Durango - The Durango Herald

Purgatory Resort to host match in first leg of annual snowboarding competition

Results to premiere on Red Bull TV in late February

DATE: Jan 2, 2024 | CATEGORY: Local News

Durango Events Calendar

The next monthly meeting of San Juan Archaeological Society will be held beginning at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 10 in the foyer of Center of Southwest Studies at Fort Lewis College, 1000 Rim Drive. The...

DATE: Jan 2, 2024 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Here’s a look at the top Southwest Colorado stories that defined 2023

2023 was a busy year in Southwest Colorado. The last year was filled with some notable highs, including the unveiling of new trails, progress toward better EMS facilities and a boon of a wa...

DATE: Jan 1, 2024 | CATEGORY: Local News

Durango school district receives $50K donation for SOIL grow dome

La Plata County CSU Extension Office’s contribution will help alleviate cost for district, as 9-R showcases sustainability efforts

DATE: Dec 31, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Southeast Durango facility helping baseball, softball players stay sharp year-round

Choice Athletics launched operations back in May

DATE: Dec 31, 2023 | CATEGORY: Business

Durango now accepting applications for new Community Development Commission

Deadline for applicants is midnight Jan. 15

DATE: Dec 29, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Residents share perspective on shopping environment in Durango

Shoppers weigh in on the Durango Mall, what the city’s retail ecosystem needs

DATE: Dec 27, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Durango Events Calendar

Director David Dibble’s “rockumentary” “Rocks 4 Sale!” will air at 7:30 p.m. Thursday on Rocky Mountain PBS. The award-winning documentary is about the Silverton tradition of children settin...

DATE: Dec 26, 2023 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Santa Claus just may be a cowboy

Here on Christmas Eve, I write this column for all of the little cowpokes out there who have been good all year, awaiting the magic of Santa Claus. Nothing says Christmas like jingle bell-c...

DATE: Dec 24, 2023 | CATEGORY: Sports

Durango business Mable’s Bagels to call it quits

The man behind the bagel will pursue a career in school counseling

DATE: Dec 24, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Durango asks Four Corners residents to apply for Indigenous land acknowledgment focus group

City diversity, equity and inclusion team contacted nearly 30 area tribes for consultation

DATE: Dec 23, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

La Plata Family Centers Coalition gifts toys to 536 children at holiday giveaway

Nonprofit continues to collect clothes, donations for families in need

DATE: Dec 23, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

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 donned 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 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 the 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 years 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 it’s 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 years fashion show was the first one to require the acts to audition. But many of the models were unphased 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

Purgatory Resort to host match in first leg of annual snowboarding competition

Durango Events Calendar

Here’s a look at the top Southwest Colorado stories that defined 2023

Durango school district receives $50K donation for SOIL grow dome

Southeast Durango facility helping baseball, softball players stay sharp year-round

Durango now accepting applications for new Community Development Commission

Residents share perspective on shopping environment in Durango

Durango Events Calendar

Santa Claus just may be a cowboy

Durango business Mable’s Bagels to call it quits

Durango asks Four Corners residents to apply for Indigenous land acknowledgment focus group

La Plata Family Centers Coalition gifts toys to 536 children at holiday giveaway

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