Notifications to suspend lessons can be made 2-lessons before the invoice cycle on the first of each month. Suspended lessons are not able be guaranteed the same time slot when the student returns.

Festival Mission To raise funds for The Candyman Scholarship Fund providing access to The Candyman’s high-quality musical education programs to lower-income students, especially in the creation and performance of music relevant and resonant to students’ lives. Access to these programs assist youth participants in growing musically, emotionally, intellectually and socially. To raise funds for Soldiers Songs and Voices in order to support outreach opportunities including providing instruments, music instruction and songwriting lessons free of charge to armed forces veterans as a form of post-conflict care. To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of The Candyman Strings & Things, Making Lives Better Through Music Since 1969.

Festival Goals The festival will provide opportunities for local bands to showcase their talent in a compensated capacity. Local bands will perform songs that celebrate 1969 and/or the iconic Woodstock (the first carnation of the festival is also turning 50 this year!). The festival will host vendors, exhibitors and stakeholder groups showcasing and promoting their products, services and/or initiatives: Soldier Songs and Voices information booth. Local food trucks Exhibitor booths (TBD) To showcase bands from The Candyman Summer Rock Camp and Rock School programs. To showcase musical acts by participants from Soldier’s Songs and Voices and present the President of Soldier Songs and Voices with a special award. To pay homage to The Candyman’s founder (who passed away in 2009) by a special presentation to his daughter, Sarah. Festival-goers will have the opportunity to: Enjoy local music that celebrates the diversity of Santa Fe and the music of 1969. Enter the festival at no charge. Donate to the charities (through in-kind donations). Participate in several interactive fundraising activities including raffles, silent auctions, pay-to-play games, and more to benefit The Candyman Scholarship Fund and Soldiers Songs and Voices Santa Fe Chapter. Speak with sponsors/vendors and learn about their products and services. Tour a pop-up musical instrument museum. Take photos in a VW Bus photo booth and other interactive photo booths. Participate in a hands-on musical instrument petting zoo. Kids play in a special children’s area. Participate in a costume contest for prizes. View a large video screen displaying sponsor images, testimonial videos, historical photos and more. Experience educational exhibits and demonstrations.

The Candyman Scholarship Fund View Website Music education is a priority for us and we want to do our part to help keep music a viable part of every child’s education. As you surely know, a struggling economy and budget cuts have affected the funding of arts and music programs in nearly every school in our area and around the nation. With our nationally acclaimed Summer Rock Camp, Rock School and private lesson programs, we have picked up where the schools have struggled to provide, especially in the creation and performance of music relevant and resonant to students’ lives. We have raised and contributed almost $40,000 for our scholarship fund while building community support to assist lower-income students who might not otherwise be able to attend one of our programs. We believe music to be of the utmost importance in the well-being of all, especially kids, and want to assist as many as possible in the joys, challenges and community-building that music-making entails! We feel this festival event, The Candyman Salutes 1969, will not only bring awareness to music education but will also make it possible to support and help assist lower-income music students. Soldiers Songs and Voices View Website Soldier Songs and Voices (SSV) offers a "creative arts for recovery" program for US military veterans, as a form of post-conflict care. They provide free music lessons, instruments and songwriting workshops for any veteran, of any branch of service and any era. Along with the other SSV chapters, they contribute to the research on the effect of music on the brain and how music can be used to address military trauma. SSV was founded as a 501(c)(3) public charity in 2011 by Dustin Welch in Austin, TX. Since that time the organization has grown to eight chapters, including four in Texas and one each in Florida, Oregon, Arkansas and New Mexico. Additionally, SSV hosts an annual, week-long songwriting retreat for veterans on a south Texas cattle ranch. SSV Santa Fe was founded in 2017 by Daniel Johnsen and currently offers four workshops a month, focused on music instruction, group play and songwriting. In 2019, they plan to host several songwriting intensive workshops, led by professional singer/songwriters who work regularly with other SSV chapters. While music has long been believed to have therapeutic power, recent advances in neuroscience allow researchers to map the effects of music on the brain (learn more). SSV is contributing to the growing body of research that indicates music is not a supplement to therapy, but is in itself a proven method to retrain and re-educate the brain. One day at a time, one veteran at a time, one song at a time...

The Candyman relies heavily on email communication to convey and document student activity. In addition, The Candyman uses lessons management software that automates many tasks (including automatic email invoicing, lesson reminders, announcements, etc.). Phone and in-person communication is also utilized; however, email correspondence is used as record of conversation, bookkeeping documentation, scheduling, and reference purposes. If students do not have an email account and/or will not agree to use email as a primary source for The Candyman music education programs, The Candyman cannot be held responsible for verbal miscommunications. No credits or reschedules will be given to students who dispute information left on voice mails, verbally discussed over the phone or in person, without email backup.

The Candyman ensures teachers will be compensated for lessons taught or scheduled by receiving payment prior to the lesson. The Candyman had absorbed thousands of dollars in unpaid tuition and, unfortunately, we were forced to institute this policy across the board due to the recurring issue.

When a student is signed up for Auto-Payment, and the payment is automatically processed, the administrative process is greatly reduced. If a student’s account becomes past due, (perhaps to a change in credit card information or an expired credit card) a staff member's time is warranted to research the account, communicate with the student, possibly putting lessons on hold, rescheduling the student once payment is received, updating payment information, etc.

In addition to the items listed with each sponsorship level, all sponsor names and logos will be synonymous with our festival and will enjoy a wealth of brand exposure opportunities including being featured on The Candyman Salutes 1969 Music Festival website, print material, social media posts, email campaigns, and more. Whole Note Sponsor $5,000 Prime placement of banner (on stage) Multiple corporate introductions/words of thanks during festival Backstage VIP access Full-page advertisement in program Ten festival T-shirts Hall of Fame Display In-Store at The Candyman and at the event Half Note Sponsor - $2,500 Preferred placement of banner at festival Corporate introduction/words of thanks during festival Half-page advertisement in program Five festival T-shirts Hall of Fame Display In-Store at The Candyman and at the event Quarter Note Sponsor - $1,250 Ideal placement of banner at festival Words of thanks during festival Quarter-page advertisement in program Three festival T-shirts Hall of Fame Display In-Store at The Candyman and at the event Eighth Note Sponsor - $500 Favored placement of banner at festival Business Card-sized advertisement in program Sixteenth Note Sponsor - $250 Placement of banner at festival Mention in program