September 28-30: Mancos Valley/Mesa Verde Country Balloon and Art Festival– A county wide balloon festival including balloon rides, three special mass ascensions and two spectacular balloon glow. No festival is complete without food, art, music and dancing! You’ll find it all here.
November 30: Noel Night– An all day and evening downtown celebration. Each participating merchant creates their own unique Noel Night celebration with discounts, raffles, holiday refreshments, parties and more. Locals know THIS is when to do holiday shopping, or maybe get something nice for yourself? It’s not only about the discounts. Have you ever gone shopping on a Friday night where everyone is offering you hot spiced wine and homemade treats? So, so worth it.
January 20-February 4: Snowdown – Outside Magazine has named it one of the Top 5 Winter Festivals in North America. You might not understand it, we don’t really either. All we know is it’s the most fun you can have when the temperature nears zero. Durango loves families, so there are of course lots of family friendly activities. But get this: there are games for adults. Yes, you can play hungry-hungry hippos for the chance to win a bar tab, or join the local hospitality staff as pairs of two navigate an obstacle course on a roll away bed. The schedule is packed all day, all night, all week. So just get here, you won’t regret it.
May 25-27: Iron Horse Bicylce Classic – Durango is known as a biking town. (And a hiking, skiing, rafting, insert-outdoor-activity-here town.) But this one is truly a classic. It’s man versus steel as bikers make the 50 mile climb over two 10,000ft mountain passes and into the mountain town of Silverton, all the while racing the Durango & Silverton Train. The idea first came about in the 1880s and became the celebration of the spring train in 1972 when a group of 36 riders decided to give it a go. The race has been growing ever since, with 5 different events and over 3500 participants in 2011. Not a peddler? Not to worry. There is plenty of fun to be had with all the excitement surrounding the races.
June 20-23: Telluride Bluegrass -How do you show the world your a festival force to be reckoned with? Host world renowned musicians at an outdoor summer solstice event in a town that has 2,500 year round residents. That’s how. Recent lineups have welcomed Robert Plant, Mumford & Sons, The Decemberists, Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, David Byrne, Ani DiFranco, Lyle Lovett, Ryan Adams, Counting Crows, Bonnie Raitt, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, and so many more.