The unofficial kick-off of summer, an eight-stage jazz takeover, festivals at the base of Buttermilk, and Bonnie Raitt under the Elk Mountain Range. Here is the calendar.
Summer is when Aspen runs its biggest events. The Food & Wine Classic kicks the season off mid-June; Jazz Aspen Snowmass takes over downtown the following week; the Aspen Ideas Festival brings hundreds of speakers and thousands of attendees to the Aspen Institute campus through late June and into July; Aspen Music Festival and Theatre Aspen program continuously through July and August; the Snowmass Mountainside Music Festival lands in early August; and Labor Day Weekend closes the season at Snowmass Town Park with a stadium-scale lineup against the Elk Mountains.
Below: the dates that matter, organized by month — with category color codes so you can scan by what you care about.
The kick-off month. Two of Aspen's defining annual events arrive within a week of each other — the Food & Wine Classic, then the JAS June Experience.
The 43rd annual Food & Wine Classic returns to Aspen with more than sixty culinary stars, eighty-plus cooking demonstrations, wine seminars, panel discussions, and spirits tastings. Five Grand Tastings across the weekend put one hundred and fifty winemakers, chefs, distillers, and hospitality groups under one tent.
The 2026 talent: Bobby Flay (Steak-Out), Tyler Florence (The Way of Wagyu), Andrew Zimmern, Maneet Chauhan, Claudette Zepeda (Cooking the Borderlands), Shota Nakajima & Owen Han (katsu sandos masterclass), Nancy Silverton with Phil Rosenthal at Max & Helen's, Victoria James & Chef SK Kim ("Bubble & Crunch: Champagne & Fried Chicken"), and the Top Chef Season 23 winner.
New for 2026: Alpine Escapes — passholders can register for small-group activities including yoga, soundbath, hiking, and meditation. The American Express x Resy Trade Program (powered by F&W Pro) is hosted at the Aspen Art Museum.
Four nights, fifteen major artists, eight to ten venues across downtown Aspen — all within walking distance of each other. The JAS June Experience is built for moving from room to room: Belly Up, the Wheeler Opera House, 39 Degrees at the W, Limelight Hotel, Bad Harriet at Hotel Jerome, and the new Paul JAS Center, the organization's year-round home.
The 2026 lineup: Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, The Family Stone (carrying on Sly Stone's legacy), Christian McBride, Cory Henry & The Funk Apostles, Robert Cray, Acoustic Alchemy, Anat Cohen "Quartetinho," Sue Foley, the JAS Big Band led by McBride with Lizz Wright, The New Orleans Suspects (opening Thursday June 25), Tony Monaco's B-3 Funk and Groove Unit, Diego Figueiredo & Chiara Izzi, and "Remembering Ray Brown" (Christian McBride, Benny Green, Greg Hutchinson) — a tribute to the bassist who helped launch JAS during its first summer.
The Aspen Institute's flagship gathering — hundreds of speakers, thousands of attendees, on the 40-acre Aspen Institute campus. Across seven days, leaders in business, technology, public service, journalism, science, and the arts in conversation about the ideas shaping the present and future.
The 2026 program marks 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, using the milestone as a lens to explore the forces shaping the world today. Festival is split into two sections — passholders pick Festival 1 (June 25–28) or Festival 2 (June 28–July 1); patrons attend both.
Preceded by Aspen Ideas: Health (June 22–25) — opening the Aspen Ideas Festival for its 13th year, with 60+ sessions on the science, business, and policy of health.
Hotels in Aspen sell out for Food & Wine and Labor Day Weekend months in advance — and prices triple in those windows. Lock in lodging first; passes are easier to find late than a place to sleep.
The middle of the season — Aspen Music Festival and School runs continuously, and the Mountainside Music Festival closes the month with a two-day electronic and indie lineup at the base of Buttermilk.
One of the oldest and most respected classical music festivals in the United States, programmed continuously through the summer with hundreds of performances. Concerts at the Benedict Music Tent and Harris Concert Hall span symphonic orchestra programs, chamber music, opera, and jazz nights. Smaller venues up and down the Roaring Fork Valley host more intimate sets through the season.
The festival also runs as one of the most prestigious training programs for young classical musicians in the world — many recital programs feature students alongside the resident faculty.
For its second year, Aspen's newest music event brings two days of live performances to the base of the Buttermilk ski area. The 2026 lineup includes John Summit, Empire of the Sun, Passion Pit, Dom Dolla, Polo & Pan, and more — leaning into electronic, indie-electronic, and dance-pop with a stage built into the mountain backdrop.
A different energy from the JAS festivals — younger crowd, dance-oriented programming, two-day pass format.
Three full productions across the 2026 summer at the Hurst Theatre Tent in Rio Grande Park — world-class theatre in an intimate 200-seat tent setting, programmed by Producing Director Jed Bernstein.
Sylvia (June 15–27) — A.R. Gurney's comedy about a couple, a dog, and a marriage, directed by Tony nominee Hunter Foster.
A Chorus Line (July 3–25) — the seventh-longest-running Broadway musical in history, directed by Paige Price (returning to Theatre Aspen after a decade as its Executive Artistic Director). Choreography by Eamon Foley.
Grease (July 31–August 29) — the rock-and-roll musical with the longest tail in modern musical theatre. Directed by Patrick O'Neill.
Season passes go on sale in April and sell out within 36 hours; single tickets go on sale in May. The Solo Flights Festival of one-person plays follows September 8–13.
One event closes the season, and it is the biggest one of all.
The closing weekend of summer. Three days of dance-oriented popular music — pop, R&B, rock, funk, blues, world, soul — at Snowmass Town Park, with the Elk Mountain Range as backdrop.
Friday, September 4 — Benson Boone, with Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue opening. Boone's "Beautiful Things" was the most-streamed song in the world in 2024; he was Best New Artist–nominated at the 2025 Grammys.
Saturday, September 5 — Bonnie Raitt, returning to JAS for the first time since 2000. Thirteen-time Grammy winner, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement, 2024 Kennedy Center Honoree. Country newcomer Avery Anna kicks off Saturday at 3pm.
Sunday, September 6 — The Red Clay Strays, the Mobile, Alabama band whose breakout "Wondering Why" hit Billboard's Hot Rock & Alternative Top 10. Tim McGraw also on the weekend's lineup.
Three to five main-stage shows daily; smaller side stages between sets. Shows run until ~9:30–10pm. Will Call opens Friday at noon.
If you can afford a non-festival visit, the two weeks after the JAS Labor Day weekend are when the aspens turn gold, the lifts at Maroon Creek scenic gondola open for fall foliage, and the dining rooms become reservable again. The town quiets down for a brief window before the ski-season pre-opening prep begins.
