Booking update: Our flights, lodging and Opiuo concert tickets are booked. Festival outings and other activities remain tentative. Start with our complete Aspen trip plan.
Every December, Aspen throws itself a party to welcome winter. It’s called Wintersköl, and in 2026 it celebrates its 75th anniversary. Becca and I will be in Aspen from December 11 to 17, which puts us right in the middle of it. This guide is everything we’ve pulled together while planning: the full schedule, what we’re most excited about, and the practical stuff we want to get right.
This is our pre-trip research. We’ll preserve the plan and add an outcome update linking to a separate firsthand report after the trip.
Wintersköl 2026 at a glance
- Dates: Thursday, December 10 – Sunday, December 13, 2026
- Where: Mostly downtown Aspen, with Wagner Park as the hub, plus events at Snowmass and Buttermilk
- Cost: Most events are free to watch; the beer festival and the Saturday night concert at Belly Up are ticketed, and the beer festival is 21+
- Organizer: The Aspen Chamber Resort Association (ACRA), which posts the official schedule and any changes
The full Wintersköl 2026 schedule
Times below come from the official schedule as of mid-November. A few details were still being finalized, and some events depend on snow and ice, so double-check the official Wintersköl page before you go.
Thursday, December 10
- 3:30–4:30pm · Snowmass S’mores at Snowmass Mall and Base Village
- 3:30–5:30pm · Icebreaker Bash at the Paul JAS Center (ACRA members only)
- 6pm · Aspen Extreme screening at the Wheeler Opera House (free, RSVP required)
Friday, December 11
- 9am–12pm · KIDSCULPT snow sculpting on the Mill Street Mall
- 4–6pm · Skating rink opening in the Hotel Jerome courtyard (ice permitting)
- 5–7pm · Live music with Cam Williams & Friends in Wagner Park
- 5–8pm · Holiday Market at the Snowmass Village Conference & Event Center (free)
- 6pm · Snowmass Torchlight Parade on Snowmass Mountain
- 7pm · Drone show over Wagner Park
Saturday, December 12 (the big day)
- All day · Opening day at Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk
- 12–1pm · Canine Fashion Show in Wagner Park
- 1–5pm · Holiday Market at the Snowmass Village Conference & Event Center (free)
- 2–6pm · Wintersköl Beer Festival in Wagner Park, with live music (ticketed, 21+ for tastings)
- 3–5pm · Soupsköl, the town’s soup competition, in Wagner Park
- 4:30–7:30pm · Community bonfire in Wagner Park
- 7pm · Aspen Torchlight Parade & Fireworks on Aspen Mountain
- 9:30pm · Opiuo live at Belly Up Aspen (ticketed)
Sunday, December 13
- 8:30–10:30am · Uphill Breakfast Club at Buttermilk
- 4–6pm · Pup Portraits at Limelight Aspen
- 5–7pm · Little Nell Tree Lighting (ceremony at 5:30pm)
What we’re most excited about
The Wintersköl Beer Festival
Craft beer is a big part of how we travel, so Saturday afternoon in Wagner Park is circled on our calendar. Our plan is to arrive early, pace ourselves, and take notes on the Colorado breweries pouring so we can visit the best ones later in the trip. Tastings are 21+, so bring ID. As of mid-November, tickets weren’t on sale yet, so keep an eye on the official page.
Torchlight parade and fireworks
Skiers carrying torches down Aspen Mountain at night, followed by fireworks over town, is the classic Wintersköl image. With the bonfire running in Wagner Park until 7:30pm, the plan is beer fest, then soup, then warm up at the fire, then watch the mountain light up.
Opiuo at Belly Up Aspen
Saturday doesn’t end with the fireworks for us. Wintersköl’s headline concert is New Zealand-born bass music producer Opiuo, playing Belly Up Aspen at 9:30pm on his Ascension Seeker tour. We have our Opiuo tickets booked, and the concert is one of the confirmed anchors for our trip. Belly Up is an intimate room, so if you want to go, don’t wait on tickets.
Soupsköl
Local restaurants competing over soup on a cold December afternoon, right next to a beer festival? That’s basically the perfect afternoon for two food lovers.
Tips for planning your Wintersköl weekend
- Book lodging early. The festival weekend overlaps with opening day at two mountains, so expect town to be busy.
- Grab concert tickets now. The Opiuo show at Belly Up is ticketed and the venue is small.
- Pace your Saturday. Beer fest at 2, fireworks at 7 and a show at 9:30 is a long day at altitude. Eat a real dinner between the bonfire and the concert.
- Respect the altitude. Aspen sits at nearly 8,000 feet. Drink plenty of water, especially before and during the beer festival, because alcohol hits harder up high.
- Dress for standing still. The best events are outdoors in the evening. Layers, insulated boots, gloves and a warm hat make the difference between enjoying the fireworks and counting down to them.
- Check the schedule the day before. Skating, sculpting and other snow-dependent events can shift with the weather.
- RSVP for the free movie. The Thursday screening at the Wheeler requires one.
Not a skier? Neither are we
We don’t ski or snowboard, and Aspen still has plenty for us. A few things we’re looking into for the rest of the week:
- Snowmobiling to Maroon Lake. T-Lazy-7 Ranch runs guided two-hour snowmobile tours up toward the Maroon Bells, with two-rider machines available. Tours generally run Tuesday through Saturday, so plan around that.
- Snowshoeing. The road to the Maroon Bells closes to cars in winter, and people snowshoe and ski up it instead.
- Craft beer down valley. Downtown Aspen’s longtime brewpub (the Aspen Tap, later Westy’s) has closed, so beyond the Wintersköl Beer Festival we’re heading down valley to Westbound & Down’s Basalt brewpub and the taprooms of Carbondale and Glenwood Springs.
Heads-up for tubing fans: we love snow tubing too, but the tubing hill at Snowmass’s Elk Camp doesn’t open until December 18 this season, the day after we leave. If your trip runs later than ours, it’s worth adding.
See you in Aspen
We’ll be back after the trip with photos, our favorite pours from the beer festival, the best bowl at Soupsköl, our take on the Opiuo show, and what we’d do differently next time. If you’re heading to Wintersköl too, tell us in the comments what’s on your list.
We’ll preserve this original plan. After the trip, we’ll add a short outcome update and a link to a separate firsthand report at the top. Both will be collected on our Aspen trip page.
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