What does a Cripple Creek December look like when the town's biggest winter draw depended on cold nights it didn't get? This year Cripple Creek finds out. The city has moved its holiday calendar toward events that work in any weather, and they fall mostly on two weekends that Victor's calendar shares.
On Oct. 2, the city announced it will not host Ice Castles this winter, according to The Gazette. The attraction had been in town every winter since 2023, so this is its first absence in four seasons. The reasons say a lot about what the town decided to build in its place.
An attraction that needed every night below freezing
Ice castles only grow when overnight temperatures stay below freezing. Last winter they melted. In KKTV's report, a mid-December warm spell stopped the ice from building, and the grand opening didn't happen until Jan. 10, 2026.
Marie Rieger, Cripple Creek's director of marketing and events, gave The Gazette the cost of that delay in plain terms. "Last year, we opened, but it was delayed by three and a half weeks, so they missed the Christmas season, which was devastating." She said the drop in attendance "dramatically" hurt lodging, food and beverage businesses, because the event usually brings thousands of people to town, mostly around Christmas.
Mayor Annie Durham told The Mountain Jackpot that "it really came down to the weather." She described a record-warm winter in the Pikes Peak region that pushed the opening back several weeks and then closed the castles a week earlier than planned. The same paper said the operator's decision was mainly financial. It also noted that no Colorado locations are listed for Ice Castles' 2026–27 season and that the company may run fewer sites this year.
It's a sharp turn from the first season. The Mountain Jackpot reported that company officials were thrilled with Cripple Creek's frigid temperatures that year, which kept the castles open longer than at the company's other sites around the country.
Water was the second reason
The city gave a second reason that anyone with a well or a cistern elsewhere in Teller County will recognize. A city press release quoted by The Mountain Jackpot said Cripple Creek has "an ample supply of water to host the event," but other parts of the county are facing significant water problems, and council and Ice Castles both weighed that.
"With the drought and all the fires, we just want to be mindful of our water usage and also what message that sends to other communities who are struggling with water," Rieger told The Gazette. Durham said a regional meeting on the county's water situation "was a real eye-opener" about what residents and property owners in rural parts of Teller are dealing with.
That leaves the city needing a winter that depends on neither cold nights nor water, so it reworked events it already ran.
The replacement calendar runs on dates, not degrees
Here is how the city described its plan. A Christmas tree lighting is planned for the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The Christmas parade moves to the evening of Dec. 12. Other events "need approval from the City Council before moving forward." According to The Mountain Jackpot, this is the first time in recent memory the parade will be held on a Saturday evening, the same format Woodland Park and Colorado Springs use. The city has also added a New Year's Eve fireworks show at 7 p.m.
Put the city's 2026 events calendar next to Victor's 2026 events page and the dates bunch up.
| Date | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Sat., Oct. 31 | Trunk or Treat | Cripple Creek |
| Nov. 20 to Dec. 27 | Winter Wonderettes | Butte Theater, Cripple Creek |
| Thu., Nov. 26 | Community of Caring Thanksgiving | Cripple Creek |
| Sat., Nov. 28 | Christmas Tree Lighting and Small Business Saturday | Cripple Creek |
| Nov. 28 to Jan. 1 | Holiday headframe lighting | Victor and the mining district |
| Fri., Dec. 11 | Winter Wonderland at Aspen Mine Center | Cripple Creek |
| Fri., Dec. 11 | Parade of Lights and Santa at the Elks | Victor |
| Sat., Dec. 12 | Parade of Lights, now in the evening | Cripple Creek |
| Thu., Dec. 31 | New Year's Eve fireworks, 7 p.m. | Cripple Creek |
| Feb. 12 to 20 | Ice Fest | Cripple Creek |
The city labels every date on its calendar "subject to change," and it hasn't posted start times yet for the tree lighting, the parade or Winter Wonderland, or exact locations for the tree lighting and the parade.
The weekend after Thanksgiving
Nov. 28 now carries three things. Cripple Creek lights its tree and holds Small Business Saturday on the same day, and Victor's headframes begin their holiday run that day too. On Victor's events page, "giant holiday ornaments light up the district headframes" from Nov. 28 through Jan. 1. The Community of Caring Thanksgiving falls two days earlier, on Thursday, Nov. 26.
Pairing the tree lighting with Small Business Saturday matters given what last winter did to Bennett Avenue. The Mountain Jackpot reported that business owners say last winter's weak numbers had already hit local shops and restaurants before Ice Castles made its call.
The second weekend of December
Two weeks later, the two towns run back-to-back nights. On Friday, Dec. 11, Cripple Creek holds Winter Wonderland at Aspen Mine Center while Victor holds its Parade of Lights with Santa at the Elks. On Saturday, Dec. 12, Cripple Creek's parade rolls after dark for the first time in recent memory. That puts a parade in Victor on Friday and another in Cripple Creek on Saturday.
The Butte fills the weeks in between
The Butte Theater spans both weekends. Winter Wonderettes runs Nov. 20 through Dec. 27, part of a season the city presents with Chameleon Arts & Entertainment and Green Glass Productions. The Gazette's preview of the Butte's 2026 season lists Winter Wonderettes as a Green Glass production. The show opens about a week before the tree lighting and closes the Sunday after Christmas, the same stretch of weeks the Ice Castles delay wiped out last year.
Where to eat on Bennett Avenue
The holiday calendar is meant to bring people to Bennett Avenue's restaurants in the weeks that matter most to them. Two spots have opened in 2026.
- The Rascally Rabbit, 329 E. Bennett Ave. The old Gold Camp Cafe has been rebranded under Jeff Hellner's Gold Camp Café LLC, as What Now Denver reported in January. In its Oct. 15 guide to local places for NFL games, The Mountain Jackpot described it as recently opened, with a pool table and screens.
- Don Juan's Cocina, inside Bronco Billy's Casino, 251 E. Bennett Ave. It opened April 17, run by chefs Johnny Iuzzini and Starlene Trujillo, according to The Gazette. Full House Resorts owns and operates both Bronco Billy's and Chamonix.
Both are on Bennett Avenue and fit easily around a night at the Butte or a December weekend in town.
February still has ice
The Ice Fest is the one winter event that still runs on ice, and the city is leaning on it. It's scheduled for Feb. 12 through 20, and Rieger told The Gazette it "will be bigger and better than ever." The Mountain Jackpot noted it's often voted the region's best festival overall. The city's festival page still shows last year's program, so this year's lineup hasn't been announced.
Ice Castles may come back. Durham told The Mountain Jackpot she's optimistic about a return once the area gets a more normal winter. "I sure hope it snows a lot this season," she said. Ice Castles CEO Kyle Standifird thanked the city and community "for being great partners over the past few years!" Until then, the dates to mark are Nov. 28 and Dec. 11 and 12, and none of them depends on the overnight low.
A slow winter on Bennett Avenue changes how the season goes for anyone who owns a cabin or acreage near Cripple Creek or Victor, too. If you're deciding whether to list this winter or wait for spring, Danni has worked southern Teller County through more than 30 years of winters and will give you an appraisal-based answer. Request a free property valuation and consultation with Rocky Mountain RLA.
