There are few vendors that fit the People’s Fair — a celebration of arts and crafts and Denver’s diverse urban community — better than the Tye Dye Guy.
Not to be confused with the professional wrestler by the same name, Tye Dye Guy, real name Paul Thompson, and his wife, Stacy, have been selling their multi-colored shirts, dresses, tank tops and overalls at the annual fair at Civic Center for 18 years.
During that time, they’ve expanded, setting up shop at festivals as far away as Florida.
Throughout the years, they’ve gotten to know the underground tie-dye community, and can now identify a shirt’s creator just by seeing the pattern.
“After a while you get to know that that’s Stacy’s product, or that’s John’s product,” Paul said.
Stacy — her last name is Golden — agreed. She was selling her own tie-dye clothing just a few booths away.
Tie-dye wares do pretty well at the People’s Fair, which celebrated its 42nd anniversary this year.
The crowds were a bit slow to arrive Saturday, said spokeswoman Andrea Furness, but seemed to be about average for Sunday.
With five stages of live music and more than 400 vendors — 200 of them being devoted to the arts — the fair typically brings between 75,000 and 85,000 people per day, said Denver police Lt. Vincent Gavito.
Miriam Jensen, 70, disagreed with organizers. She’s been attending the fair since its early days — it was created in 1971 — and said this year was uncharacteristically slow.
“Usually this time of day it will be absolutely packed,” she said Sunday afternoon. “It’s always lines for food, lines for fun, lines for everything.”
Not this year, she said.
Her friend, Catherine Cusack, 61, even noted that there were fewer tie-dye vendors than in years past, but still managed to pick up a piece of clothing from the Tye Dye Guy.
Nic Turiciano: 303-954-1223, nturiciano@denverpost.com or follow @Nic_Turishawno