Looking to combat July 4 juvenile delinquency, Vail adds another Independence Day concert to annual festivities
Evening show at Gondola One will 'give these kids something to do,' says Police Chief
Chris Dillmann/Vail Daily archive
It’s an annual problem in Vail — kids gather by the hundreds, climbing the town’s light poles, jumping into Gore Creek and harassing families trying to enjoy the village core.
And that’s the less-concerning conduct.
“Complaints regarding underage drinking, drug use, and disorderly behavior” have been prevalent in Vail in recent years on Independence Day, according to the Vail Police Department, problems that are “often exacerbated by the absence of parental supervision, as many parents are located in the Denver area rather than in Vail.”
In 2024, a curfew was initiated for guests under 18, along with several other new measures, including bolstered law enforcement presence at key locations and the utilization of advanced surveillance technologies in high-traffic areas.
One of the problem areas is the Solaris Plaza, where so many kids will gather that they prevent the town buses from properly navigating Meadow Drive.
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“A lot of times we have these kids at Solaris and we tell them to leave, we tell them to go somewhere else, and they ask ‘where do you want us to go?'” Police Chief Ryan Kenney told the Vail Town Council on March 17.
With that situation in mind, the town is planning another event for this year’s Independence Day celebration in Vail, a place where police can tell those kids to go.
“We’re working on the appropriate talent — something that will be a fun, patriotic feel, but will hopefully also draw some of our adolescent crowd away from the village,” said Jeremy Gross, the town of Vail’s events program manager.
The town is hoping to have that concert take place from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on the lawn near Gondola One — a venue that’s far enough away from the problem areas, but close enough to the remainder of the police force.
“I am a little concerned about splitting venues, but we need to try something to give these kids something to do rather than cause problems,” Kenney said. “So we will have plenty of people here and to deal with that.”
Kenney said he plans to have 40 officers in the field on the night of July 4.
“We feel that it’s very important to send a strong message that we are not going to tolerate this type of behavior,” Kenney said. “So hopefully the kids stop coming back up here thinking it’s a free-for-all, and parents stop dropping their kids off in Vail for a weekend of illegal fun.”
The town curfew for minors has been 10:30 p.m. on July 4 in recent years.
“We are having conversations about potentially moving that curfew up a little bit, but we will come back and discuss that another time,” Kenney said.
