Colorado Candy Company and Heaven’s Popcorn. Prices provided onsite by vendors.
Live Entertainment
- Spinphony: Crossover string quartet “Spinphony” is breaking down barriers between classical, rock, and pop music. Mixing and mashing catchy melodies into unique arrangements and original compositions, the high energy quartet is more like a rock band with added choreography and beats from a DJ.
- DOTSERO: DOTSERO means Contemporary Jazz at its best, full of life energy and spontaneity that few artists in the genre have been able to match. A no-nonsense sax and guitar-driven thrill ride of energy and excitement. As much fun to watch as they are to listen to.
- Funky Business: A fiery, energetic, party band in Northern Colorado. Their goal is to get everyone off their feet and fill the dance floor! From classic funk and spirited soul to danceable disco and contemporary pop, they are sure to have attendees grooving, boogying, and singing along! From 4-piece combo to full 9-piece horn band, we play it all!
Little Miss Valentine and Little Mr. Cupid Contest
Loveland's Little Miss Valentine or Little Mr. Cupid contest invites children ages 0-4 to dress up, ham it up on stage for a chance to win prizes. Dress your little Miss Valentine in all things LOVE or your little Mr. Cupid like the winged god of love and compete for the title. There are twi different age categories: 0-2 and 3-4-year-olds. Contestants will be judged on creativity of costume and personality. Contestants must register ahead of time. Cut off is Wednesday, Feb. 6. Register online here or at LovelandSweetheartFestival.com - Registration has closed due to popularity. They are over booked. Thank you for your interest.
Family Fun Zone
Anchored by Snowzilla Jr. the largest inflatable slide in the world, the family fun zone also includes face painting, Sweetheart glitter tattoos and princess meet-and-greets on Saturday.
Art Gallery Walk
Take in Loveland art scene with shows, tours and demos on this winter art gallery walk. At the heart of the festival, the 4th Street gallery will feature the “Love in a Steampunk World” art show coordinated by the Artists Collective. Other participating shows and galleries are:
- Independence Gallery, 10th Annual 65 Roses for Cystic Fibrosis
- Loveland Museum, Black Valentine
- Lincoln Gallery, Champagne, Love and Chocolate
- Artspace Loveland Art Campus, two shows, Love letters in the Wind and L’Amour Illumine’
- Artworks Loveland, with two shows, We are all MAD here an interactive installation by Becky Hawley and Altered Perspectives by Brandon Gellis and Billy Harris
- Lamplight Studio/ Loveland Aleworks, Loveland Love + Light Event
- Loveland CreatorSpace, No art show, but will be doing demos and tours
- Rabbask Designs, Artist Demos and Decorate your own button station
Sweetheart Classic 4-miler
Sweetheart City Racing’s 4-mile race starts and ends at the Loveland Sweetheart Festival stage. Singles and couple registrations are available. The first 200 registrants get a complimentary love lock. Register online at SweetheartCityRacing.com.
Presented by the Loveland Chamber of Commerce and Visit Loveland Colorado, the festival will capitalize on the city’s rich history as the nation’s Sweetheart City and one of the top small art communities in the nation through art installations, attractions and contests.
Anchoring the event is one of the largest love lock sculptures in the U.S. This 10-foot-tall, 30-foot-wide steel LOVE sculpture weighs 24,000 pounds and will be introduced during the festival. Attendees can purchase a customizable love lock to secure on the sculpture.
Learn more at lovelandsweetheartfestival.com. Follow the event on Facebook at Facebook.com/LovelandSweetheartFestival.
About the Loveland Chamber of Commerce
Founded in 1902, the Loveland Chamber of Commerce is northern Colorado’s “driving force for business.” Comprised of more than 750 local companies, the chamber offers a vast array of educational and networking programs to help its investors, both large and small, gain the skills and resources necessary to thrive and prosper in today's economy. As a founding member of the Northern Colorado Legislative Alliance (NCLA), the chamber also serves as an advocate for business, working on behalf of entrepreneurs to lead and influence local, state and federal policy on issues affecting the unique interests of business in northern Colorado. For more information on the Loveland Chamber, please call 970-667-6311 or visit www.loveland.org.
About Visit Loveland
The mission of Visit Loveland is to enthusiastically promote, market and sell Loveland, Colorado as a destination for meetings, conventions and individual travelers, fostering economic development and benefiting and supporting members and the overall business community. It is Visit Loveland’s goal to promote tourism, conventions and related activities within the city by marketing the city and sponsoring destination and community events. Learn more at VisitLovelandCO.com.
