We have been attending a Keystone Festival every summer since 2014, so I know a thing or two about these events.
The 1st reason to attend one of the events is that they are FREE. That’s right, anyone can walk through the village during the four ticketed festivals to enjoy live music and the festive ambiance. A key to Keystone Festivals is that it’s “choose your adventure” when it comes to how much you’d like to spend (and that’s more important than ever).
Get off the Interstate: Take Loveland Pass
For example, listening to Dotsero at Wine & Jazz Festival (July 13-14) is completely free, but if you’d like to drink some wine, buy a pass. Or, if you’d like food too, that’s a separate ticket or buy a wine/food combo pass. Your experience is al la carte. We always get the wine/food combo because we love this event!
The 2nd reason is bacon. There are handfuls of bacon given out to the public at Bacon & Bourbon Festival (June 22-23). We attended for the second time with our friends Matt and Lisa last year, and I was reminded of what fun gluttony this event can be. We spent hours shoving bacon into our faces while washing it all down with bourbon samples.
Sound fun? It is. Don’t love bourbon? You can buy just food sample passes and load up on bacon dishes.
A good friend is the frontman for the band playing Bacon & Bourbon on Saturday this June. Smokin’, a Boston tribute band, is comprised of incredible musicians from Northern Colorado. Longtime festival favorites, Hell’s Belles, an AC/DC tribute band, play Sunday. Both of these Bacon & Bourbon Festival headlining bands are very, very good (and an excellent reason to stay in Keystone through Sunday).
The 3rd reason is that Keystone is incredible in the summer. Hummingbirds zip through the village, colorful flowers explode from patios and planter boxes, and blossoms hang from balconies, and a river runs through it all.
The 4th reason is the enjoyment of attending Oktoberfest (August 31) in River Run Village. I have been to a lot of Oktoberfests and German parties through the years, after all, the German-American Chamber of Commerce was one of my first clients. When we finally attended Keystone Oktoberfest in 2019, I was blown away by the actual Germanness of the event. There are German dancers, German music, polka lessons, steins of beer, festival-appropriate contests like stein hoisting, and much more.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t remind the world that my husband, Ryan Schlaefer, a boy with German heritage, won the Stein Hoisting Contest and we have the picture below to prove it (as well as a humungous glass boot pictured holding sunflowers below).
The 5th reason is that Bluegrass & Beer Festival (August 3-4) is one of the oldest beer festivals in Colorado. There aren’t a lot of them around anymore. Before 2020, there were quite a few, and it was impossible to keep up with the numbers, but today, that number is low, so the fact that this mountain beer festival continues to thrive is pretty darn cool.
There’s also a beer dinner, a cornhole competition, and a lot of music. If you love bluegrass, there’s nothing better than Keystone’s main stage. The music sounds amazing here! Remember, listening to the music at a Keystone Festival is always free, but you must buy a pass to indulge in beer tasting.
Of the four ticketed Keystone Festivals, Bluegrass & Beer Festival is the only one I haven’t attended. For some reason, the weekend never works for our schedule, which is happening again this year.
The rest of the events are River Run Art Festival (July 26-28), Mountain Town Music Festival (August 17) and Stars & Guitars (June 29). All three of these festivals are unticketed.
Beer Festivals Can & Should Continue—Here’s How
One of the main reasons I love Keystone is that it feels a million miles away from reality. We can park the car and never have to get out the keys again until we go home. Keystone is a destination where relaxation and fun are our primary goals and these can be your Keystone goals too.
Don’t want to fight traffic on Interstate 70 to and from the Denver area? Consider a Saturday through Monday stay. Driving that route on a Monday is delightfully different than getting into the line of cars heading up to the Eisenhower tunnel on a Sunday morning. It won’t work for everyone, but with more and more of us working remotely or having flexible work schedules, it may be an option to consider.
Keystone Festivals is a longtime advertiser on HeidiTown.com. All opinions and first-hand accounts are my own. Need lodging? SummitCove Lodging frequently hosts us and we have had great experiences with this lodging property.
