Ice sculptures, live music and bonfires this weekend in the Vail Valley
The new year is buzzing with concerts, art and family fun around Eagle County
18th Annual Vail Winterfest
Since Jan. 2, the two-man team from Alpine Ice has been scraping, sawing and shaping blocks of ice into beautiful sculptures of larger-than-life owls for this year’s Night Owls exhibit for Vail Winterfest. The ice art is placed along Gore Creek Promenade and is a project of the town of Vail’s Art in Public Places. The entire project was created by using 25,000 pounds of ice and will be on display through mid-February.
The official kick off will be on Friday afternoon from 4-5:30 p.m. with music by DJ Enrique, warm treats from Mountain Standard and Two Arrows (while supplies last) and you’ll get a chance to hear from the ice artists, Paul Wertin and Jake Proffit of Alpine Ice, about how these owl sculptures were created.
These ice owls will provide plenty of photo opportunities along Gore Creek during the day but make sure to check them out at night because they will be illuminated from dusk to 10 p.m. Learn about free owl-themed art classes and a chance to meet with owls at events with The Raptor Foundation and Nature’s Educators at ArtInVail.com.
DJ Shows around the valley
Are you a night owl? There will be plenty of places to dance late into the night with various DJs coming to town. On Friday, DJ Ray Mills will perform at Lucky Fridays at the Rabbit Hole at Chasing Rabbits in Vail. Mills has been the DJ for the Minnesota Vikings for nearly 10 years and has gotten the crowd going at Minnesota Twins baseball games for five years (and he’s been a guest DJ at the Minnesota Timberwolves basketball games). But Mills gets out of the Twin Cities and travels the globe and performs before night club audiences and large corporate groups. This show will be from 10:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. with doors opening at 10 p.m. Tickets can be found at ChasingRabbitsVail.com.
Downvalley on Saturday, head to Agave in Avon for the Maddy O’Neal show. This Denver-based DJ plays dirty, funky bass music but makes it pretty. O’Neal is kicking off her 2024-2025 winter tour with dates that include quite a few ski towns in Colorado as well as major metropolitan areas. She’s performed at Coachella, Lollapalooza, Electric Forest, Red Rocks and several more events. On Saturday, O’Neal will be getting support from DJs Lizzy Jane and Stennor. Showtime is 10 p.m. and doors open at 9 p.m. Tickets can be found at AgaveAvon.com.
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If you’re not a night owl, you can still get your groove on in the morning with DJ Lil Dipz starting at 11 a.m. at Talons restaurant on Beaver Creek Mountain on Saturday. Come for the food, drinks and views but stay for the vibes, DJ Lil Dipz plays until 2 p.m.
Hawk’s Nest Cabin at Beaver Creek
For all those future DJs and dancers, Beaver Creek has Hawk’s Nest Cabin. This venue opened in Beaver Creek last year and is a fun place for teens and tweens to go and enjoy a night club setting. The décor offers a modern mountain lounge theme with many custom, high-tech elements. The interactive dance floor and chandelier were custom designed for Beaver Creek and the chandelier has over 5,300 individually-controlled LED pixel lights. You can’t miss this location, which is perched above the ice rink in Beaver Creek Village.
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In addition to the dance floor there is a ski simulator that utilizes a balance board style platform and the course you are on is a replica of the Beaver Creek slalom racecourse. There’s lounge seating and table and arcade games and you can order a fun mocktail from the bar.
Hawk’s Nest Cabin is open daily from 2-9 p.m. for ages 10-18. From 2-4 p.m. admission is free and from 4 to 9 p.m. it’s $10 per person. For more information, go to BeaverCreekResortCompany.com/Hawks-Nest-Cabin or check out Beaver Creek’s app.
Bluegrass and jazz at Vilar Performing Arts Center
This weekend at the Vilar Performing Arts Center you’ll find two different styles of shows in two different venues. The Infamous Stringdusters will play in the 530-seat theater on Friday while Richard Bona and the Asanté Trio will play a more intimate show in the May Gallery on Sunday.
The popular, Grammy Award-winning Infamous Stringdusters opened their two-night set on Thursday and at press time, Friday’s show was almost sold out. This Americana quintet will get you moving and grooving, so much so that the Vilar Center will be opening up the orchestra pit for dancing, so wear your dancing shoes.
The Infamous Stringdusters just set off on their Sky Dust Tour in Colorado at the beginning of the year, playing shows in Crested Butte, Beaver Creek and the Mission Ballroom in Denver.
On Sunday, the Vilar continues with its new initiative, Live in the May Gallery, where jazz and classical concerts will be hosted in an intimate jazz club setting.
“Richard Bona is nothing short of a musical genius. His mastery of the bass, coupled with his unparalleled ability to connect with audiences worldwide, has earned him countless accolades and a place among the greatest musicians of our time,” said Owen Hutchinson, the Vilar Center’s artistic director. “Richard navigates French, English, his native language of Douala and other African languages with such fluidity and musicality, all while playing brilliant bass lines rooted in jazz, funk, Latin and African folk music.”
Those attending the show in the May Gallery will be some of the first to see a new art exhibition, “Po’Pay: Contemporary Indigenous Portraits,” by Lee Marmon and Cara Romero, which features portraits from diverse Indigenous communities in the American Southwest. For information and tickets to the shows, go to VilarPAC.org.
Christmas tree bonfire in Minturn
The town of Minturn invites the public to its annual Christmas Tree Bonfire at Little Beach Park. Come and gather around the fire for a hometown post-holiday tradition this Friday from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Come get your s’mores and hot cocoa provided by the town of Minturn and warm up by the flames. Minturn is allowing you to also bring your own drinks to this event if you wish.
There will be two fires, one that contains all the Christmas trees and that will be more of a big bonfire, and then a smaller fire for roasting s’mores. The Eagle River Fire Protection District will be on site to keep an eye on the bonfires.
The town of Minturn has been receiving trees at upper Little Beach Park since Jan. 1, but you can still bring your tree if you get it there by 7 p.m. on Friday. The town said it is picking up trees for senior citizens or those in need of assistance. The town of Minturn’s website has more details on collecting trees. For more information about Minturn and its winter events, go to Minturn.org.
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