Free and discounted tickets available for performances at The Amp, Vilar, and Vail Dance Festival
Avon, Colo., June 11, 2026 — The Vail Valley Foundation (VVF) is proud to announce the return of its Community Arts Access (CAA) Program for the summer 2026 season, continuing a multi-venue initiative that opens the doors of the valley's premier performing arts experiences to every corner of the Eagle River Valley community.
Through the CAA Program, locals who live and work full-time in the Eagle River Valley can apply directly through an online lottery for free tickets to Amp Summer Concerts at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, Vail Dance Festival performances, and select Vilar Performing Arts Center performances. Alongside the lottery, the VVF continues to partner with dozens of local nonprofits, schools, healthcare providers, and government entities to distribute free and significantly discounted tickets, ensuring there are multiple pathways for community members to access these experiences. Beyond the lottery and organizational partnerships, each of the VVF's venues and festivals offers its own slate of access programming throughout the season.
"Access to the world-class arts is one of the most powerful ways we can invest in the health and vibrancy of our community," said Mike Imhof, President of the Vail Valley Foundation. "What makes the Community Arts Access Program so meaningful is that it isn't a single ticket or a single program — it's a whole ecosystem of opportunities that meet people where they are, whether that’s a family wanting to bring their kids to the Gerald R Ford Amphitheater lawn, a child discovering classical ballet for the first time, or a longtime local who's never had the chance to step inside the Vilar. We're proud to open doors to those kinds of life-enriching experiences."
In 2025, the CAA and STARS (Support the Arts Reaching Students) programs collectively provided nearly 15,000 free or discounted tickets across VVF projects, and the Foundation welcomed more than 15,000 attendees to the free Bulleit Hot Summer Nights and Town of Eagle ShowDown Town summer concerts — a testament to the scale and reach of the nonprofit’s commitment to arts access.
At the Vilar Performing Arts Center
The Vilar Performing Arts Center continues to be a cornerstone of the CAA Program, offering free and deeply discounted tickets to locals for select performances through both the direct lottery application and ongoing partnerships with local nonprofits, educators, and community organizations.
The Vilar offers CAA tickets year-round for select performances. Current eligible performances include:
- JULY 1 | Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
- JULY 2 | The James Hunter Six
- JULY 5 | MOMIX: Botanica
- JULY 11 | Futurebirds
- JULY 19 | The World Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra
- JULY 23 | Bruce Cockburn
- JULY 30 | Moontricks
- AUG. 10 | Don Was the and Pan-Detroit Ensemble
- AUG. 12 | Django Festival Allstars
- AUG. 17 | The Bacon Brothers
- AUG. 20 | Tower of Power
- AUG. 21 | Mike Super: Magic & Ilusion
- AUG. 28 | Trinity Irish Dance Company
- SEPT. 3 | Broadway Sings America
- SEPT. 17 | esperanza spalding
- SEPT. 25 | Hiss Golden Messenger
- OCT. 2 | Tom Rush
- OCT. 7 | Alysha Brilla
- OCT. 13 | Punch Brothers
In 2025, the Vilar's CAA program connected more than 400 unique individuals from over 55 local organizations with more than 1,300 tickets, providing locals opportunities to experience the venue and reducing barriers that might otherwise have kept them from attending.
Looking ahead, the Vilar is focused on expanding both the reach and impact of CAA, with a goal of distributing 2,250+ tickets through the program annually by 2028.
The Vilar's STARS program is another central pillar of community arts access, bringing students from the Eagle River Valley and beyond into the venue for free performances curated specifically for school groups. In the 2025-26 school year, the Vilar provided approximately 10,700+ tickets to local students through the STARS program. The 2026-27 STARS lineup will be announced later this summer.
This summer, Love for the Locals also returns to the Vilar, featuring accessibly priced performances that are handpicked for the hometown crowd. Each ticket includes a complimentary Outer Range draft beer, glass of wine, or non-alcoholic beverage. New performances are added on a rolling basis throughout the year.
“Bringing extraordinary live performances to our mountain community is at the heart of the Vilar’s mission, and Community Arts Access reflects our commitment to making those experiences more accessible to Eagle County residents,” said Cameron Morgan, Executive Director of the Vilar. “Through this work, we're creating more meaningful pathways for people across our community to feel welcome in, represented at, and connected to the Vilar.”
At the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater
Locals can apply through a randomized lottery for free tickets to all Amp Summer Concerts at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater. Launched in 2025 as a brand-new addition to the CAA Program, the Amp lottery is back for a second summer, complementing the model that has long served Vail Dance Festival and Vilar audiences.
The Amp also continues to offer the free Bulleit Hot Summer Nights concert series — a decades-long staple of summer in Vail that brings the community together under the open sky at no cost. The series returns for 2026 on select Tuesday nights from June 16 through September 15.
Excluded from The Amp’s CAA lottery are the July 4 Patriotic Concert, third-party venue rentals, and Bravo! Vail Music Festival performances. Information about Bravo! Vail's own arts access offerings is available at bravovail.org.
At the Vail Dance Festival
The Vail Dance Festival launched VVF's very first Community Arts Access initiative back in 2016 as part of Artistic Director Damian Woetzel’s 10th anniversary season. A decade later, it continues its multi-layered approach to making world-class dance accessible to all through:
- Dance for $20.26, an evening dedicated to arts accessibility with pavilion seats priced at just $20.26 and lawn tickets for only $10.26
- Free lawn admission for children 12 and under
- Discounted lawn tickets for local students and faculty
- Festival ticket packages and specials for affordable tickets
- The free Celebrate the Beat Pop Hop Camp for local kids
- Free performances including Dancing in the Streets in Vail and Dancing in the Park in Avon
The 2025 Vail Dance Festival's CAA program made a measurable difference across the community:
- 278 free or discounted tickets given to locals
- 364 children 12 and under received free lawn admission
- 446 discounted lawn tickets sold to students and faculty
- 1,619 reduced-price tickets sold to Dance for $20.25
- 94 children participated in the free Celebrate the Beat Pop Hop Camp
Down Valley
The Community Arts Access Program also extends down valley. The Town of Eagle ShowDown Town presented by Alpine Bank returns for 2026 as a long-standing free community staple, taking over Eagle Town Park on Thursday nights from July 2 through August 13. Last summer, nearly 4,000 people came together across the ShowDown Town concert series, making it one of the most well-attended free community events in the valley.
To learn more about the VVF’s Community Arts Access Program, visit vvf.org/community-arts-access.
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About the Vail Valley Foundation
The Vail Valley Foundation is a 501(c)(3) Colorado nonprofit with a mission to provide leadership in arts, athletics, and education, and address community needs to enhance our valley as a place to live, work, and visit.
The organization's work in education is through Youth Power, a 501(c)(3) Colorado nonprofit corporation which provides programs from early childhood to college and career to support youth and families every step of the way. The VVF puts on several annual events including the GoPro Mountain Games, Stifel Birds of Prey Audi FIS Ski World Cup races, Vail Dance Festival, and Bulleit Hot Summer Nights and Town of Eagle ShowDown Town free concert series. The organization manages the Vilar Performing Arts Center in Beaver Creek and the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater in Vail, hosting over 150 events annually. The VVF also operates Eagle River Valley Childcare, a 501(c)(3) Colorado nonprofit corporation focused on enhancing early childhood education and development services across the community.
Vail Valley Foundation is grateful for our cornerstone partners: Town of Vail, Vail Resorts, Beaver Creek Resort Company, GoPro, Nature Valley, Constellation Brands, CELSIUS, Diageo, Lucid, Lifetime Home Remodeling, and Slifer Smith & Frampton Real Estate.
To learn more, visit vvf.org.
