Calhan Summer Fest

Cars begin to line up on 8th Street around three in the afternoon. At the 2026 Calhan Summer Fest, held Friday, July 10, 2026, from 3 to 11 pm, the car show opened the day. Voting closed at 6 pm, and trophy winners were announced then. The Town of Calhan, which runs the festival and billed the 2026 edition as its 11th annual, set the grounds in the parking lot near 920 8th Street. The event’s Facebook listing gave the location as the Calhan Baseball Field. Admission was free. The town’s vendor map marks an entrance, a car show area, a petting zoo and kids’ corner, vendor parking, and a strip for handicap parking only.

Eighty booths and a country dinner

The town’s approved list for 2026 numbers eighty booth spaces, and every one was taken. Some sellers held two or three side by side. Among them were Sourdough Mama, Nourishing Kneads, Sweet Revenge Jams and Jelly’s, Carousel Cookies, Copper Road Soap, OPA’S SOAP & Candles, NaNa’s Dolls, Snuggable Stuffies, The Wright Wreath, Svensk Stil, Native American Beadwork and More, and Biltong’s Bite’s. The Calhan Lions Club and the American Legion Auxiliary had tables, and so did a fiber internet provider, a bathroom remodeler, and Children’s Hospital Colorado. Mountain Mermaid Dirty Soda had the last numbered space.

Six food trucks filled their own row: Mother Clucker’s Wings, Dabeast Catering, the Grilled Cheese Truck, Tacos Michoacan, Panini Island, and Colorado Concessions. Boho Bean Coffee Co. was listed near the kids’ area. At 4 pm the Eastern Plains Community Pantry began serving a country dinner, and the Facebook listing advertised a pig roast meal. The pantry has worked the festival before. On July 14, 2023, Chris Brewer, a Denver Broncos representative with the Pro Players Association, stood at the pantry’s charity booth. He greeted football fans, took selfies, and signed autographs to bring in donations.

The beer garden was hosted by Roosters. It held the only liquor license for the event, all alcohol sales went through it, and no personal or private alcohol was allowed on the grounds.

Pony rides, snow cones, and Boomer Rock Band

Amazing Grace Ranch LLC brought a petting zoo and pony rides from 3 to 7 pm. The town’s page also mentions a pony carousel, along with a bounce house, face painting, kids’ games, a silent auction, and prize drawings. The Calhan Fire Department made free snow cones and ran an obstacle course. The town lists both from 6 to 8 pm. The Calhan Fire Protection District’s own notice gives snow cones from 3 to 8 and the obstacle course at 6.

Eastern Colorado Cornhole ran a cornhole tournament, and a horseshoe tournament went on under Paul Bannister. Music began with Cask & Chisel from 5 to 7 pm. A DJ from 92.3 KFII-FM played between sets. Boomer Rock Band took the headline slot from 8 until the festival closed at 11, with dancing. The town’s mission statement for the event speaks of “honoring our small-town roots” and “showcasing local talent and businesses.”

A mayor and the band money

Local talent was the subject of a dispute in 2015. That year Calhan had about 780 residents. On the morning of July 1, 2015, Mayor Blair Bartling submitted a one-sentence resignation. He had been elected twice and had about nine months left on his second term. KRDO News reported that he cited a moral conflict over the summer fest later that month and how the money raised for it would be spent. Colorado Politics put the question more exactly: whether contributions designated to pay the bands at the 2015 festival should be rolled over to the next year’s event.

“I resigned because of moral issues and the decision that was made spending money that was raised on Calhan Summer Fest. I did not agree with that decision,” Bartling told KOAA-TV in Colorado Springs, as quoted by Colorado Politics.

The timing drew attention. At the time, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation was looking into 2.5 million gallons of water that went missing from the town’s municipal wells in July and August 2014. The town’s public works director had left his job shortly before. Bartling called the timing a coincidence. “It’s not about CBI,” he told KRDO. He said he and others believed the water was lost through a water-main break. To KRDO he also said, “I fought the good fight, I’m tired of fighting. It’s probably time for some new blood to come in.”

Bryan Eurich, 29, was mayor pro tem, and the trustees then chose him as mayor by unanimous vote at their July 13 meeting. He was a dialysis technician and a Calhan volunteer firefighter and EMT. He told Colorado Politics he had no reason to doubt his friend’s account. “That’s what he told me so I have no reason to believe otherwise,” Eurich said.

The town now counts 2026 as the festival’s eleventh year. In 2015, Bartling described bands that had already been playing it for some time. “They were local guys,” he said. “I think we had an obligation to honor and at least pay them a little money for what they had done for the past few years for free.”