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The rhythm of life

The Vail Valley Foundation brings the rhythm of life to the stage at our world-class events and venues.

Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater

The Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater (‘The Amp’) is a 2,800-capacity outdoor venue nestled in the mountains in the heart of Vail. It operates in spring, summer, and autumn, and hosts a wide variety of concerts and events.

Vail Dance Festival

The Vail Dance Festival is an internationally-acclaimed festival that brings the best of the dance world together in Vail each July/August.

Vilar Performing Arts Center

The Vilar Performing Arts Center (VPAC) is a 530-seat indoor venue in the heart of Beaver Creek Village that hosts more than 100 shows a year. In 2022-23 it celebrated 25 years as a center for arts and culture in the Rockies.

Free concerts

Free concerts including Hot Summer Nights in Vail and ShowDown Town in Eagle help unite our community, locals and visitors alike, in summertime.

Après at The Amp

The Vail Valley Foundation made the bold decision to host the first-ever April concerts at “Après at The Amp” April 7-8. At an outdoor venue, weather and snow were a major consideration. However, the event was extremely well received and The Amp was able to open earlier than ever before and continued through October to log a record-setting 157 operating days.  “Après at the Amp” will be back in 2024 with a stellar electronic dance music lineup.

A ‘bucket list’ venue

The Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater’s marketing and PR campaigns are designed to raise its profile and make it a ‘bucket list’ venue for concert goers around the nation. Progress is being made as the venue notched 670 PR placements, 96,186 social engagements, and boasts nearly 30,000 email subscribers.

Headliners in the headlines

The Amp is grabbing headlines due, in part, to headliner performances booked in partnership with AEG Presents. The 2023 season welcomed a diverse lineup including 15 total performances from artists like Pixies and Modest Mouse, Tash Sultana, Caamp, The Head and the Heart, Father John Misty, Mt. Joy, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Bert Kreischer, and more.

About the venue

13 Amp Summer Concerts

8 Hot Summer Nights Concerts

Vail Dance Festival

3 Mountains of Music concerts

  • 1987 venue established
  • 68 annual events (including 19 Bravo! Vail and community events)
  • ~2,800 total capacity
  • 157 operating days
  • 35,382 tickets sold
  • 85 net promotor score
  • 67% came to Vail specifically for the event
  • 89% extremely likely to return in the future
  • 15,000+ attendees
  • 97% overall guest satisfaction
  • 67% came to Vail specifically for the event
  • 89% extremely likely to return
  • 15,263 Festival attendees
  • $898,487 ticket revenue from Vail Dance Festival
  • 10 World premieres & new works
  • 25 interns & ambassadors took part in the Festival
  • 6 nationally-touring bands including The Motet, Brothers of a Feather, Orebolo ...and more
  • 6,350+ concert attendees
  • 81 net promotor score
  • 30 sets of live music at The Amp and in Vail Village
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Alpine Bank ShowDown Town

The Alpine Bank ShowDown Town free concert series is a place where families and friends gather to enjoy music and connect with one another. It has become a nexus of community and a significant contributor to quality of life in the Valley. The concert series is hosted in partnership with the Town of Eagle, and the title sponsor, Alpine Bank.

  • 7 shows
  • 5,000 estimated attendance
  • 88 net promotor score
  • 21 community sponsorships
  • 95% very or extremely likely to return
  • 4.1 average # of concerts attended

Dance powered by music

The event continued to grow its commitment to take the sounds of dance to new heights in 2023, commissioning three new music scores from David K. Israel, Gabriel Kahane, and Caroline Shaw. The Festival also featured thirteen musicians onsite including Abdias Armenteros, Youba Cissokho, Cameron Grant, Anne-Marie McDermott, Brooklyn Rider String Quartet, Eliza Salem, Michael Scales, Davóne Tines, Joel Wenhardt, and Tony Siqi Yun.

Breaking down barriers

The Festival’s Community Arts Access program continues to grow and break down the socio-economic and geographic barriers to access. More than 600 people enjoyed the free performance at the Avon Performance Pavilion at this year’s Dancing in the Park, and that’s just one of the many ways that the Vail Dance Festival continues to bring dance to everyone. Nearly 300 children 12 and under took advantage of free lawn admission, and 221 free tickets were distributed via local nonprofits.

The next generation

The Vail Dance Festival is committed to helping nurture the career development of our future generations of artists, leaders, and professionals. A robust program for ambitious young people to join the Festival team helped bring 25 interns and ambassadors to the Festival in 2023.

Vail Dance Festival En Pointe

12

Performances, including 1 free performance in Avon

15,749

Total attendance

$898,487

Ticket revenue generated

89%

Came to Vail specifically for the Festival

$3.7M

Economic impact estimated generated to the Town of Vail

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Showtime in the
rockies

Sustaining for the future

The VPAC completed a phenomenal celebration of its 25th anniversary in 2022-2023. A major part of that effort was the creation of a $2M sustaining fund. Thanks to excellent leadership from the Vail Valley Foundation Board of Directors, VPAC committee, and the community at large, the VPAC was able to not only meet, but exceed, its goals in the revenue for the fund.

A new Executive Director

The VPAC welcomed a new Executive Director in 2023: Cameron Morgan. Morgan steps into the role after many years of experience with the Vail Valley Foundation and its venues, the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater and Vilar Performing Arts Center. He first started with the Foundation as an intern for the Vail Dance Festival in 2015 and joined full-time in January 2021 as festival manager for the Vail Dance Festival. Former Executive Director Owen Hutchinson took on a new role as Artistic Director for the venue.

STARS Program

STARS (Support The Arts Reaching Students) was a part of the VPAC’s very first season in 1998. The program began as a reduced-cost ticket offering to local students and teachers, but generous donations soon ensured that all STARS performances were free for local children. The late Pat and Pete Frechette led the way in helping fund the program. The VPAC was able to run a complete STARS schedule in 2023 and the program was able to provide 8,295 free tickets to local youth to attend. Each performance ties in a component of children’s everyday classroom learning, including topics like literature and vocabulary. It’s all part of the magic of the STARS series.

 

Inside the world of the performing arts

For over 25 years, the VPAC has been one of the best-kept secrets in the Rockies. This iconic theater was created by a group of visionaries who knew that with great performing arts came great culture, great performances, and ultimately, great community.

Now, the world is getting to know the Vilar Performing Arts Center as one of the most renowned venues in the region. An all-hands effort to celebrate the 25th anniversary in 2022-2023 not only allowed for perhaps the best lineup in the venue’s history, it also helped raise the profile of the venue to new heights.

Improved sound system, new acoustic panels, and more, have elevated the venue’s majestic sound to unrivaled heights.

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