What to do in and around Vail this weekend: Live music, dancing, beer tasting, art and a half marathon
Stop by the Brew'au, dance to live music in Beaver Creek, try a 5K and more this weekend
Vail Valley Brew’au
The third installment of the Vail Valley Brew’au is this Saturday. The event hosts tons of breweries along with seltzer and cider makers for an all-you-can-sample tour throughout the afternoon. You’ll get a souvenir tasting glass to try the various beverages. Don your Hawaiian shirt, shorts, beach hat and sunglasses and head to Nottingham Park in Avon on Saturday.
Early admission gets you in the gates at 4 p.m. General admission gets you in at 5 p.m. There will be live music as well. The Evolution will play from 4 until 5:45 p.m. followed by Mark Morris and members of Rapidgrass from 6 to 8 p.m.
The Evolution is a multi-member band of locals, many of whom are your friends and neighbors playing everything from Yacht Rock, ’80s and Caribbean sounds, including Latin rhythms and reggae. Mark Morris will lead members of the band he founded and take you on a musical journey that includes bluegrass, pop, swing, world rhythms, gypsy and even some classical music. Morris has also performed with Chris Thile, Dierks Bentley, Mike Marshal, Sam Bush, Edgar Meyer and more. The musical lineup alone is reason to get tickets for this year’s Brew’au.
Bring the kids because there will be plenty of activities they will love like the bouncy house, climbing wall and lawn games. Food trucks will also be serving up eats throughout the festival and there will be a live pig roast to go with the luau theme. There will also be live art, a silent auction and retail vendors. No outside alcohol or food will be permitted at this event and please leave your pets at home.
To close out the event, lanterns will be lit and released on Nottingham Lake to honor those the community has lost who were touched by the Vail Valley Charitable Fund. Visit the Alpine Bank Lantern Tent to decorate a lantern or place a message of love and remembrance on the lanterns before they set sail between 8-8:30 p.m.
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The Vail Valley Brew’au is a fundraiser for the Vail Valley Charitable Fund, which is celebrating 27 years of serving the valley. The nonprofit aids individuals who live and work in the Vail Valley who are experiencing a financial hardship due to a medical crisis or long-term illness. Over the past two decades, the Vail Valley Charitable Fund has raised and distributed $9 million to over 2,000 families in the community, with the majority of the donations coming from individuals and businesses in Eagle County.
This is the Vail Valley Charitable Fund’s biggest fundraiser of the year, so make plans to attend and help your community while having fun. Buy tickets at Brewau.com.
Vail Fine Arts
Art on the Rockies is back. Earlier this summer, you may recall that this event was hosted at Colorado Mountain College in Edwards. The art show moves east and is called Vail Fine Arts and it will host talented artists from all over the country during this open-air gallery stroll through the streets of Lionshead from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday.
The artists’ mediums will range from sculpture and painting to photography and mixed media, jewelry, glass works, woodworking and more. The featured artist for this year’s event is Jan Bushart, who has a studio in Edwards. Look for the event’s poster, entitled “Scarlet & Sage” and you’ll see Bushart’s work.
Even though artists come from all over the country, it is a tight-knit group, with many artists telling fellow artists about it and they join the art show as well. Many have been returning year after year and get to know the Vail Valley audience. Purchasing a piece of art from shows like this helps support the artist industry and many times you’ll have some sort of story to tell about the day you bought a certain piece and what connection you have to it. And even if you’re just in Vail on a hike or a bike ride, take a look at the beauty that can be found at this art show.
Vail Fine Arts is free and open to the public and parking is free in Lionshead as well. For more information, go to ArtOnTheRockies.org.
Craig Ferguson at Vilar Performing Arts Center
Get ready to laugh this weekend as Craig Ferguson takes the stage at the Vilar Performing Arts Center on Saturday night. Ferguson has quite a list of talents ranging from writer, actor, producer, director and comedian. He has been nominated for a Grammy many times and has won Peabody and Emmy awards. He is currently on the Fancy Rascal Tour which is making a stop at the Vilar Performing Arts Center as part of its comedy series.
Born and raised in Scotland, Ferguson started out as a struggling drummer in what he calls, “the worst punk bands in the U.K.” He switched to bartending and was encouraged to try acting and ended up hosting his own BBC show called “The Ferguson Theory.” Fast forward to 1996 and he was playing Drew Carey’s boss in “The Drew Carey Show” from 1996 to 2003.
From there, he’s hosted late-night talk shows, written movies and books and several comedy specials. He has sold out theaters across the country including Carnegie Hall and Radio City Music Hall. The show this Saturday has limited availability, so get a jump on purchasing tickets if you think you want to see him. Reserved seating starts at $45 and there are still some VIP Meet & Greet tickets available that include premium seating, an opportunity to meet and get a photo with Ferguson and receive some autographed merchandise. For more information, go to VilarPAC.org.
Arrowhead Half Marathon and 5K
If you’ve been running all summer, test your mettle at the Dynafit Trail Running Series which takes place on Arrowhead Mountain this Saturday. There will be a half marathon and 5K to choose from. This is the third year this race has been held at Beaver Creek’s western portal. The half marathon has 3,000 feet of elevation gain but the 5K is a bit easier with only 200 feet of vertical gain. The half marathon will start and end at the base of Arrowhead. The 5K will begin in Bachelor Gulch and finish at Arrowhead. Each of the courses offer beautiful views.
After the race, grab your donut from Northside Coffee and Kitchen and your custom-designed t-shirt. Prizes will be awarded to the top finishers but if you didn’t place, you still have a chance to win one of the great raffle prizes from the multitude of sponsors who support this race series. There will also be beer from New Belgium Brewing and breakfast burritos.
The big thing to note is that there will be no parking allowed at Arrowhead or Bachelor Gulch. Participant parking is available at Red Canyon High School, Berry Creek Middle School and the Edwards Early Learning Center on Miller Ranch Road in Edwards. Shuttles will be running to and from Arrowhead and Bachelor Gulch.
On Saturday, registration and bib pickup is in the Berry Creek Middle School parking lot from 6 to 6:45 a.m. for the half marathon and from 6 to 7:45 a.m. for the 5K. You can also pick up your bib on Friday at Peak Performance in Edwards from 4 to 6 p.m., which may be a good idea, these races start early: the half marathon is at 7 a.m. and 5K is at 8 a.m. For more information, go to VailRec.com.
Saturday Night Dance Party
The weekly dance party at Beaver Creek continues this weekend with local favorites, The Fabulous Femmes taking the stage at the Village Green on Saturday night from 7 to 9 p.m. Since June, Beaver Creek has hosted all sorts of bands to provide free entertainment on the plaza. There is also dance instruction, so you can learn some new moves as you are grooving to the tunes.
The Fabulous Femmes consists of three local women, Kathy Morrow, Beth Swearingen and Charis Patterson, who are very talented. From the Broadway stage to gigs around the world, these voices deliver. The Fabulous Femmes song list spans 50 years. If you’re looking for some classics from the ’40s, rock n’ roll from the ’50s, ’70s disco or even country, The Fabulous Femmes will play songs you’ll love to hear.
These ladies dress the part, have their own choreography and will enjoy having the crowd out dancing with them. This is their last public show of the summer season, so expect to see their local followers out on the dance floor under the stars at Beaver Creek. To learn about the next Beaver Creek Dance Party and other events, go to BeaverCreek.com.