What's on in Sun Valley, United States through the year

Busy — Winter / Christmas break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Ski season (26 Nov – 18 Apr (usually))

Busy — one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Ski season (26 Nov – 18 Apr (usually))

Busy — Spring break in United States

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Ski season (26 Nov – 18 Apr (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Ski season (26 Nov – 18 Apr (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in May.

Busy — Summer break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in June.

Busy — Summer break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Nature

  Wildflowers on the trails

  1 Jul – 10 Aug · usuallyWildflowers & blooms

  Balsamroot and lupine on the Adams Gulch and Pioneer Cabin trails through July, later the higher you start. The valley trail system runs from the town centre, which is unusual.

• Hazard

  Wildfire smoke season

  20 Jul – 15 Sep · usually

  Smoke from fires across Idaho and the Northwest fills the valley in most late summers, and a fire came to the edge of Ketchum in 2013. The mountains across the road disappear for days. Source ↗

• Season

  Sun Valley Music Festival

  25 Jul – 20 Aug · usuallyMajor festival

  Three weeks of orchestral concerts in a pavilion at the resort in high summer, free to attend, with most of the audience on the lawn outside. Musicians fly in from orchestras across the country. Source ↗

Busy — Summer break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Wildflowers on the trails (1 Jul – 10 Aug (usually)), Wildfire smoke season (20 Jul – 15 Sep (usually)), Sun Valley Music Festival (25 Jul – 20 Aug (usually))

Peak crowds — Wagon Days, Summer break in United States

• Festival

  Wagon Days

  3–8 Sep · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  Ore wagons pulled down Ketchum's main street over Labor Day weekend in what is billed as the largest non-motorised parade in the west. The mining history it marks lasted about twenty years. Source ↗

• Nature

  Aspens turning

  25 Sep – 15 Oct · usuallyAutumn colour

  The aspen stands up Trail Creek and over Galena Summit turn in the first week of October, and the summit road is the drive for it before the snow closes the shoulder.

Still on: Wildfire smoke season (20 Jul – 15 Sep (usually))

Busy — Trailing of the Sheep

• Festival

  Trailing of the Sheep

  6–12 Oct · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  Fifteen hundred sheep are walked down the main street of Ketchum in early October as they come off the summer range, followed by Basque and Peruvian herding families who still do the work. Source ↗

Still on: Aspens turning (25 Sep – 15 Oct (usually))

Busy — Thanksgiving break in United States

• Season

  Ski season

  26 Nov – 18 Apr · usually

  Bald Mountain opens around Thanksgiving and runs to mid-April, a thousand metres of unbroken fall line with more snowmaking behind it than most western mountains need. Source ↗

Busy — Winter / Christmas break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Ski season (26 Nov – 18 Apr (usually))