A hometown weekend that has run for three decades, a free festival of Latin American culture, motocross race days, and a real small-town holiday season. KDVR called Gypsum one of Colorado's best mountain towns with a twist. The twist is that it still throws parties for itself, not for tourists.
The calendar runs forward from today: fall first, then winter and the holidays, then summer and next September.
Lundgren Amphitheater · Gypsum's fall festival: pumpkins, costumes, and small-town October done properly. This year's ran Saturday, October 3. The Town of Gypsum posts next year's date on its events calendar.
GMU 44 & the Flat Tops · First rifle season opens October 14 and the hills fill with camps through November. Every season date below.
Hardscrabble & the Gypsum Hills · The banana belt keeps riding and hiking open weeks after the upper valley goes white.
These are Colorado Parks and Wildlife's season dates for big game west of I-25, which covers Gypsum and GMU 44. Deer licenses are all limited and drawn by unit, so a date on this list only matters if you hold a license for it. Check the CPW big game brochure for your unit before you go.
Deer, elk & bear · September 2 to 30, 2026. Closed for this year.
Deer, elk & bear · September 12 to 20, 2026. Closed for this year.
Bear · September 2 to 30, 2026. Closed for this year.
Elk, with optional deer · October 14 to 18. Five days, then a five-day break.
Deer & elk · October 24 to November 1. Nine days and two full weekends.
Deer & elk · November 7 to 15.
Deer & elk · November 18 to 22. The last regular rifle season of the year.
Antlerless elk, select units · Can run anywhere from November 23 to January 31. Licenses are limited and the dates are set by unit each year.
Rifle bear licenses also run during each of the four rifle seasons.
Ages 12 to 17 · There is no separate youth opener for deer or elk. Instead, at least 15 percent of limited antlerless and either-sex deer licenses and antlerless elk licenses go to young hunters who have passed hunter education. A youth hunter with an unfilled antlerless or either-sex license can also keep hunting any open antlerless rifle season for that species in the same herd unit after their own season closes. They have to convert an either-sex license to antlerless first.
Deer, elk & bear · September 2 to 30, 2027.
Deer, elk & bear · September 11 to 19, 2027.
Deer & elk · First: Oct 13 to 17. Second: Oct 23 to 31. Third: Nov 6 to 14. Fourth: Nov 17 to 21.
Source: Colorado Parks and Wildlife, 2025 to 2029 Big Game Season Structure.
In town · The town's holiday kickoff, joined by a gingerbread contest and a holiday lighting contest that turns the neighborhoods festive.
In town · Gypsum closes the year with fireworks of its own. No lift ticket required.
Gypsum Recreation Center · Leagues, lap swimming, climbing, and courts in 57,000 square feet of winter refuge.
Beaver Creek & Vail · Sleep in the banana belt, ski the big mountains: about 25 minutes to Beaver Creek and 35 to Vail.
The anchor of the whole calendar, more than 30 years running. The parade rolls down Valley Road, the 5K is a 32-year tradition, and the weekend packs in a classic car show, a jalapeno eating contest, a youth talent show, food trucks, and a carnival where about ten bucks buys an unlimited-ride wristband. It all builds to a headline country concert by the golf course. Past stages have held Diamond Rio and Scotty McCreery; 2026 brought Chris Janson and Mackenzie Carpenter.
Gypsum Creek & Coffee Pot Rd · Snow leaves the upper roads: LEDE Reservoir camping, alpine fishing, and the long moto loops come back online.
In town · Gypsum's own Fourth of July, separate from Gypsum Daze. Two hometown parties in one month.
Town-wide · The hometown weekend: parade, 5K, car show, carnival, and a headline country concert. Details →
Lundgren Amphitheater · The town's free concert series, four Wednesday evenings from late July into August, 6:30 to 8:30. Bring a blanket or a low chair and get there early. Food truck on site, beer and wine allowed, no glass and no dogs.
Dry Lake Motocross Park · Practice days and race weekends on 160 town-owned acres of moto dirt.
In town · The community-and-first-responders block party that small towns do right.
A free, family-friendly celebration of Latin American culture: live music, food, and performances that fill the town each September. In a community where most residents are Hispanic, this isn't a themed event, it's Gypsum being itself. If you only make it to two Gypsum weekends a year, make it Gypsum Daze and this one.
Dates shift year to year and this page is community-curated. The Town of Gypsum posts the official calendar. Running a local event we should list? Tell us.
Official town calendar Submit an eventArchery season for deer, elk, and bear runs September 2 to 30, and muzzleloader season runs nine days starting the second Saturday of September. In 2026 the rifle seasons run October 14 to 18 (elk, with optional deer), October 24 to November 1, November 7 to 15, and November 18 to 22. Some units add a late antlerless elk season between November 23 and January 31. There is no separate youth opener, but at least 15 percent of limited antlerless and either-sex deer and antlerless elk licenses are set aside for hunters ages 12 to 17, and youth hunters with unfilled licenses can keep hunting open antlerless rifle seasons in the same herd unit. Gypsum sits in Game Management Unit 44, and licenses are limited, so check the Colorado Parks and Wildlife brochure for your unit.
Every July, usually around the third weekend, and it has been running for more than 30 years. The weekend includes the Valley Road parade, a 5K with 32 years of history, a classic car show, a jalapeno eating contest, a youth talent show, a carnival, food trucks, and a headline country concert near Gypsum Creek Golf Course. In 2026 the stage belonged to Chris Janson and Mackenzie Carpenter. Confirm exact dates on the Town of Gypsum website.
A free, family-friendly celebration of Latin American culture held each September, with live music, food, and performances. In a town where most residents are Hispanic, it is one of the most authentic community events in the Eagle River Valley, and one of the best reasons to point the car down valley.
Gypsum sits in the valley's banana belt, so town stays milder and drier than the resorts. Winter means leagues, swimming, and climbing at the 57,000-square-foot rec center, the holiday event run from Home for the Holidays through the New Year's Eve fireworks, and easy ski days upvalley: Beaver Creek is about 25 minutes away and Vail about 35.
At the Lundgren Amphitheater, the town's covered timber stage with a grass lawn in front of it. That's the home of the free Down Valley Get Down series on Wednesday evenings in late summer, along with movie nights and community events, and the town rents the stage and lawn out for private ones. It's all lawn seating, so bring a blanket or a low chair. The big Gypsum Daze country concert in July is a separate thing, staged near the golf course.