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Avon opens first outdoor concert venue in Eagle County following COVID-19

John LaConte
Vail Daily
Crowds enjoy a concert at Avon's Nottingham Park venue, the first in Eagle County to reopen to live music following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jake Wolf / Special to the Daily

AVON – Nottingham Park on Wednesday became the first outdoor venue in the county to take the leap back into hosting concerts.

With four sections that allow 175 people each, and 50-feet between each section, event organizers think they pulled off exactly what their job title describes, a well-organized event.

“Everybody is showing gratitude and practicing being responsible, so I feel good about going forward,” said town of Avon special events manager Danita Dempsey. “I’m super thankful for the community, how well behaved everyone is.”



On stage, the Burnsville Band also showed gratitude to the town of Avon for hosting them, asking the crowd to give it up for the town and thanking everyone for staying distanced from each other.

“We filled the park,” frontman Steve Burns joked.



624 allowed

In fact, attendees had not quite reached the calculated 624 people maximum capacity of the venue, which is based on the 89,900 square foot area in front of the stage.

The town of Avon had 16 people working the event, many of whom roved the event explaining to guests that there’s no gathering in the walkways, and encouraging people to wear their masks when they’re moving around in the walkways.

Police chief Greg Daly said he had a few cops making walk throughs and observed no issues.

A cleaning crew went through the venue once per hour cleaning all touch points in the venue.

Also, event workers were carrying surfboards, which was cool.

“We wanted a visual to let people know how far to stay apart,” Dempsey said.

John LaConte | jlaconte@vaildaily.com

‘Somebody had to be first’

Jake Wolf, a member of the Avon Town Council and a musician himself, walked to the event from his residence nearby, and said he was honored to be a resident of the first town in Eagle County to host an outdoor concert venue following the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Somebody had to be the first one to do it,” he said. “I’m glad it was us.”

The Avon Live concert series will continue July 1 in Nottingham Park with Beau Thomas, a six piece ensemble from Summit County and Eagle County.

Guests may bring their own food and alcohol as there will not be any food or beverage concessions during events. Aluminum is preferred as glass is not allowed and single use plastic is discouraged.

Shows are free, but a maximum capacity of 624 will be enforced while Eagle County remains in the blue phase of pandemic restrictions.


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