Imhof: A remarkable year for the Vail Valley Foundation
As we welcome 2026, we are proud to reflect on an extraordinary year of growth, innovation and community impact at the Vail Valley Foundation. Through our four pillars of arts, athletics, education and community supports, we’ve strengthened our valley in meaningful ways.
We revolutionized our Community Arts Access program through a ticket lottery system, allowing locals to apply for free tickets to every Amp Summer Concert and Vail Dance Festival performance, and select Vilar Performing Arts Center shows.
At the Vilar, we completed significant renovations and launched our new year-round “Love for the Locals” programming initiative.
Construction began at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater with pavilion seating replacement — just the start of transformational enhancements ahead.
The Vail Dance Festival once again showcased breathtaking artistry and 16 commissioned world premieres.
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We brought free live concerts to the community through Bulleit Hot Summer Nights and town of Eagle ShowDown Town.
We introduced speed climbing at the GoPro Mountain Games, launched a Mountain Games app, and debuted our Mountain Games-sponsored Athlete Team.
We and our partners — Beaver Creek Resort, Beaver Creek Resort Co., the International Ski & Snowboard Federation and Stifel U.S. Ski Team — successfully navigated challenging weather conditions to deliver three exceptional Stifel Birds of Prey Men’s Audi FIS Ski World Cup races over four incredible festival days.
Our YouthPower365 education programming served more than 4,000 youth and family members in 2025, and we awarded more than $850,000 in scholarships to 58 local students pursuing higher education.
We broke ground on our early learning center in Avon: a 13,595-square-foot facility, set to open in fall 2026, that will have capacity for 165 children ages 0-5.
We announced our ambitious $72 million Empowering Possibility Capital Campaign, which will address both immediate needs and long-term priorities across all our mission areas.
These interconnected initiatives delivered measurable results in 2025:
- 264 total events
- 278,073 participants across all our events, performances and programs
- 10,898 free or discounted tickets distributed to performances
- 1,428 volunteers contributed 34,714 service hours
- $61.8 million total estimated economic impact on our valley
And we had fun doing it!
Our integrated approach doesn’t just serve our community — it transforms it, ensuring this unique valley remains a place where possibility thrives for all. We’re grateful to our donors, volunteers, board members, sponsors and community partners who make this impact possible.
Learn more at Annual-Report.VVF.org.
Here’s to another year of empowering possibility together!
Mike Imhof is president of the Vail Valley Foundation.
