Nothing brings people together quite like the performing arts. The Vilar continues to grow to better serve the community as a year-round hub for live performances, community events and rental activations.
$42.3M
Economic Impact
173,617
Total attendance
193
Events and performances
9,555
Free tickets provided via STARS and CAA programs
Reaching for the stars
The Vail Valley Foundation’s arts programming reached new heights as it brought a starry-eyed world of wonder to its events and venues in 2024.
The Vilar Performing Arts Center is a 530-seat indoor venue in the heart of Beaver Creek Village that hosted more events and performances in 2024 than ever before.
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.
The Vail Dance Festival is an internationally-acclaimed festival that brings the best of the dance world together in Vail and Avon each July/August.
The Town of Eagle ShowDown Town is part of the VVF’s free concert series’. These events help unite our community, locals and visitors alike, in summertime.
Setting the stage
for excellence
Pushing the limits of programming
The Vilar Performing Arts Center is actively stretching the bounds of its programming – from emerging artists to a wide-array of genres and styles, and to iconic, instantly recognizable stars. This includes sold-out headliner concerts, Broadway tours, emerging singer-songwriters, and live performances in the May Gallery. Our audiences demand incredible shows, and the Vilar is delivering at every level.
Looking to the future
The Vilar Performing Arts Center has refreshed its offerings and expanded its capacity to host an even wider variety of performances and events. In 2024, the Vail Valley Foundation was proud to unveil a new Vilar Performing Arts Center logo, brand identity and strategic plan in early December to match the energy, excitement and momentum surrounding this iconic venue in the heart of the Rockies.
Investing in people and community
The Vilar is increasing its focus in developing the future of performing arts in our community through the hire of a full-time Arts Education & Community Engagement Manager. This allows even greater growth and investment in cornerstone programs like STARS, Community Arts Access, Community Use Fund-supported programming, and internships & apprenticeships.
Advancing the arts
$22.1M
Economic impact estimated generated to Beaver Creek
8,345
Tickets provided to students from 15 schools in Eagle County and the surrounding area through the STARS (Support The Arts Reaching Students) program
$63,480
Worth of tickets given to local community members through our Community Arts Access Program
41,510
Total ticketed attendees
137
Total events
*from Sept. 2023 – Sept. 2024
"The Vilar is such an important part of our very special mountain community. We are happy to support the Holiday Series. It is a wonderful opportunity for families and friends to gather and enjoy high quality, live performing arts."
"We are honored to invest in the educational experience STARS offers students. The Vilar is a world-class facility, and it would be silly to not use it to broaden the horizons of local students."
Photos from the Vilar
Photos from the Vilar
Photos from the Vilar
Photos from the Vilar
The art of always improving
The art of always improving
The venue at
Vail's heart
Positive economic impact
The 2024 season at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater began once again with ‘Après at The Amp’ April 5-6, kicking off a season that included more than 172 operating days through the end of September. High school graduations, community events, Mountains of Music during the GoPro Mountain Games, 20-plus big-ticket concerts and shows in partnership with AEG Presents, free concerts with Moe’s Original BBQ Hot Summer Nights, the Vail Dance Festival, and 22 concerts held by our partners at Bravo! Vail Music Festival … it all adds up to an amazing positive impact on our community (not to mention a $16.6 million economic impact to the Town of Vail!).
Voted number 1
USA Today 10 Best voters ranked our cherished Moe’s Original BBQ Hot Summer Nights free concert series as the #1 Outdoor Concert Series! Not only did this lift our spirits, it put our venue in the media spotlight, resulting in a major bump in year-over-year earned media value metrics.
Bringing the big acts
The Amp scored big in 2024 with its Amp Summer Concerts series: a partnership between the Vail Valley Foundation and AEG Presents. In 2024, the series included a whopping 20 shows (compared to 12 in 2022 and 13 in 2023) and welcomed an estimated 46,400 attendees. The series provided a significant and positive economic impact to the Town of Vail, with 19% of attendees living out-of-state, and earned a 93% overall guest satisfaction rating. From bluegrass to jam bands to country, comedy, pop, yacht rock, electronic, and more, the series reached a wide range of audiences and saw its most successful year yet.
Après at the Amp
19 Amp Summer Concerts
8 Hot Summer Nights Concerts
Vail Dance Festival
3 Mountains of Music Concerts
-
$1.6M
Economic impact for the Town of Vail
-
1,015
Room nights generated in Vail
-
7
DJ sets at The Amp
-
4,900+
Tickets sold
-
46,400+
Attendees
-
93%
Overall guest satisfaction
-
90%
Came to Vail specifically for the event
-
91%
Extremely likely to return in the future
-
11,000+
Attendees
-
97%
Overall guest satisfaction
-
65%
Came to Vail specifically for the event
-
91%
Extremely likely to return
-
14,500+
Festival attendees
-
11,391
Performance tickets sold
-
13
Performances
-
267
Total performers
-
3
Nights of music at The Amp
-
5,700+
Concert tickets sold
-
76
Net Promotor Score
-
10
Nationally-touring acts
"How great is this venue!"
Our partnership with the Town of Vail continues to thrive, and we are grateful to be stewards of this wonderful center for arts, culture, and community. We are excited about what the future has in store for this venue, and we look forward to sharing more phenomenal experiences with our guests in 2025!
VIDEOS FROM THE AMP
AMP SUMMER CONCERTS
APRES AT THE AMP
Photos from The Amp
Artistry
in motion
Local love
The dance community took center stage at the 2024 Vail Dance Festival, as highlighted by a special world premiere during the Dance for $20.24 performance. More than 10 Eagle County community members joined Larry Keigwin and Festival artists to perform Rhapsody on the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater stage.
Reaching new live audiences
The Festival’s livestream viewers doubled in 2024 as the Festival enjoyed the online participation of 4,132 viewers from five different countries of our live NOW: Premieres performance. This is more than double last year’s livestreams.
A stellar debut
The debut of the new Mic’d Up media series was an instant success. This interactive and playful part of the Festival was geared toward a social media audience and garnered more than 215,000 impressions. This first edition of this innovative new series featured New York City Ballet dancer India Bradley, wherein she gave an inside look at her personal thoughts and interactions with fellow Festival artists.
Vail Dance Festival En Pointe
$3.5M
Estimated economic impact generated for the Town of Vail
13
Performances, including 1 free performance in Avon
14,599
Total attendance
$890,872
Ticket revenue generated
93%
Came to Vail specifically for the Festival
Festival highlights
Festival highlights
"It's hard to put into words how much these weeks mean to me. The chance to further develop my marketing skills--especially honing my filming and editing techniques--while connecting with such amazing people is an experience I deeply cherish."
"I want to extend the biggest thank you for the opportunity to experience the Festival. I learned so much about the Artist Services position and also furthered my passion for management in the concert dance/ballet world and events while discovering a new passion for the fast-paced dance festival environment."
"Everything in Vail is about a next step for an artist ... it's an opportunity we take every year to give these dancers a next step."
2024 VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
MIRA DADON IN REHEARSAL
OPENING NIGHT HIGHLIGHTS
INTERNATIONAL EVENINGS
ShowDown Town
It’s hard to imagine our downvalley community in summertime without the Town of Eagle ShowDown Town free concert series, presented by Alpine Bank and the Vail Valley Foundation. The weekly event is a small-town tradition that brings families and friends together all summer long to enjoy music, one another, and the beautiful mountain environment of Eagle, Colorado.
- 7 shows
- $67,000 estimated revenue generated for the Town of Eagle
- 96% of attendees came specifically for the event
- 89% Zero Waste refuse diversion rate
- 3,640 estimated attendance*
- 92 net promotor score
- 13 community sponsorships
- 4.1 average number of concerts attended
*Attendance numbers were down year-over-year due to a severe weather cancelation of the 6/27 show.
Photos from ShowDown Town
Photos from ShowDown Town
Photos from ShowDown Town
