Every major city has events. Dallas follows the trend, hosting many events. There areDallas corporate events, Dallas team building events, Dallas social events and many more. Most towns can be host to a multitude of gatherings, some to inform, some to entertain and some to promote business. Some cities and towns build economies around events, others see a good thing and want to keep it going. Some locations have seasonal economies and struggle to find ways to get through the rest of the year.

Telluride Colorado has a decisive advantage over summer resort communities. Telluride is a remote ski town that has a charming town and an excellent ski resort. During the ski season, the town is crowded with the many tourists. Crowds come to enjoy the winter recreation and buy necessities and luxuries such as food and entertainment. Skiing attracts a more affluent crowd so luxury and non-essential businesses do well. But Telluride has a problem; there is no skiing in the summer. Telluride’s advantage was that it’s busy time was the cold winter months. Unlike resort towns in the North East, the off season in Telluride offers some of the best weather. This was a perfect situation to create a four season resort town.

Telluride located in the south west corner of Colorado. It is a little town in a box canyon a great distance from any major urban population center. Telluride began as a mining town but now offered little industry outside of being a winter resort destination. The town representatives began bringing in summer festivals including music festivals, a mushroom festival, a film festival and art events. There are many outdoor adventures and tours for visitors who come to Telluride. It constructed a city campsite that bordered the wilderness and was also close enough to walk into the town, and was included on the shuttle route. The Telluride Bluegrass Festival grew into a major event. The film festival has developed a strong reputation and a loyal following. The films were shown in old historic theaters. There was also an effort to turn the celebrity event more public friendly, with outdoor seminars and theater in the park in the shadows of the mountain.

Telluride was also challenged by real estate limitations. The town is located between three steep mountain ridges. No more land was left to develop and many of the structures couldn’t be torn down without destroying the charm and history of the town. Expanding the town to meet the demand would mean destroying the charm that helped draw the crowd. Here again Telluride had another advantage. The majority of the ski area was on the slopes dropping into a valley on the other side of the town. To travel by car it was nearly a 15 mile trip, but the Gondola was able to function as the umbilical chord between the two areas. The original town could maintain old fashion charm, the other could offer all the modern amenities of resort living.

Telluride has managed to become a four season destination by utilizing its natural resources, preserving its heritage, and creatively expanding both the town and the town’s attractions.