FreeFall packed up from Harry A. Nottingham Park on October 11. The Town of Avon has made a few choices since spring, and taken together they mean the park's next big season rests on one thing. If Nottingham Lake freezes deep enough this winter, Avon gets skating. If it doesn't, the town has said the fallback rinks on the playing fields are no longer its standard plan. Over the past year Avon has been treating the park's grass, its pool schedule and its ice as things to protect, not things to push. Late fall in the park is the stretch when that shows.
The Festival That Closed the Season
The FreeFall Bluegrass Festival moved to Nottingham Park this year. Producer Diane Moudy called the move to a more central spot in the valley "the right decision both logistically and creatively." The Vail Daily reported that the park offered a bigger footprint, nearby lodging and restaurants, existing infrastructure, room for vendors and a larger kids' zone.
The first Avon edition ran October 9 through 11. Railroad Earth headlined Friday, the Bluegrass Generals played Saturday and Molly Tuttle closed on Sunday. Music started at the Avon Pavilion, and the After Grass parties ran Friday and Saturday nights at Agave, a short walk from the park. Moudy told KZYR The Zephyr, as quoted in the Vail Tribune, "We are ecstatic to be closing out the Colorado summer festival circuit and celebrate all that fall has to offer in Eagle County this weekend."
A three-day festival needs a lawn that can take a stage, vendor rows and crowds. Starting in October, that same lawn is something the town is trying to keep healthy.
New Grass on the East Side
The Nottingham East Park Improvements project is planned for the Old Town Hall site, 1 Lake Street. The town's May project notice says the project would develop a new restroom, a plaza, a rain shelter, a seating wall and a reworked parking layout, all meant to "support park uses across all seasons." The notice expected the work to be finished by October 11, 2026, the same day FreeFall ended.
The ground got as much attention as the planned building. In a September 18 update, the town said it had put hybrid fescue sod in Nottingham Park as part of the East Park Restroom project. It waited to lay the sod until the weather turned cooler and wetter. The fescue is expected to need about half the water of Kentucky bluegrass. Under the sod is a mix of topsoil, compost and biochar, a porous, charcoal-like material that holds water and nutrients. The town plans to watch how this patch performs and use it as a model for future turf work. Town Manager Eric Heil credited Pedro Campos of Zehren & Associates with recommending it.
New sod laid in mid-September will go into its first winter with only a few weeks to root. That timing explains the rest of this post.
Why the Fields Won't Become a Rink
Last winter Nottingham Lake never froze well enough for skating. Avon announced on February 5, 2026 that warmer-than-average weather kept staff from safely preparing the ice. Measurements at the end of January found three to four inches of white ice under several inches of snow and slush.
The town's ice rules have been in place since lake skating returned in 2020:
| Threshold | Requirement on Nottingham Lake |
|---|---|
| Before staff begin conditioning the rink | At least 6 inches of even ice across the full rink area |
| Before the public can skate | At least 10 inches of black ice |
| Late January 2026, measured | 3 to 4 inches of white ice, under snow and slush |
Last winter's best reading came in below even the first step. The same notice spells out the policy change. During the decade when the lake was closed to skating, Avon set up temporary rinks on the upper athletic field and the west lawn at the Avon Recreation Center. Because of "concerns about long-term turf damage on these heavily used fields," the town said temporary rinks "will no longer be used as a standard alternative."
Recreation Director Michael Labagh explained the weather side in the town's announcement:
"Natural‑ice rinks require sustained cold periods in order to create safe and dependable ice. Unfortunately, this year, the weather hasn't given us the window we need."
The town says it is still committed to lake skating and will track weather and ice depth to build a long-term operating plan. No plan for the 2026–27 season has been announced. Put the new fescue together with a town that has written off field rinks, and this winter's skating depends on whether the lake reaches 10 inches.
The Pool Stays Open for the Same Reason
The Avon Recreation Center pool follows the same logic. In March the town announced an aquatics remodel that would close the pools from early May until a tentative November 20 reopening. Twelve days later it paused the project. The town cited a significant jump over the original cost estimates and doubts that the work could finish on time.
The town's notice treats the timing as the deciding factor. Pool construction ideally happens between mid-April and mid-November. Running past that window could mean long closures "during peak community use periods." The town said the aquatics area would stay open for normal operations through 2026, with maintenance closures May 2 to 8 and October 5 to 11. The second of those closures is already over. Labagh said pausing "allows us to take a responsible step back, reassess our options, and ensure that when this project moves forward, it does so in a way that best serves our residents and visitors."
If you saw the November 20 date in the spring, it no longer applies. The pool never closed for the remodel, so there is nothing to reopen.
What Fills the Park Until It Freezes
With the festival over and skating uncertain, the park's next events are small ones held near the Pavilion and the Lake Street side.
- Sunday, October 25, 2 to 4 p.m.: Pumpkin Fun Run at the Avon Pavilion. A costume-friendly 2K with candy stops, games, face painting and a pumpkin for each family.
- Thursday, October 29, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.: Wildridge parks and open space meeting at the O'Neal Spur Park picnic shelter, 2799 Old Trail Road. It's the last of three sessions where the town is asking for input on Wildridge's parks.
- Early November: West Beaver Creek Boulevard bridge work wraps up. Hallmark, Inc. is doing concrete repairs, paving and new pedestrian railing on the bridge over the Eagle River, just south of the pickleball courts. The town expects to finish by early November.
- Thursday, November 26, 8:30 to 11 a.m.: Avon Turkey Trot at Nottingham Park, 1 Lake Street. A 2K and a 5K run and walk that benefit YouthPower365.
The Turkey Trot starts from 1 Lake Street, where the East Park project calls for a restroom, plaza and rain shelter meant to serve park events in every season. After Thanksgiving the park's calendar depends on the cold. The town's general information notices are where last winter's skating news first appeared, and they're the likeliest place for any ice announcement this year.
The Denton family has watched Avon's park through every kind of winter since 1978, including the years when skating moved off the lake and back onto it. If you're thinking about how a home near Nottingham Park holds its value through seasonal changes like these, Kyle Denton and the Denton Advisory Group can walk you through it. Request a complimentary home valuation.
