Cultural Events Calendar

Our Après party series returns this winter season on select Saturdays from 5–9 PM! Join us on the rooftop for cocktails and music by GOLDEN and other special guests.

Pinyon-juniper woodlands are among the most extensive and ecologically diverse ecosystem type in the southwestern United States. They support the largest remaining tracts of mature and old-growth forest in the country and are culturally important to many Indigenous peoples in the region. This talk explores the ecology of these woodlands, the challenges they face through various global change pressures, and ongoing stewardship and research efforts to sustain their resilience for future generations.

Presentations are Wednesdays at 6 pm at the Third Street Center in Carbondale, CO, and Thursdays at 6pm at Hallam Lake, in Aspen, CO. Please register.

Pinyon-juniper woodlands are among the most extensive and ecologically diverse ecosystem type in the southwestern United States. They support the largest remaining tracts of mature and old-growth forest in the country and are culturally important to many Indigenous peoples in the region. This talk explores the ecology of these woodlands, the challenges they face through various global change pressures, and ongoing stewardship and research efforts to sustain their resilience for future generations.

Presentations are Wednesdays at 6 pm at the Third Street Center in Carbondale, CO, and Thursdays at 6pm at Hallam Lake, in Aspen, CO. Please register.

Come to Explore Books for a night of stories and history with local authors Tony Vagneur, Jill Sheeley, and Tom Stevens in conversation with Aspen Historical Society’s Amy Honey. To celebrate Aspen Historical Society’s featured shelf at Explore this month, Tony, Jill, and Tom will chat about their literary adventures and their lives in Aspen – today and in the good ol’ days! The authors will also discuss their latest works: Jill’s memoir Those Were the Days; Tony’s book Aspen: Then and Now: Reflections of a Native Son; and Tom’s new historical novel Ida Chatfield: Aspen's Oldest Unsolved Mystery.

A decade ago Bryan Smith bought his first camera at Walmart and started calling himself a filmmaker. Armed with a $500 handycam, he embarked on a kayaking expedition to the far reaches of Arunachal Pradesh, India. While his imagery barely cracked amateur status on that first expedition, his passion and persistence would carry him through the ranks of the industry in the span of just 10 years.

Chef Barclay Dodge of Michelin-rated Aspen restaurant, Bosq, is a flavor hunter as he searches for ingredients both in the wild and farmed. The small, independently owned and operated farms in the Roaring Fork Valley and North Fork Valley grow wonderful products with intention. Their sustainable practices are full of terroir.

The food from the woods around Bosq offer different flavors nurtured and stressed by the wild. It starts with the soil; for Chef Barclay and his team, it also starts with the relationships they have built with local farms and their knowledge of the wild. Working with these resources provides flavorful, life-force products that build the menu for Bosq’s guests.

Bestselling author and beloved New Yorker writer Susan Orlean will discuss “Joyride,” a magic carpet ride through her life and career. The book is also a time machine to a bygone era of journalism, from Orlean’s bright start in the golden age of alt-weeklies to her career-making days working alongside icons such as Tina Brown, David Remnick, Anna Wintour and other forces who shaped the media industry as we know it today. “Joyride” is a must-read for anyone who hungers to start, build and sustain a creative life. Orlean inspires us to seek out daily inspiration and rediscover the marvels that surround us. Moderated by Christine Benedetti

January 1, 2026 | February 1, 2026 | March 1, 2026 | 5pm - 8pm

Loved by locals and enjoyed by all, the Full Moon Dinners at Cliffhouse invites lunar lovers to skin or hike up the Main route on Buttermilk for a monthly meal beneath an illuminated winter sky.

Head up the hill early and sample cocktails from On The Rocks and enjoy a cash bar when Cliffhouse opens at 5pm. From 5:30 until 8pm, á la carte dinner options—including the flavor-packed Mongolian Grill—will be served. No outside alcohol is allowed.

Learn more:
https://aspenchamber.org/events/full-moon-dinners-buttermilk-mountain

Birding in fall, winter, and early spring is great exercise for your identification and field craft skills. Join us on the first Tuesday of the month from November through April and discover the joy of birding! We will learn about non-breeding plumages, winter foraging strategies, and behaviors of migratory and resident birds. We often enjoy excellent views of birds in the absence of summer’s foliage and close encounters where birds flock around food sources. Designed for birders of all experience levels, we focus on birding tips, sharing our observations, and the fun of connecting with nature.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) I is a transformative technology that is quickly raising the ambitions of scientists. Last year’s Nobel prizes in physics and chemistry highlighted the significance of these developments. However, the capabilities that AI enables and the ways those capabilities fit into the scientific method vary significantly. The incorporation of AI into scientific workflows raises important questions. For example, how do we maintain scientific rigor when incorporating AI components that are approximate or may ‘hallucinate’? These emerging patterns also are giving rise to a new set of questions in the philosophy of science. What is the role of interpretability, causality, prediction, hypothesis generation, etc.? What is the role of human understanding?