FirstGrass + Sunset Concert Series May Not Happen in 2022

Festivarian Events Telluride Bluegrass Festival
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via Justin Criado, Editor at Telluride Daily Planet

The Sunset Concert Series, the free annual outdoor event held Wednesday nights in Mountain Village’s Sunset Plaza, isn’t going to happen this year. At least, that’s the case as of this week. After going without the series the past two summers due to the pandemic, Mountain Village officials looked forward to welcoming back the popular offering, but Telski hasn’t granted producers an easement to use the plaza, which the resort owns. Mountain Village Mayor Laila Benitez explained the current concert series situation in her mayor’s update during last week’s council meeting.

“I will make it brief, but there was one thing that I wanted to talk to all of us about because I keep getting this question and I’m sure all you guys have been getting it as well, and that is regarding the Sunset Concert Series, including FirstGrass,” she said. “I know that there was a hiatus with COVID, and we were all hoping that is was going to be coming back. TMVOA (Telluride Mountain Village Owners Association) did sign a contract. They did budget for it to come back. The town has received a request from TMVOA. We’ve been completely supportive. And we would love to see the Sunset Concert series come back. Unfortunately, it has historically occurred on Sunset Plaza and on that grassy hill, and that is owned by TSG. They are currently not allowing an easement to hold those Wednesday night concerts.”

Teddy Errico, operating as the Telluride Society for Music, has produced the series since 2011, in partnership with TMVOA. He confirmed the circumstances to the Daily Planet Wednesday morning, but he’s still optimistic that the two sides can come to some sort of agreement before the summer season starts.

"We are hopeful that we can come up with a solution to work with Telluride Ski and Golf so the series can happen,” Errico said. “It’s a great community event for the Town of Mountain Village, and it would be a shame to see a long-standing tradition go away.”

Representatives from Telski didn’t immediately respond to questions about the state of the series, but this story will be updated online at telluridenews.com as more information becomes available.

Benitez expressed a similar sentiment and wanted to clear the air.

“The reason I wanted everyone to know that is because there is a lot of confusion that maybe the town is not allowing this to have that type of gathering or that TMVOA is. It really just is out of all of our hands. We are completely supportive of this happening, and we hope that we don’t run out of time if they do change their mind and we are still able to get bands. But as of right now, there’s just no clear direction that that’s going to happen,” she said during her update to council. “I just wanted you guys to know, because like I said, I’m sure you’re getting the same questions. It is probably one of the most popular things that we have in our community. It’s a great opportunity for everyone to come together, so It’ll be a real disappointment, I know, to all of us.”

The Telluride Bluegrass Festival is returning to a full-capacity format June 16-19. The free FirstGrass show has been the kick-off for both the summer’s largest festival and the Sunset Concert Series. Over the years, the Wednesday evening concerts in Mountain Village have hosted musicians across numerous genres, representing nationally touring acts or regional favorites.

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Wow, that would be a massive bummer! I’m wondering if we all get together and write TSG with our support maybe it could help tip the scales?

Telski is kinda weird as they’re currently operating without a CEO at the moment. Chuck Horning is the majority owner but I can’t find any contact info for him and other executives are equally elusive.

If you want to show your support here are the best options I’ve found so far.
E-mail: info@telski.com
Phone: (800) 778-8581
Snail Mail: 565 Mountain Village Blvd. Telluride, CO 81435

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Thanks for digging this up Alex!

Wow, I hope they change their mind. Good research on Telski Mr. Culasthewiz! You guys rock!

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Really would be a shame if this was cancelled. Always fun to ride the gondola. Maybe the town can do something in Elks Park, on a smaller scale. And, the fest is a month away. Start packing, folks!

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Doesn’t this happen already somewhat?
Condo dwellers, and others aren’t allowed in to TP by then, so it doesn’t seem feasible to start this convo about “replacing FG” in TP.
Especially with the current state of clamping down on peeps in the campgrounds? Just one opinion. :cheers

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What I find strange about this is why haven’t the businesses in MV spoken up about this? People come up to FG and spend money in the local bars and restaurants. If you drop FG, yes people will still come to the kickoff show, but only those who have tickets. So unless you go to the NG shows, what else will draw people to MV? I am guessing the businesses up there may take a big hit.

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You’re right about businesses taking a hit; not only from FG, but also the weekly Sunset Concert Series and other one-off’s throughout the summer. Aside from shows at the conference center in the before times, these are literally the only things that unilaterally bring me into the village during the summer. I might not get meals that require two different forks, but always get something … coffee, pizza, cart food, etc. and know I’m not the only one.

If I had to guess, businesses and TMVOA as an org are looking to proceed, but I’m not sure why Telski is balking at this? It could be a legal issue whereby they’ve become risk-averse on some front or another, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if they’re throwing their weight around to further their own interests. The latter typically wouldn’t be the case in that they normally approach these things with a “rising tide lifts all boats” sort of approach, but who knows … maybe they’ve got something in the works they feel is at odds with that space continuing as a live music venue?

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You’re right about businesses taking a hit; not only from FG, but also the weekly Sunset Concert Series and other one-off’s throughout the summer. Aside from shows at the conference center in the before times, these are literally the only things that unilaterally bring me into the village during the summer. I might not get meals that require two different forks, but always get something … coffee, pizza, cart food, etc. and know I’m not the only one.

If I had to guess, businesses and TMVOA as an org are looking to proceed, but I’m not sure why Telski is balking at this? It could be a legal issue whereby they’ve become risk-averse on some front or another, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if they’re throwing their weight around to further their own interests. The latter typically wouldn’t be the case in that they normally seem to view these things with a “rising tide lifts all boats” sort of approach, but who knows … maybe they’ve got something in the works they feel is at odds with that space continuing as a live music venue?

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For what it’s worth, here’s what I’ve learned about the “reasons” (copied and pasted from another platform):

The main “reasons” against the Series from the person against it are as follows: 1) It overwhelms the businesses for one day and they are already short staffed. 2) Mountain Village is better off having significantly smaller events every day. 3) Events deteriorate the experience of the guest and homeowner who are choosing not to be a part of it.

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That makes sense if I look at it from the 1% perspective:

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Yeah, even though it’s second hand info to be taken with a grain of salt, it doesn’t quite “add up” from a collective standpoint.

Just learned a new piece of information that might be relevant: it appears residents and merchants might be in the midst of trying to recalibrate the governing structure of TMVOA. From the get-go, the ski company has held what might be considered an inordinate amount of representation / power (with the ability to veto all) on this large HOA that is a different governing layer than the TMV proper.

If all of the above is true, it’s possible the impetus about withholding access to the land might be some form of coersion … but who knows, it’s all just speculation at this point.

Getting back to 1% perspective: it’s interesting in that TMV is one of the wealthiest municipalities in the nation. So, it’d be “infighting” amongst the 1%.

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That would be a bummer if First Grass does not happen. I know of at least one band that shows First Grass on their tour schedule (I won’t ruin the surprise). If it is not allowed to happen up at Mountain Village, what are the chances they could find another location for first grass, possibly even on the main stage?

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Would definitely be a bummer, still haven’t seen any updates from town yet. 5 weeks to the day until it would happen, so there is still a little time. I do see one band currently with it on their schedule as well, so we will see.

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That would be great if they were able to play on the main stage for First Grass! Now I’m curious about the band lol…

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The band with the First Grass dates on their tour page, says sunset. Would be very cool if first grass was on main stage!

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Just read another vague rumor: Sunset Concert Series might be moved to Transfer Warehouse in town.

If this is the case, then maybe First Grass would too.

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kind of funny to think about that actually happening, especially after tuesday’s planning and zoning meeting re: transfer warehouse use & the hoopla that surrounds it right now.

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Really hope it works out for Sunset Concerts AND FirstGrass to be in MV. Blues & Brews has their pre-fest concert at Transfer Warehouse but if you don’t get there early, you don’t get in. Because TW is considerably smaller than the MV area a LOT of people are going to be disappointed. Maybe having FG in Elks Park would allow more people to attend

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Yeah, it is interesting in that respect. Also looks like the Town of Telluride also just passed a revised noise ordinance that relaxes some of the stipulations by which higher volumes can be produced on weekends. A local band Joint Point is scheduled to play there a week from today, but their postered didn’t have a start time & just learned yesterday it’s scheduled at 7pm (whereas a lot of the shows there got started in the late afternoon) … so I suspect they were waiting to iron this out at the council meeting. Not sure what “plainly audible” means?

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The Transfer Warehouse is a great venue, but you’re right, it’s definitely far smaller and more confined than Sunset Plaza with nowhere to really spread out … although you can hear pretty well from the outside. Yeah, Elks Park would have a bit more space and the ability to more elegantly facilitate “overflow”.