WHAT’S NEW AT KEYSTONE FESTIVALS 2026
Keystone Festivals is celebrating our 29th summer of putting on some of the funnest festivals in the state of Colorado! (Yes, funnest IS a word and we coined the term in 1996!) After nearly three decades of producing summer festivals in Summit County, CO., planning consistently fun and well-organized events is our number one priority!
However, the perfect Keystone Festival follows this formula:
The good stuff you know and love + a sprinkle of new fun = the perfect festival
So with that in mind, here is your update on the sprinkles of new fun for Keystone Festivals 2026!
NEW: Genre of music on Saturday of Bacon & Bourbon Festival
That’s right, we went there!
Fan favorite Hell’s Belles has played nearly every year of Bacon & B
ourbon Festival since its inception! We are still obsessed with the all-female, AC/DC cover powerhouse, but we were inspired by Harley the Hog to add a little scoot to our boot.
Introducing: Country music on Saturday of Keystone Bacon & Bourbon Festival in 2026 with headliner Narrow Gauge.
The good stuff you know and love: Rock ‘n’ rolll on Sunday of Keystone Bacon & Bourbon Festival with headliner Hell’s Belles.
Because what goes perfectly with light beer, crispy bacon, and neat bourbon? All music enthusiasts know that country and rock are two ends of the same spectrum and here at Keystone Festivals we have a deep appreciation for both bang and twang. We know you’re going to love two-steppin to Narrow Gauge on Saturday afternoon just as much as you’ll love head-banging to Hell’s Belles on Sunday afternoon. Click here to view the full lineup and make sure you don’t miss a beat!
NEW: Breck Distillery Bourbon Bar inside Warren Station at Bacon & Bourbon Festival
Since Covid (yeah, yeah, we’re sick of hearing about it too), several different logistics have hendered us from mixing cocktails at our outdoor festival bars. Plus, we get feedback every year from guests who “don’t want the whole hog” even though the ONLY way to participate in the bourbon tour is to purchase a hungry hog ticket package. (One more time for the folks in the back: the only way to participate in the bourbon tour
is to purchase a hungry hog ticket package.)
This year: the outdoor festival cash bars WILL be pouring a limited range of cocktail offerings outside featuring Breckenridge Distillery’s classic bourbon whiskey.
AND this year: the bar inside Warren Station (also known as Festival Check-In) is partnering with Breckenridge Distillery to offer elevated bourbon cocktails AND a limited selection of bourbon and whiskey tastings for purchase!
The Warren Station Bourbon Bar is specifically designed for guests who aren’t ready to take the full bourbon tour but want a taste of the action! More details to come on the exact cocktail and tasting offerings, but we are so excited to level up the drink offerings at Bacon & Bourbon this year!
NEW: Tap-to-pay system! Welcome back, Billfold!
If you have attended a Keystone Festival in the past few years, you’ve gotten to experience the modern wonder of the tap-to-pay phenomenon. This year, we are excited to partner with Billfold POS again to bring back the smooth and simple tap-to-pay experience!
If you purchase a ticket package, you will still go through Festival Check-In at Warren Station and pick up your wristband that will be pre-loaded with your food and/or drink credits.
If you don’t purchase a ticket package but still want to purchase a-la-carte food or drink on site, this year you can pay with credit or debit directly at the food booths!
NO TOP-UP REQUIRED! Yay <3
If you purchase a ticket package and want to purchase additional food or drink after you run out of tokens, you will not reload your wristband but just switch to credit or debit to pay.
Billfold at the food booths will accept: Credit (including AmEx!), debit, Apple pay, or Google pay
Billfold at the bar will accept: Cash, credit (including AmEx!), debit, Apple pay, or Google pay
NEW: Sunday hours at Keystone Wine & Jazz Festival
Last year, we debuted our first ever ~brunch hours~ on Sunday of Keystone Wine & Jazz festival as an homage to our love of bottomless mimosas, starting off the day drinking wine in the sunshine, and not ending the day sitting in i70 traffic.
Well, we heard your feedback, and maybe 11am feels a little too early to start a wine tasting. So, this year, we pushed it back to an 11:30am start time 😉 Here are the 2026 Keystone Wine and Jazz Festival daily hours:
Saturday, July 18th: 1:00pm – 5:00pm
Sunday, July 19th: 11:30am – 3:30pm
Remember, those are the hours that wine flows but the merch, food booths, and live music begin before the wine. As always, make sure to double check the dates and times of the festival along with your ticket type!
NEW: H20 is cold to go! Mountain Valley Spring Water and Saratoga Water for purchase
As you may have noticed, most Keystone Festivals include a fun and flirty alcohol sampling component. Because of this, we have always offered FREE drinking water at festivals! We used to use disposable cone cups, but we are working to be more environmentally friendly. Last year, we added brand new filtered water stations, each with 8 filling hoses. Last year, if you forgot a water bottle, we were able to offer free water bottles for guests using leftover branded bottles from years past. This year, if you forget your water bottle, you will be able to purchase an aluminum Mountain Valley Spring Water bottle that you can refill all weekend!
Plus, we haven’t forgotten our sparkling water kings and queens out there! Grab a Saratoga sparkling water to quench your thirst for water with bubbles. Trust us, we’ve had a Saratoga or two at other festivals and they are the perfect mid-festival refresher!
What else is new? Stay tuned for more announcements on new food vendors, new merch vendors, and new Keystone Festivals partners in 2026! We’ll see you back here in River Run Village before we know it!