The Avon FreeFall Bluegrass Festival runs October 9 through 11 at Harry A. Nottingham Park, and this year is its first in town. The lineup leans on names bluegrass fans will recognize on sight: Railroad Earth headlines Friday, Bluegrass Generals close out Saturday, and Molly Tuttle takes the final slot Sunday, backed by a supporting bill that includes Ross James' Electric Deadgrass with Nicki Bluhm, Henhouse Prowlers, Hot Buttered Rum, and the Nershi Hann Trio. The event is produced by Resort Entertainment Group, a Vail-based company with two decades of festival and concert production behind it, and it is ticketed, with an elevated VIP option for anyone who wants a shorter line to the bar.
Gates open at 2 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, with music running until 9 p.m. each night. None of that changes because of the construction next door. What does change is the ground the festival is standing on. This is the first time Nottingham Park's east side will host a three-day, ticketed, multi-thousand-person event with its finished plaza, restrooms, and seating wall in place rather than a construction fence. If the timeline holds, festival goers this October will be the first people in the park's history to use that corner exactly as it was designed, on the same weekend it was designed for.
Where to eat before the music starts
For anyone making a weekend of it, the newest option sits closer to the venue than almost anything else in town. Colletta, the Italian restaurant that opened June 22 inside the Westin Riverfront Resort and Spa, replaced the hotel's former Stoke & Rye concept and is run by the property's executive chef, Angel Muñoz, serving scratch-made pastas and wood-fired pizzas that rotate seasonally. The Westin has also signed on as one of the festival's official lodging partners, putting Colletta within a short walk of the Nottingham Park gates for anyone staying there over the long weekend. It is a small detail, but it is the kind of thing that only shows up if you are already paying attention to what is opening in Avon this year, not just what is playing on the festival's poster.
The Vail Valley Team of Teri and Joanna can talk to you about the benefits of living in or near Avon, CO.
