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Telluride Realty's Monthly e-Newsletter
June 2009
On Tap: June
Festivals, festivals, festivals. After a superb end to the ski season and well-deserved slumber of an off-season (where during certain weeks there was barely a car to be found on main street), summer kicks off in full swing with June doing what it does best...festivals. The fun actually starts at the end of May with Memorial Day coming early this year, bringing with it a weekend of mind-blowing films for the Mountainfilm Festival and fantastic guests like Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, Ken Burns, Conrad Anker, Rudolph Amenga-Etego, and Ace Kvale. Next in line are the Telluride Balloon Rally and Telluride Jazz Celebration, sharing the first weekend of June (4-7). Hot-air balloons are always a sight to see, and Jazz Fest is sure to be an event worth watching with an all-star lineup that includes Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Jimmy Herring, Ozomatli, Donald Harrison Quintet, Lizz Wright, Christian Scott Quartet, Benevento/Russo Duo, Rebirth Brass Band, Kenny Walker Sextet, On the One and the Young Razcalzz Jazz Project. Guest of honor to this year’s celebration is the awesome Bill Frisell (with his Trio that includes Eyvind Kang and Rudy Royston). The Telluride Bluegrass Festival hits a bit later in the month (18-21) with a tidal wave of superb music, featuring David Byrne, Elvis Costello & The Sugarcanes, Emmylou Harris, Sam Bush Band, Béla Fleck and Toumani Diabate, John Cowan Band, Tim O’Brien, Jerry Douglas Band and more. The following weekend (25-28), is the Telluride Wine Festival, which not only brings great wine and wine aficionados, but a live concert in Town Park this year with the amazing Citizen Cope. Wow, get out your party shoes…we’re exhausted just thinking about it all.
| May 22 | Gondola Opens Free and scenic gondola opens for summer; bike racks available on select cars |
| May 22 - 25 | Mountainfilm Distinctive blend of films, speakers, gallery exhibits, slide presentations, seminars and on-the-street conversations demonstrating the power of visual arts to instigate change. Name that Tune Teams compete in a version of the classic 1950s TV game, Elks Lodge |
| May 31 | Telluride Dance Academy Recital Dancers of all ages from the Telluride Dance Academy perform |
| June 4 | Telluride Jazz Celebration Exhibit Opening At the Telluride Historical Museum |
| 4 | Telluride Art Walk Check out gallery openings downtown |
| 4-7 | Telluride Balloon Rally Hot-air balloons grace the skies above Telluride at sunrise and set main street aglow at sunset; weather permitting |
| 5-7 | Telluride Jazz Celebration A musical celebration of the art, soul, history and future of an all-American institution |
| 6 | Telluride Playwrights Festival At the Sheridan Opera House |
| 8-13 | Wild West Fest Weeklong celebration of Western arts, culture and customs, which brings inner-city youth, along with artists and musical performers to Telluride |
| 11 | Western Federation of Miners Exhibit Opening At the Telluride Historical Museum |
| 12 | Cowboy Family Night Featuring T.J. Casey |
| 12-14 | Telluride Heritage Festival Celebrate Telluride’s colorful and storied past |
| 13 | The R. Carlos Nakai Trio Live music at the Sheridan Opera House |
| 18-21 | Telluride Bluegrass Festival
A long-standing and tremendous tradition of bluegrass-based music live in the Town |
| 24 | Sunset Concert Series Telluride Mountain Village Owner’s Association presents the summer Sunset Concert Series…live music in Mountain Village every Wednesday evening; performers TBA |
| 25 | Moving Mountains Theater Telluride Academy kids create a one-of-a-kind, fun-filled theater performance |
| 25-28 | Telluride Repertory Theater Presents Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew in Elks Park |
| 25-28 | Telluride Wine Festival Pairing the beauty of the mountains with indulgence of fine wines |
| 25-July 5 | Telluride Baseball Festival A wood bat tournament held in beautiful Telluride |
| 26-July 5 | Telluride MusicFest Four chamber concerts, plus a special solo lecture/concert with Philip Glass |
| 27 | Citizen Cope New this year to the Telluride Wine Festival, a live concert on the Town Park stage |
| 29-July 4 | Telluride Plein-Air Some of the nation’s top plein-air artists fill their canvases in Telluride |
Arts & Entertainment News: Mountainfilm: The Little Festival That’s All Grown Up
Mountainfilm, the Telluride Film Festival’s laid-back, hippie-dippy, younger sibling is making its own way in the cinematic world. Not that the shindig hasn’t always drawn a devout following as a beautiful and moving event, one that causes people to think about who they are and who they want to be, but its collection of flicks and speakers have typically been of the more-low-keyed variety. Spectacular wildlife documentaries, moving mountaineering triumphs, eye-opening political commentaries, astounding cultural portraits, and visual essays on the state of the global environment always dominate the schedule and while they still do, several in this year’s cache are also world premieres, sure to make headlines far beyond the scope of this quaint mountain community. “It certainly has grown up a ton,” said Mountainfilm Festival Director David Holbrook.
This year’s festival boasts five world premieres, including Ken Burns’, “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea,” a series about the characters who forged the national parks, as well as the parks themselves. Other premieres are “Samsara,” where crack climbing team Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk set out to attempt a first ascent of a 6,500-foot route in India’s Vindhya Mountains; “The Farm: 10 Down,” a staggering picture of the lives of several inmates in the notorious Angola Prison in Louisiana (filmmaker Jonathan Stack’s first film about the prison won the Grand Prize at Sundance and was nominated for an Oscar in 1998); “Interviews, 50 Cents,” a series involving two folding chairs, a card table and a cigar box, created by filmmakers Ethan Boehme and former NPR host Alex Chadwick; “History Making Farming Author—On the Move,” a message of sustainable farming through the interesting character, Vern Switzer; and “The Edge of Telluride,” a film about skiing things people really shouldn’t, directed by James Kleinert and part of a tribute to the late Andrew Sawyer, a local mountaineering pioneer. Among the many filmmakers attending the festivities are Burns, Anker, Chin, Ozturk, Boehme and Chadwick. “It’s funny, because I don’t think of world premieres as essential to our festival, but I’m thrilled to have them,” said Holbrooke.
And while certainly a highlight, there is much more to this year’s festival than world premieres with a string of inspirational films, fascinating symposium on food, and about 50 special guests. “…Our goal here is to change people’s lives. Or change the direction of them,” said Holbrooke.
Community News: Will we be Able to Work Out and Buy Booze at Lawson Hill?
The affordable housing appendage created in 1991 as a small local’s neighborhood has seen lots of changes over the years, and could be in store for quite a few more. Lawson Hill, which began as a mere cluster of houses, has grown into a buzzing community of nearly 250 residences, not to mention home to a private school, bakery, flower shops, dry cleaner, gas station and car wash. And now, it could be the proud locale of even more commercial venues as the future of a particular piece of land (aka the Hub Lots) is up for discussion. A planning group comprised of landowners, along with representatives from Telluride, Mountain Village, Lawson Hill Property Owners Co. and San Miguel County, has been working on a conceptual plan for the property for the past 19 months. The land is a five-acre site on Society Drive, between the gas station and Viking Rentals, and could host everything from affordable housing to a grocery store, parking, liquor store, coffee shop, drug store, and fitness center.
In mid-May, the San Miguel County Planning Commission unanimously approved several zoning changes, including those that would permit different uses than the currently permitted light-industrial. The next step in order for the plan to move forward, is for the town of Telluride to agree to provide water/sewer services to the not-yet existing elements of the development, a sensitive subject for many since there is concern that adding more businesses “out there” could potentially disrupt the flow of businesses “in here,” meaning downtown Telluride. “The number one concern would be competition with existing retail in town,” said Mayor Stu Fraser. Asked to what extent it was appropriate for the town to engineer what businesses would be allowed, Fraser said, “When town is providing a service, then I believe town has the right to be able to oversee what’s going on.”
So far the development plan is only conceptual, but could allow for up to 58 units of affordable housing (for sale and rent) dedicated by the landowners. The subject now moves from a county discussion to one for the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission and Telluride Town Council.
Regional News: State’s Snowpack Ended Up A-OK
While most have happily traded their wooly snow boots for brightly colored flip flops, it’s still nice to know that Colorado’s snowpack, when it was all said and done, peaked above average. April’s heavy precipitation finished things off with a thumbs-up for our state, according to the government’s National Resources Conservation Service’s winter wrap-up. “Statewide, it was a fairly good year, allowing us to at least reach an average snowpack by mid-April when it really counts,” said Mike Gillespie, NRCS’s snow survey supervisor.
This means good things for the flip-flop-wearing months. Although, the dust that covers the mountains from Telluride to Loveland (generously blown in from the deserts…thank you deserts), is causing the snow to rapidly dissipate (and could make the kayaking and rafting seasons short-lived), farmers shouldn’t have any problems irrigating their fields. Considering more than 90 percent of the state’s water is used for agriculture, this will hopefully mean area farmer’s markets will be busting with juicy, yummy produce all summer long. Good water years also have a tendency to translate to great hiking/biking seasons with beautiful flowers and if precipitation continues, fewer wildfires. As for the river junkies, they might have to get out and enjoy the surge while they can, but even if quick, it’s sure to be a blast.