Fourth of July Celebration

The day starts on foot. In 2025 the 5K run left downtown Crestone at 9:00 a.m., and yoga followed at 10:00. The Alamosa Valley Courier gave the theme that year as “Harmony in Diversity-Crestone.” The paper’s headline promised taiko drummers along with the parade and the soap box derby.

The noon parade

The parade steps off at noon. The Courier reported that in recent years members of American Legion Garcia Post 110 from Saguache have led it. In 2025 the grand marshals were Patte and Dale Smith, both retired teachers. Organizer Nick Nevares called them “Crestone pillars of the community.”

Marie McColm of the Monte Vista Journal watched the procession come through the middle of town:

• A big white truck headed downtown with a large red, white, and blue flag laid over its front. Riders in the back wore hats out of an Uncle Sam poster and waved tiny flags as it drove slowly.
• A few marchers behind it carried signs in protest of President Trump.
• A second white truck carried a “Blue Power” sign on the front, with riders holding up signs in favor of Democrats.
• Saguache County Commissioner Tom McCracken walked with a sign that read “Clean Green.”
• A horse-drawn buggy followed, its riders in straw cowboy hats. A woman in a horse-drawn buggy, wearing a pink shirt and blue coveralls, said hello to everyone.
• The color guard saluted the crowd as it passed, with at least four classic cars behind it.
• Firefighters came next, then Smoky the Bear waving to the whole crowd, then the fire department truck.

McColm counted at least 50 people sitting at corners along the route.

The park and the derby hill

After the parade the crowd moves to Crestone Town Park. A live band played there through the day in 2025. Residents in long jeans or long dresses, some in half shirts and barefoot, held up drinks and danced. Nevares named the music: the Denver band The Copper Children headlined, with performances by the Kosmos band and the Chronic Joy Collective.

Vendors set up all over the park, and food trucks served alongside them. A pie contest raised money for the Crestone food bank, and Nevares put the donations at over $2K. By his count the park hosted over 2,000 people for 7 hours. “This year Crestone’s Fourth of July, whose theme was Harmony in Diversity was one for the books,” he said.

The soap box derby runs on the Galena Avenue hill. It is a gravity-powered race of homemade vehicles without motors. The two papers give different times for 2025. The Courier’s advance schedule put the first round at 2:00 p.m. McColm reported the derby held close to 1:30 p.m., with a continuation at around 4:30.

Stilt walkers in 2016

The program has changed over the years. On Monday, July 4, 2016, the event was called the Crestone, Colorado 4th of July Celebration and Art Festival. Its Facebook listing was hosted by Circus-Your-Way! LLC.

That year the 5K started at 8 a.m., and a pancake breakfast ran from 9 to 11. The parade came at noon. Circus-Your-Way! was on hand from noon to 4:30 with stilt walkers, balloon modelers, and street performers, who worked until 3 p.m. From 3:30 to 4:30 the troupe gave an exhibition show called “Story Time with the Circus!” Games, food, vendors, and live music filled the rest of the day, and the festival ran until 7 p.m. The listing invited all comers to “enjoy a small town tradition!”

The market gives way

In 2026 the Fourth fell on a Saturday, the day the town holds its Saturday Market. On June 30, 2026, the Town of Crestone announced that, after discussing it with the Board of Trustees, it had canceled the market for July 4 “in order to accommodate the community-wide Fourth of July celebration.” The town said it intended to schedule an additional Saturday Market later in the season.