With the arrival of summer, one thing Durango-area residents can bank on is a seemingly endless lineup of special events.
The city of Durango permits about 200 special events each year, including marquee events like Snowdown, Taste of Durango, Animas River Days, Iron Horse Bicycle Classic and the free concert series in Buckley Park. Then there are dozens of smaller events, including block parties, fundraisers and holiday-oriented activities, city officials said.
The events take place year-round at venues across the city, but most are held downtown when the weather is warm, said Cathy Metz, director of Parks and Recreation.
“The goal with community events is to bring the community together, celebrate the activity and to make sure they’re safe and that everyone has a good time,” Metz said.
Many events have the added benefit of keeping the town vibrant and providing an economic shot in the arm, both for businesses and sales tax coffers.
Events target children, cyclists, rafters, music lovers and late-night revelers. The event season typically kicks off in April, after which city staff manage organized gatherings almost every weekend in Durango until the end of October, said Alex Wilkenson, community events supervisor.
“It gets pretty crazy, but people have a good sense of the events that happen every year,” he said. “People who try to kick-start events, they pick days that don’t have conflicts already, and that helps. There’s definitely days when we have multiple events going.”
The Parks and Recreation Department provides tents for vendors and a mobile stage for performers, Wilkenson said. An equipment trailer is stuffed with tents, folding tables, chairs and sandbags, he said. The city’s events team has an entire trailer dedicated to traffic control, including barricades and all the proper signage.
Other city departments also play a role, Wilkenson said. The waste and recycling department may provide garbage cans, he said. The police department may need to provide extra patrol. The parking devision may need to cordon off sections of road. In total, Wilkenson said he emails somewhere between 50 and 60 people – “anybody who would be impacted by the event” – notifying them of an approved event permit.
“People may not always see how much time and energy people put into planning these events to make sure they’re great,” Wilkenson said. “For example, Snowdown and Iron Horse, we start planning those three, four months in advance.
“It’s a lot of collaboration and a lot of time spent by people who want to put on an awesome event for our town. Even a one-day event – even if it’s just a couple of hours – the amount of time (spent coordinating) can be a lot.”
Most events drive foot traffic downtown, something that may benefit businesses – “generally speaking,” said Tim Walsworth, executive director of the Durango Business Improvement District. The BID focuses on improving business conditions, attracting and retaining companies, and improving the overall experience in the Central Business District and north Main Avenue.
“Events are, generally speaking, good,” Walsworth said. “But when you have a big event that closes multiple blocks downtown, those opportunities businesses have for people in front of their store comes with less parking. For someone who’s not interested in the event and just the store, the experience is a little different.”
Some downtown business owners objected about six or seven years ago to the city closing sections of Main Avenue so many times during the summer for special events, Walsworth said. Around the same time, Durango School District 9-R leased Buckley Park in the 1200 block of Main Avenue to the city, a property exchange that permitted alcohol on the premises, he said.
“It’s cool to be in the middle of our historic downtown,” Walsworth said. “It’s also cool to be in a park with grass and trees.”
Special events bring thousands of visitors to the city each year, Walsworth said. The BID organizes the San Juan Brew Fest, which attracts about 2,500 people, of which 1,000 come from more than an hour’s drive away, he said. People who travel to the beer-drinking event likely stay in a hotel, eat out at least a few times and possibly buy knickknacks from downtown businesses, he said.
Walsworth said it’s “reasonable” to estimate each of those 1,000 people spent about $200 in town that weekend. That’s $200,000 of investment in Durango, a boon for businesses and city government, he said.
“Let’s say half of the 200 are those types of events,” Walsworth said of the San Juan Brew Fest. “You can start to see good economic impact.”
bhauff@durangoherald.com
