Initial Trip Scheduling
Initial Trip Planning
Sample Itinerary & Scheduling
Winter Park, Colorado is located 67 miles northwest of Denver, in a high valley below the Continental Divide. Take Interstate 70 west from Denver into the mountains, turn north on Hwy 40, cross Berthoud Pass, descend into the Winter Park Resort and town.
Typical Travel Methods to/from Winter Park:
- Motor coaches, school buses, school/rental vans or personal vehicles between your hometown and Winter Park
- Fly to/from Denver International Airport and hire motor coaches between Denver and Winter Park. (if a group stays at particular lodging facilities, they will not need transportation in Winter Park their entire stay, except only to hire transportation to the performance site. Or use your airport shuttle to get you to the performance site, which we can help with)
- Contact the festival office for convenient shortcuts to busing companies, group airfare sites, and more
2027 Winter Park Ski-Music Festival Weeks
- Week #1 March 18-21 (Thursday- Sunday)
- Week #2 March 24-27 (Wednesday- Sunday) Good Friday and Easter Sunday
- Week #3 April 1-4 (Thursday- Sunday)
- Week #4 April 8-11 (Thursday-Sunday)
Why do we publish Thursday-Sunday and Wednesday-Sunday dates? Simply because these are the most common days and nights music groups choose to be in Winter Park. This can be 2-4 nights, however you wish. If you read below (Arrival in WP & Recreation Scheduling) you will read that we actually want groups to arrive the afternoon or evening prior to recreating the following day. So we also have groups in Winter Park as early as Wednesdays, while some might depart as late as Monday morning. Again, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays are the most typical days groups are with us, and that’s how we publish our festival weeks.
The Wednesday-Sunday dates used for March 24-27, 2027, is because we push the performances and awards forward one day this week, so if a music group wants to take advantage of the Good Friday holiday (a school holiday), they can, while still getting students home for Easter Sunday. See below for more information on how we schedule for this week.
Attend any festival week, with 2-4 nights to fit your trip schedule. Notice on our 2027 published prices, some overnight lodging choices have a minimum number of nights. Please consider where you would like stay overnight, and the minimum nights, when thinking about a trip itinerary.
Performance scheduling and awards/street dance for week #1, #3, and #4 2027 festival weeks. Instrumental performances (including color guards) will be scheduled for Thursday evenings, or Friday afternoons through early evenings. Choral performances will be scheduled Friday evenings. Awards Ceremony and Street Dance at Winter Park Resort will be held Saturday evenings 7:30 pm-9:00 pm. Pre-awards Street dance starts at 6:45 pm. Plan to be in Winter Park for both performances and the awards ceremony evening.
For week #2 (Good Friday and Easter Sunday), we will have performances on Thursday evening for all ensemble types, and have the Awards Ceremony and Street Dance on Friday evening.
When planning Winter Park arrival and departure times, be sure to first consider lodging check-in/out times. The check-in times for lodging facilities are after 4:00-6:00 pm, with check-out times being before 10:00 am. For a group to eliminate any additional “early check-in” charges, please consider arriving to ski first, and then check into lodging after skiing. For a departure date, consider checking out of the lodging earlier that morning, ski the last day, and then depart Winter Park afterwards. Don’t forget about bus drivers’ off duty sleeping hours when planning these arrival and departure dates and times as well. The festival should be able to arrange optional early check-in, or a late check-out, with an associated charge when needed.
Arrival in Winter Park, and WPSMF’s scheduling of your music group’s recreation. Historically, most groups have planned to arrive in Winter Park in the morning, get ski equipment rentals, receive ticketing, and then have beginners in lessons, all in the same morning, or by noon. This was an advantageous schedule for groups to get the most recreation time during their trip, which we want each group to have. However, this creates large concentrations of rentals and lessons during Thursday and Friday morning hours.
The forever recommended itinerary for any music group, is to arrive in Winter Park the afternoon prior to your first recreation day, so ski/snowboard equipment rentals can be scheduled/received upon your arrival in Winter Park, say after 12:00 pm noon- 4:00 pm, and before your overnight lodging check-in. With rentals being received the day before, a group has a much less strenuous schedule at the Winter Park Resort the following morning, to receive ticketing, and beginner skiers/boarders scheduled for lessons at the earliest morning lesson start time, or noon start time. And, with an overnight stay before recreating the following day, your travelers will be more adequately rested, and have a safer mental and physical approach toward their recreational experience. Furthermore, arriving the day prior, and spending the night prior to your first recreation day, would likely improve your group members’ music performance, with a better night sleep in your overnight lodging, vs. overnight in a motor coach. Please consider having your 2,3 or 4-night package begin the day & night before your first day of recreation. Consider the cost of an additional night festival package, to allow this scheduling. Or consider choosing to checkout of your lodging on Saturday morning, recreate Saturday at the resort, and depart Winter Park after the awards & street dance at 9:00 pm Saturday evening. This could allow your arrival in Winter Park a day earlier, with the same number of nights you budgeted for.
We understand our music groups have travel parameters with the number of missed school days and may not be able to depart their school or hometown to arrive in Winter Park as suggested above. Please be mindful that groups scheduled to arrive late evening, or early morning in Winter Park, especially on Thursday mornings, may be affected with slightly unfavorable equipment rental and beginner lesson scheduling.
Speak with our festival staff when considering this trip, and/or before registering with exact dates on the 2027 registration form. We can ask all the right questions and suggest the most favorable arrival/departures, nights, and overall trip itinerary with you!
Example itineraries (for non-Good Friday & Easter Sunday weeks):
2-night stay (with up to 3 days of recreation):
- Thursday & Friday nights. Arrive in Winter Park Thursday morning, with scheduled equipment rentals and beginner lessons, ski all day or a half day, spend Thursday night, ski Friday, perform Friday afternoon or evening, spend Friday night, check out of lodging Saturday morning, ski Saturday, attend the awards/street dance Saturday evening, depart from Winter Park afterwards.
- Friday & Saturday nights. Arrive in Winter Park Friday morning, ski all day or a half day, perform Friday late afternoon or evening, spend Friday night (a really full day!), ski Saturday, attend the awards/street dance Saturday evening, spend Saturday night, check-out Sunday morning, ski Sunday if you wish, depart from Winter Park afterwards.
3-night stay:
- Wednesday, Thursday & Friday nights (allowing a desirable and less strenuous schedule for 1st day of skiing Thursday morning). Arrive in Winter Park Wednesday after lunch, receive equipment rentals before checking into overnight lodging, spend Wednesday night, ski Thursday (ticketing and beginners in lessons Thursday morning), perform Thursday evening (instrumentals), spend Thursday night, ski Friday, perform Friday evening (choral), spend Friday night, check out of lodging Saturday morning, ski Saturday, attend the awards/street dance Saturday evening, depart from Winter Park afterwards.
- Thursday, Friday & Saturday nights (a more strenuous schedule for Thursday morning). Arrive in Winter Park Thursday morning or anytime throughout the day, with scheduled equipment rentals and beginner lessons, ski a half day, perform if you can Thursday evening (instrumental), spend Thursday night, ski Friday, perform Friday late afternoon or evening (instrumental or choral), spend Friday night, ski Saturday, attend the awards/street dance Saturday evening, spend Saturday night, check-out Sunday morning, ski Sunday if you didn’t ski Thursday, depart from Winter Park afterwards.
- Friday, Saturday, Sunday nights (an undesirable full schedule Friday). Arrive in Winter Park Friday morning, with scheduled equipment rentals and beginner lessons, ski a half day, perform Friday late afternoon or evening, spend Friday night, ski Saturday, attend the awards/street dance Saturday evening, spend Saturday night, ski Sunday, spend Sunday night, check-out Monday morning, ski Monday if you didn’t ski Friday, depart from Winter Park afterwards.
4-night stay:
- Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday nights (allowing a less strenuous schedule for 1st day of skiing Wednesday morning). Arrive in Winter Park Tuesday after lunch to receive equipment rentals before checking into overnight lodging, spend Tuesday night, beginners in lessons Wednesday morning, ski Wednesday, spend Wednesday night, ski Thursday, perform Thursday evening (instrumentals), spend Thursday night, ski Friday, perform Friday evening (choral), spend Friday night, check out of lodging Saturday morning, no ski Saturday unless purchasing optional 4th day of skiing, attend the awards/street dance Saturday evening, depart from Winter Park afterwards.
- Wednesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday nights (allowing a less strenuous schedule for 1st day of skiing Thursday morning). Arrive in Winter Park Wednesday after lunch to receive equipment rentals before checking into overnight lodging, spend Wednesday night, beginners in lessons Thursday morning, ski Thursday, perform Thursday evening (instrumentals), spend Thursday night, ski Friday, perform Friday evening (choral), spend Friday night, ski Saturday, attend the awards/street dance Saturday evening, spend Saturday night,
check out of lodging Sunday morning, depart from Winter Park afterwards. - Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday nights (allowing a less strenuous schedule for 1st day of skiing Friday morning). Arrive in Winter Park Thursday after lunch to receive equipment rentals before checking into overnight lodging, spend Thursday night, beginners in lessons Friday morning, ski Friday, perform Friday evening, spend Friday night, ski Saturday, attend the awards/street dance Saturday evening, spend Saturday night, ski Sunday, spend Sunday night, check out of lodging Monday morning and depart from Winter Park.
- Friday, Saturday, Sunday & Monday nights (a undesirable full schedule Friday). Arrive in Winter Park Friday after lunch to receive equipment rentals before checking into overnight lodging, perform Friday evening after check-in, spend Friday night, ski Saturday, attend the awards/street dance Saturday evening, spend Saturday night, ski Sunday, spend Sunday night, ski Monday, spend Monday night, check-out Tuesday morning and depart from Winter Park.
Group members who choose to ski or snowboard; each festival package has 3 days of skiing/boarding included whether used all days or not. If a group can schedule arrival in Winter Park early on the arrival day, and depart Winter Park late on the departure date, students can recreate one more day than the number of nights chosen to stay. Arriving early means early enough for a group to arrive in Winter Park, everyone dressed to ski right off the bus, receive equipment rentals (amount of rental time depends on the size of the group), receive resort ticketing, and have beginner skiers/snowboarders into morning lessons, or into the afternoon lessons. The festival can help plan both arrival and departure times, allowing skiing on the first and last days in Winter Park.
If a group wishes to ski or snowboard for a 4th day, requiring an additional equipment rental and lift card date, please contact the festival office for information.