Venue
960 North 3rd Street, Aspen, CO 81611, United States
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Aspen Music Festival and School guide
Eight weeks of music in the mountains.
In short
Classical music lovers can spend part of the summer in Aspen, where the festival and school runs about eight weeks from early July to late August; the 2027 dates are estimated until the AMFS announces the programme. Hundreds of concerts, operas, recitals and master classes mean music on most days, so plan stays around specific performances.
The Aspen Music Festival and School turns a Colorado mountain town into a summer-long classical music campus. Over about eight weeks it stages hundreds of concerts, operas, recitals and master classes, played by established soloists and by gifted young musicians who come to Aspen to study. It has done so since 1949.
The festival is as much school as stage, and that is what gives it character. Four orchestras, opera productions and a constant run of chamber music and classes mean there is music somewhere in town on most days of the season. Around 70,000 audience members come each summer, and on concert evenings the sound carries out of the open-sided tent and across the lawn.
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Key Facts & Stats:
Ends: Sunday, 22 August 2027
Where: Aspen, United States
Venue: Meadows Campus
Held: Every year
Type of event: Musical Events, Arts Festivals
Currency: US dollar (USD, $)
Time zone: Mountain Time (UTC-7, UTC-6 in summer)
Language: English (Spanish widely spoken)
Map
Getting around
Hotels near the venue fill up around the event dates.
Free seating on the Karetsky Music Lawn
You do not need a ticket to hear the big concerts. Seating on the David Karetsky Music Lawn, just outside the Michael Klein Music Tent, is always free, and many people bring a picnic and a blanket. Dogs are allowed on the lawn as long as they are leashed, though not inside any concert venue. Trained service animals are welcome everywhere.
Inside the tent and the halls, the only drinks allowed are bottled water and approved AMFS drinkware, and that drinkware only in the tent. The Lemonade Stand and Side Bar on the tent plaza sell snacks, meals and drinks before and during selected concerts. At close to 8,000 feet the sun is strong and the air dry, so bring water, a hat and sunscreen for an afternoon on the grass.
Age guidance for children and arriving late
Concerts are recommended for children over six. Children over four may come if they can sit through a performance quietly, and under-fours are admitted only to events designed for young audiences. Switch off phones and anything else that beeps before the music begins.
Doors open half an hour before each start. If you are late, ushers will seat you according to the late-seating rule chosen by that concert's artists, which may mean waiting outside until a suitable break. The lawn is the easy option for families with restless children.
Planning a week using the festival calendar
With hundreds of events packed into one summer, the hard part is choosing. Start with the printable calendar on the festival's website as soon as it appears, mark the orchestral concerts in the tent you most want to hear, and then fill the gaps with recitals, master classes and free events. A week gives a good cross-section; a long weekend still allows two or three big concerts.
Tickets are sold by the box office in the lobby of Harris Concert Hall, by phone and by email. Passes for 2027 had not been released by October 2026, so watch the site through the winter. Free events are not ticketed at all and seats go to whoever arrives first, which rewards an early stroll to the Meadows.
Season dates from July to August
The festival runs for about eight weeks each summer. The 2026 season opened on 1 July and closed on 23 August, and the 2027 season is expected to follow a similar pattern, with exact dates confirmed by the AMFS once the programme is announced. Applications for the 2027 student season were already open in October 2026, a sign that planning is well under way.
Most days of the season hold several events, so check start times closely when you pair a master class with an evening concert. Doors open 30 minutes before each start time. Arriving late does not always mean waiting for the interval: the performing artists set the late-seating policy for each concert, so it varies.
Summer is not the only season. The festival also keeps a small winter series of recitals and screenings of The Met: Live in HD at the Wheeler Opera House, with the 2027 winter programme due to be announced in early November 2026.
Aspen's mining past and the 1949 Goethe festival
The town was founded as a silver camp in 1879 and nearly emptied after the crash of 1893; by 1930 it had just 705 residents. Its second life began in 1949, when Walter and Elizabeth Paepcke staged a two-week celebration of Goethe's bicentennial in town. It went so well that it spawned both the Aspen Institute and the music festival.
The big names arrived quickly. Igor Stravinsky conducted his own music here in 1950, and the school enrolled its first class of 183 students the year after. Duke Ellington played a benefit concert in 1965, and Aaron Copland took up a residency in 1975. Robert Spano has led the festival as music director since 2012.
The main venue tells its own story. Eero Saarinen designed the original tent, Herbert Bayer the second, and the present Michael Klein Music Tent opened in 2000, its curved roof made of Teflon-coated fibreglass, the same material used at Denver International Airport. Harris Concert Hall was added beside it in 1993. Today the school draws hundreds of young musicians who study with more than 100 artist-faculty and perform in four orchestras, so a concert ticket often means hearing the next generation alongside established soloists.
Getting there
Flying in
Aspen/Pitkin County Airport (Sardy Field) is about ten minutes from downtown, with flights on American, Delta and United, and many hotels run free airport shuttles. Eagle County Regional Airport is the fallback when Aspen flights are full.
Driving from Denver
Allow about three and a half hours. In summer Independence Pass is open and can be quicker than the longer route through Glenwood Springs; the pass closes from October to May.
By train
Amtrak stops at Glenwood Springs, about 40 miles down the Roaring Fork Valley, where paid RFTA buses continue to Aspen.
Around town
Buses within Aspen and Snowmass Village are free. The Cross Town (XT) bus links downtown with the Meadows Campus at 960 North 3rd Street, and parking is free during events, entering from Gillespie Avenue and North Fifth Street.
Where to stay during the festival
Downtown Aspen is the natural base: the music tent is about 30 minutes' walk from the central streets, a short ride on the free Cross Town bus or a few minutes on a WE-cycle bike. Many hotels run their own shuttles to the campus.
Snowmass Village, about 10 miles away and linked by free buses, usually has more choice. Visitors who feel the altitude can spend a night in Denver before driving up.
Weather and what to pack
Aspen sits at about 8,000 feet (2,400 m), so summer days are warm and nights are cool. NOAA's 1991–2020 normals for the Aspen 1SW station give a July average high of 75.5°F (24°C) and a low of 48.1°F (9°C); August is a degree or two cooler, at 73.1°F and 47.1°F.
Afternoon thunderstorms are common in mid-summer, and the evening concerts in the open-sided tent can feel chilly once the sun drops behind the mountains.
Worth packing
- A warm layer or light down jacket for evening concerts
- A rain shell for afternoon storms
- Sunscreen and sunglasses for the strong high-altitude sun
- A refillable water bottle; drink more than usual at altitude
- A blanket or low chair if you plan to listen from the lawn
- Comfortable shoes for the walk to the Meadows
Car hire in Aspen
Airport transfer to Aspen Music Festival and School
Met at arrivals and driven door to door to Meadows Campus.
Restaurants and food in United States
Places to eat in United States before or after the celebrations.
Joe's Stone Crab
11 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach, FL 33139, United States
Cuisine:SeafoodAmerican
- Dine-in
- Takeaway
- Bar
Alinea
1723 North Halsted Street, Chicago, IL 60614, United States
Cuisine:ModernistAmerican
- Dine-in
- Counter seating
Franklin Barbecue
900 East 11th Street, Austin, TX 78702, United States
Cuisine:Texas barbecueAmerican
- Dine-in
- Takeaway
Commander's Palace
1403 Washington Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70130, United States
Cuisine:CreoleNew Orleans
- Dine-in
Katz's Delicatessen
205 East Houston Street, New York, NY 10002, United States
Cuisine:Jewish deliAmerican
- Dine-in
- Takeaway
- Counter seating
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Need help?
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Booking
The tent seats 2,050 and is the festival's main concert venue. Its sides are open, so the lawn outside shares the sound of every concert held inside.
About 70,000 audience members come over the season. That audience is spread across hundreds of events, from big orchestral nights in the tent to free performances.
General
Through the box office at Harris Concert Hall, 960 North 3rd Street, by phone on 970 925 9042, or by emailing tickets@aspenmusic.org. The box office closes between seasons, so expect slower replies in the autumn.
Robert Spano, who has held the post of Wall Family Music Director since 2012. Earlier directors include William Steinberg, appointed in 1954, and David Zinman, who led the festival from 1998 to 2009.
The Joan and Irving Harris Concert Hall, a 500-seat hall beside the tent, opened in 1993. It is the festival's second main venue, and its lobby houses the box office.
The festival's teaching campus, completed in 2016 on a 38-acre site about two miles from downtown. It holds rehearsal halls, studios and offices, and stages a few selected performances during the season.
More than 650 students arrive each summer from 40 US states and 34 countries. Their average age is 22, and most are young adults on the cusp of professional careers.
A small winter series of recitals and Met: Live in HD screenings runs in the cold months. Winter Music returns in 2027, with the programme announced in early November and tickets on sale in December.
Prices & payment
Yes. Young people aged 4 to 18 can get $10 tickets for most regular events, with some exclusions. These cannot be bought online and must be booked through box office staff.
Cancellations & changes
No. All sales are final, with no refunds or exchanges. You can, however, release your seats by calling the festival's Ticket Return Line before the performance and leaving a detailed message.