Aspen’s modern-day founders believed in a community that included arts and culture, kind of a “whole person” town where nature and community could be restorative. A shot from the JAS Aspen Snowmass Labor Day Festival in 2012 shows the outdoor crowd enjoying the music. Their efforts to create this began in the 1940s and resulted in the founding of the Aspen Music Festival and the Aspen Institute, and laid the fertile ground for other organizations to start up and thrive in the mountain town of about 7,000 people. This summer, Aspen is bursting with festivals and annual events that could keep even locals’ heads spinning from the possibilities of how to choose between great thinkers, delicious food, music and more. Many of the city’s festivals and other events happen each year, but some are new on the scene. The Aspen Food & Wine Classic The classic, from June 16 to 18, celebrates its 40th year in 2023.