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XTERRA races, Gypsum Daze, Bravo! Vail, Adventure Van Expo and More: Tricia’s Weekend Picks 7/15/22

Marshall Tucker Band and Michael Ray headline Gypsum Days, XTERRA brings the USA Championship races to Avon and Beaver Creek and you only have a few more days to see The Philadelphia Orchestra at Bravo! Vail

XTERRA USA Championship

XTERRA returns to Avon and Beaver Creek with the USA Championship races on Saturday followed by concerts in Nottingham Park on Saturday afternoon.
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Off-road triathletes will descend upon Nottingham Lake and the hillsides of Arrowhead and Beaver Creek for the 21st annual XTERRA USA Championship this Friday and Saturday.

Avon and Beaver Creek are regular stops on the XTERRA race circuit, but this year it’s hosting the XTERRA USA Championship, which has been held at Snowbasin Resort in Utah for the past 12 summers. Qualifying athletes from this event will go to the XTERRA World Championship which will be held in Trentino, Italy on October 1.

The race begins with a 1,500-meter swim in Nottingham Lake followed by a mountain bike ride for 24.2 kilometers winding through Arrowhead before ending at Beaver Creek. The racers finish off with a 9.1-kilometer trail run throughout the trails of Beaver Creek on Saturday. For those athletes who aren’t quite ready for the full XTERRA Championship Race there is the XTERRA Sprint Race which is about half the distance (750m swim / 14K MTB / 5K trail run) which takes place on the same course.



Beyond the triathlon, XTERRA will host sprint and relay races and a variety of other endurance events for the whole family including kid’s races, yard games, vendor booths, food trucks, beer gardens at Nottingham Park Pavilion. Trout Steak Revival will entertain the crowd with bluegrass music at the Performance Pavilion in the middle of the park with opening act the Proper Way starting at 6 p.m.

On Friday night, the festivities kick off with the Sunset Standup paddle board races from 6 to 8:30 p.m., free yoga, and “Moana” on the big screen at the Lakeside Cinema around dusk.

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XTERRA has once again teamed up with local nonprofit, The Cycle Effect and will be collecting gently used mountain biking gear like helmets, sun glasses and gloves and bikes if you have one you can spare. To learn more about events throughout the weekend, go to XterraPlanet.com.

Gypsum Daze

Gypsum Daze hosts a parade, a youth talent show, pankcake breakfast, 5K race, classic car show and concerts this weekend.
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Head downvalley to Gypsum Daze this weekend for some small-town family fun. Gypsum will showcase its rural mountain town charm with not only traditional events like a parade through town, a pancake breakfast and a classic car show but it will also feature a Youth Talent Show, pickleball tournament and a jalapeno eating contest. The 28th annual 5k and 1k walk/run along with family shooting sports and a kids fun zone round out the weekend’s lineup.

Check out Carve Wars throughout the weekend where you can watch talented chair saw artists transform logs into works of art. There will be an auction where you can buy what was created that weekend.  

Although the parade, talent show and jalapeño contest are signature Gypsum Daze events, Gypsum Daze prides itself on bringing well-known country musicians to the Lundgren Amphitheater stage. Last year they hosted 2021 ACM New Male Artist of the Year Jimmie Allen and in years past Scotty McCreery, Leann Rimes and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band have graced the stage and so has Rascal Flats and the Charlie Daniels Band.

The Marshall Tucker Band will bring in the songs and sounds that have spanned over 50 years to the Lundgren Amphitheater on Friday night. Bandleader Doug Gray will get the crowd moving with this legendary band’s southern rock sounds. Expect to hear favorites like “Can’t You See,” “Heard it in a Love Song,” and “Ramblin’.”

To get you ready for The Marshall Tucker Band, The Cadillac Three will take the stage with its own dose of country rock. The trio from Tennessee has played basements and garages and now tours the world. They were most recently on the Bandwagon Tour with Miranda Lambert and Little Big Town and will head out around the U.S. and to the United Kingdom with the Hillbilly Hypnotized Tour.

On Saturday night, chart-topper country singer Michael Ray will take the stage with opening act Nate Barnes. Ray recently released his “Higher Education” EP and in addition to playing events like Gypsum Daze, Ray is also on fellow country star Lee Brice’s “Label Me Proud” tour.    

Nate Barnes’s life story sounds like a country music song. He’s been a blue-collar worker, starting at age 13, and has done everything from cleaning toilets in a power plant to digging ditches, pouring concrete and laying pipelines. He first started performing at church when he was in the sixth grade. Barnes was discovered when he was passing through Nashville and hasn’t looked back since.

Chairs and/or blankets are allowed at the Lundgren Amphitheater. No coolers or outside food/drink may be brought in but there will be a food court and beverages for sale. For more information, go to GypsumDaze.com.

Bravo! Vail

Nathalie Stutzmann will conduct the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater in Vail.
Tom Cohen Photography/Courtesy photo

If you haven’t had a chance to see and hear the Philadelphia Orchestra, you can attend a performance this weekend at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater in Vail. On Friday, conductor Nathalie Stutzmann will lead the orchestra as Daniel Lozakovich plays violin. Tchaikovsky will be featured with “Polonaise from Eugene Onegrin” and Symphony No. 6 and Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2. There is a pre-concert talk at 5 p.m. in the lobby of The Amp if you want to delve a little deeper into the history and fun facts about the music you’ll hear that night.

On Saturday, Stutzmann will be conducting with Ricardo Morales playing clarinet and Choong-Jin Chang featured on viola. The program includes Copeland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man,” Concerto in E Minor for Clarinet, Viola and Orchestra, Op. 88 by Bruch, and Brahm’s Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98.

Take advantage of seeing world-class music at this world-class venue. There’s nothing quite like hearing these amazing works while seeing the beauty of the mountains, the alpenglow on the Gore Range, birds soaring in the air and the lush green backdrop of flowers and foliage behind the stage. Lawn tickets range from $5 for kids 12 and under and $29 for adults. Covered seating can be found at the pavilion and tickets go for $34 to $124 and can be purchased online or at the venue. Feel free to bring your blankets and picnics or purchase food and beverages at The Amp. For more information, visit BravoVail.org.

Band by the River

Band by the River is a concert series hosted on Fridays at The Backyard along the Eagle River.
Courtesy photo

The Ford Amphitheater isn’t the only outdoor venue where you can hear live music this weekend. The Riverwalk in Edwards continues its Friday night music series, Band by the River at the Backyard, which houses a small amphitheater and a grassy area with large boulders set into the lawn where you can bring a blanket or low lawn chairs and sit and enjoy music along the recreation path and Eagle River.

The series features local bands and this week’s band is Sam B and Friends. Here’s the rest of the lineup for the summer:

  • July 22: Kevin Danzig and the Gandy Dancers
  • July 29: Pete Muller and the Kindred Souls
  • Aug. 5: Vail Valley Band
  • Aug. 12: Valle Musico
  • Aug. 19: Hardscrabble

Gates open at 5 p.m. and the music will go from 6 to 8 p.m. Food and drinks are available for purchase or make a night of it and go to dinner at one of the many eateries in Riverwalk or the Edwards area before or after the show. For more information, go to EdwardsRiverwalk.com and check out the Upcoming Events section on the website.

Adventure Van Expo

Learn about the latest in van life products and accessories at the Adventure Van Expo held in Eagle this weekend.
Adventure Van Expo/Courtesy photo

In addition to listening to music at Band by the River, maybe you want to live in a van by the river. If so, make sure to check out the latest in van life and all the accessories at the Adventure Van Expo at the Eagle County Fairgrounds on Saturday and Sunday.

The adventure van lifestyle has exploded in the past few years and this expo lets you experience what’s new in the industry. The expo will feature van builders, accessory companies, adventure vehicles, rental companies and seminars.  

“This is the perfect space to check out vendors and accessories for van builds along with discovering new products on the market,” said Neil Morse, founder of Adventure Van Expo. “The expo will be full of unique displays and is a space where attendees can talk with experts on their craft.”

You can mix and mingle with others who love the van life and also check out the Adventure Van Expo DIY Contest where van builders looking to display their work can show others how it’s done on Saturday and be rated by van build experts.

This is the fourth stop on the nine-stop tour. The Adventure Van Expo has already been to places in California and Oregon and will travel to New Hampshire and Tennessee before heading back west for more shows. Eagle is the only stop the tour will make in Colorado.

The expo runs from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday. Adventure Van Expo attendees can camp on Friday and Saturday nights and roll in starting Friday evening at 4 p.m. 

Saturday will be a full day of live music along with eats and drinks from local food trucks and microbrews. Sunday’s Expo continues with the same packed list of vendors and open house vans along with live music, food trucks and local brews.

Expo tickets can be purchased in advance by visiting AdventureVanExpo.com and include a $10 entry fee for both days for ages 18 and up, $90 for camping (limited tickets available), $90 for the DIY Contest (includes camping) and a dog pass for $10. Entry is free for ages 17 and younger.


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