Snowdown - The Durango Herald

Snowdown calendar of events for Friday

Here are just some of the Snowdown events going on Friday. For the complete schedule, visit snowdown.org. Friday, Jan. 30 Snowdown T-Shirt Day, all day, Magpie's Newsstand & Café, 707 M...

DATE: Jan 29, 2026 | CATEGORY: Local News

Photos: Ring around the mountaintops

DATE: Jan 29, 2026 | CATEGORY: Local News

Colorado history gets weird, wild, wacky at Fashion Do’s and Don’ts

Annual Snowdown event has become so popular, auditions are now required

DATE: Jan 29, 2026 | CATEGORY: Local News

Photos: Snowdown 2026 Fashion Do’s and Don’ts

DATE: Jan 28, 2026 | CATEGORY: Gallery

Snowdown calendar of events, Wednesday through Thursday

Here are some of the Snowdown events going on Wednesday and Thursday. For the complete schedule, visit snowdown.org. Wednesday, Jan. 28 Scavenger Hunt, noon-4 p.m., Durango American Leg...

DATE: Jan 27, 2026 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Community, chili converge for annual culinary contests at Snowdown

Chili Cook-off and Bloody Mary Contest returns

DATE: Jan 27, 2026 | CATEGORY: Food

Latest edition of the ‘Sneer’ mocks Flock, pickleball, post office

Copies available at Durango Welcome Center, Magpies Newsstand

DATE: Jan 24, 2026 | CATEGORY: Local News

Snowdown Follies takes audiences back in history

42nd annual show a nod to Colorado’s sesquicentennial (however you say it?!)

DATE: Jan 24, 2026 | CATEGORY: Local News

Snowdown in Durango to be a sesquicentennial celebration

Artist shares process linking winter celebration to Colorado’s 150th anniversary of statehood

DATE: Jan 23, 2026 | CATEGORY: Local News

Food briefs: New Community Table event, and get ready for chili and Bloody Marys at Snowdown

New Community Table event in Durango kicks off next week A new concept hoping to create new conversations over good food begins next week with the Community Table. Inspired by a recent trip ...

DATE: Jan 21, 2026 | CATEGORY: Food

Gable House Bed and Breakfast to host immersive murder mystery game for third year

More than a dozen participants can solve three-day case at historic inn

DATE: Jan 12, 2026 | CATEGORY: Local News

What’s up with Snowdown

Snowdown is upon us once again, for the 47th year. The annual cabin fever reliever bills itself as Colorado’s premier winter celebration, and the Durango Business Improvement District believ...

DATE: Jan 11, 2026 | CATEGORY: What's Up Downtown

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Colorado history gets weird, wild, wacky at Fashion Do’s and Don’tsAnnual Snowdown event has become so popular, auditions are now required

Cowboys. Fancy ladies. Gold miners. Even-toed ungulates that some in Durango might consider more like rats.Where can you find a runway show that takes you on a whirlwind tour through the weird, wacky and wildly exaggerated 150 years of Colorado history? Only at Durango’s annual Fashion Do’s and Don’ts, held Wednesday, where models and audience members wore costumes celebrating Colorado’s sesquicentennial – the theme of this year’s two-week Snowdown celebration.Standout acts included the Ghosts of Durango, which featured four of Durango’s most famous ghosts: a Rochester hotel ghost in a Victorian get-up of a more “modern” variation; the Strater Hotel’s head of housekeeping, also head of more discreet services; a young girl haunting El Rancho’s bathroom; and Sheriff Bob Thompson, killed in a 1906 gunfight. according to emcee Suzan Lane. A Another act was the Secret Circus Society, featuring Rubi Starr, Jeni Gross, Tabatha Joy Bettin, Adrienne Young and Ethan Deffenbaugh dressed as a car and the roadside pests better known as deer. Group members said the inspiration for the costume came from lived experiences driving Durango roads. The two-person Cantine Couture act starred Leslie Ponce and Tyler Frakes in an homage to the plentiful variety of Mexican restaurants found in any Colorado town. Ponce, dressed in comically large Mexican pointy cowboy boots, ambled down the runway as if taking a stroll under the hot, dusty, high-altitude sun, while Frakes flitted about the stage in a bright yellow salsa dress. Ponce said this year’s costume had been tough to decide, but the final decision was inspired by TikTok videos of Mexican cowboys in pointy boots. This was the duo’s third year strutting down the runway. Why they keep coming back for more, Frakes said laughing, was, “for the fame, the glory and the attention.”

Fashion Do’s and Don’ts has been one of the most highly anticipated Snowdown events since its inception in the 1990s. It has more than doubled in size over the past several decades. Last year, there were a record number of models, and in order to keep the event at a manageable size, this year’s fashion show was the first one to require the acts to audition. But many of the models were unfazed by the change. “It was actually easy,” said Jodi Zuber, one part of the two-person duo that made up the 1950s Texas Invader Ski Couple. Her partner-in-costume, Danny Jaques, said they had been doing this for several years, and it’s good with everything going on in the world to “get some levity and let your hair down.” The performers were not the only ones in costume. Audience members also dressed in a wide variety of unique takes on what makes Colorado, Colorado. JonBenet Ramsey made a miraculous appearance, being played by an 82-year-old woman, as did Casa Bonita, an ensemble that included a taco, sopaipilla and gorilla in chains – to name some of the characters. By the end of the show, people were in high spirits, as usual. “It was just delightful,” said a first-time audience member. If blessed with the chance to get the much coveted tickets – he said he would jump on it. jbowman@durangoherald.com

Annual Snowdown event has become so popular, auditions are now required

Photos: Snowdown 2026 Fashion Do’s and Don’ts

Photos: Durango High School basketball teams lose to Montrose High School

Photos: Local girls high school wrestling at La Plata TriDurango girls wrestling went 2-0 to win Tri on Thursday night at Bayfield

Durango girls wrestling went 2-0 to win Tri on Thursday night at Bayfield

Photos: Fort Lewis College women’s and men’s basketball take on Westminster UniversityBoth Skyhawks teams were victorious on Saturday afternoon

Both Skyhawks teams were victorious on Saturday afternoon

Photos: An afternoon in 2004 with the late Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell as he works on Capitol HillDurango Herald Photo Editor Jerry McBride had the chance to spend an afternoon with the late Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell in 2004, photographing him during meetings and around the Capitol.

Durango Herald Photo Editor Jerry McBride had the chance to spend an afternoon with the late Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell in 2004, photographing him during meetings and around the Capitol.

Photos and video: ICE protests return to DurangoAbout a dozen protesters tried to block federal agents from leaving with a detainee on Thursday

About a dozen protesters tried to block federal agents from leaving with a detainee on Thursday

The Durango Herald’s year in photos 2025

Photos: Chapman Hill fires up the snow guns

Snowdown calendar of events for Friday

Photos: Ring around the mountaintops

Colorado history gets weird, wild, wacky at Fashion Do’s and Don’ts

Photos: Snowdown 2026 Fashion Do’s and Don’ts

Snowdown calendar of events, Wednesday through Thursday

Community, chili converge for annual culinary contests at Snowdown

Latest edition of the ‘Sneer’ mocks Flock, pickleball, post office

Snowdown Follies takes audiences back in history

Snowdown in Durango to be a sesquicentennial celebration

Food briefs: New Community Table event, and get ready for chili and Bloody Marys at Snowdown

Gable House Bed and Breakfast to host immersive murder mystery game for third year

What’s up with Snowdown

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