Grand Lake Creative District

09/04/2026

Four reasons to be out and about in Grand Lake this weekend.

The Columbine Lake Home Tour is Sunday, September 6, from 11am to 2pm, and only 20 tickets remain. Self-paced, seven homes, with work by Rocky Mountain Folk School instructors on display inside. Proceeds go straight back to the folk school.
https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/2026-columbine-lake-home-tour-tickets

The Grand Arts Council annual Tombstone Tales returns to the Grand Lake Cemetery, where the people who built this town get to tell their own stories again. Tickets are $15 per person, and everyone attending needs a ticket for a specific tour time. Children 5 and under are free; ages 6 to 12 are $5 with an adult. All tours begin and end at the Gateway Inn, so plan to arrive about 10 minutes before your tour time to board the van. There is no parking at the cemetery.
https://grandartscouncil.com/Events/ID/5/Tombstone-Tales -tickets

Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre opens Never Can Say Goodbye: The 70s Beehive Musical this weekend - celebrating powerful female voices of the 70s. Featuring timeless hits such as "Heart of Glass", "I Will Survive", "Hooked on a Feeling", and "I am Woman".
https://www.rockymountainrep.com/play/never-can-say-goodbye-a-70s-beehive-musical/

And at the Grand Spirit Makerspace, Rocky Mountain Wooden Boat School is hosting a wooden paddleboard build. Stop in and see the progress all weekend.

Four organizations, one weekend, all of it a few minutes from each other in beautiful Grand Lake, Colorado!

09/01/2026

A brand-new art festival is coming to Grand Lake this October, and everyone's invited.

Faces & Places: Grand Lake brings nine of Colorado's finest artists to town for three days of painting, teaching, and celebrating the creative life of these mountains. From October 1-3, you can watch live portrait painting, explore an art show and sale, try new mediums and techniques, and pull up your own easel to paint right alongside the professionals.

Make a weekend of it. Early October is Grand Lake at its finest - golden aspens, quiet mornings, cool mountain air.

Here's where to expect:
🎨 Thursday, Oct 1 - Artists paint Grand Avenue along the boardwalk, 9am-3pm. Then join them at 7pm for a lecture and Q&A with artist Paul Heaston at the Shadowcliff chapel.
🎨 Friday, Oct 2 - Artists painting the grounds at Shadowcliff, 9am-4pm.
🎨 Saturday, Oct 3 - Live portrait painting demo from 10am-1:30pm, plus the art show and sale from 10am-4pm at the Grand Lake Community House.

Presented by Portrait Society of America, Shadowcliff Mountain Lodge & Retreat Center, and the Grand Lake Creative District.

08/24/2026

It's a rare look inside the homes of Columbine Lake, and one of the best reasons all year to celebrate the artisans who call Grand Lake home.

The Columbine Lake Home Tour is the major fundraiser for Rocky Mountain Folk School, and as a Creative District we can't think of a cause more worth rallying around. The folk school is where so much of our handmade tradition is taught and passed along, and this one afternoon helps keep that work going.
Here's how it comes together: on Sunday, September 6, from 11am to 2pm, seven Columbine Lake homes open their doors for a self-paced tour, each one hosting showcasing work from RMFS instructors. You set your own pace, wander from home to home.

Every ticket directly supports Rocky Mountain Folk School:
· $25 - tour ticket
· $30 - limited-edition tour poster
· $45 - poster in a black gallery frame

Grab your tickets and find all the details at https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/2026-columbine-lake-home-tour-tickets

08/21/2026

🩰 Something remarkable is coming to Grand Lake this fall.

Boulder Ballet presents [In]Human - an evening of contemporary ballet that celebrates athleticism, artistry, and genuine human connection. What makes it special: this program was built specifically for us, drawn from Boulder Ballet's repertoire to bring the company's classical refinement and powerful, dynamic energy to the Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre stage.

🗓 Save The Date: Saturday, October 10 at 7:30pm.

The evening will feature three works:
• Sun & Steel, choreographed by Ben Needham-Wood
• Over Glow, choreographed by Jorma Elo
• How to Build a Dream Apparatus, choreographed by Natasha Adorlee

[In]Human is presented in collaboration with the Grand Lake Creative District and Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre, and generously supported in part by Shadowcliff Mountain Lodge & Retreat Center, Sagebrush BBQ & Grill, Grand Foundation, Mountain Parks Electric, and Bayswater.

07/29/2026

Read all about it! 📰

A limited number of affordable live/work units remain available at the new Grand Lake Space to Create, and local officials are encouraging artists and makers to apply before the remaining residences are filled. Learn more at link in comments.

07/27/2026

There's live bluegrass in Grand Lake, Colorado this week, and this time you get two shots at it.

Bluegrass Campers take the stage for the Grand Arts Council Summer Concerts in the Park Wednesday at 5pm.

The bonus this week: the band is back Saturday at 7pm for a second free show inside the Community House. Two nights, no cover, all ages welcome.

Come for the music, stay for the town. Grand Avenue's shops and restaurants are all a short walk away, and when you show up for a free concert like this, you're supporting the local artists and small businesses that keep Grand Lake creative.

Video by Arrive Social Co. Thank you for capturing it!

07/22/2026

Some communities have a town square. Ours has a fire pit that was forged by SteeLog Firepits from American steel in Tabernash.

It's a small thing that says a lot about this place: artists living and working side by side, the Grand Spirit Makerspace humming next door (now open to the public with classes and workshops through the Rocky Mountain Folk School), and now a spot to land at the end of the day and let the conversations run long.

A limited number of affordable live/work units are still available for rent. Applications are being reviewed by a local housing committee looking for people who'll add to Grand Lake's creative community, so if that's you, don't wait!
Apply now: https://www.townofgrandlake.com/departments-services/page/space-create-grand-lake

07/15/2026

🎵 It's Wednesday in Grand Lake, Colorado, and that means live music in Town Park. Rooster Blackspur plays the gazebo tonight from 5 to 7 pm - bring a chair, a blanket, claim a patch of grass and settle in for a couple hours of music under the evening sky.

The Grand Arts Council's Summer Concert Series runs every Wednesday through September 2, and we're proud to help make it happen. This is what a creative community sounds like. 🎶

07/14/2026

Tonight, the Grand Lake Area Historical Society brings the Lake Theater back for one night only! 📽

Graham Johnson presents home movies of Grand Lake, Colorado in the 1960s, shot by the Killion family: Buffalo BBQ parades, the old names on the shops, boats being delivered to Lyle Killion's Grand Lake Marina. Johnson has made a specialty of bringing Grand Lake's past back to life, including his restoration work on the Eslick Store and the Owen House.

It's a Happening at the Community House
Tuesday, July 14 | 6:30-7:30 PM
The historic Community House, Town Park
Free and open to everyone, dessert included. Donations accepted.

Happenings take place the second Tuesday of each month.
📸 Town of Grand Lake