Bygone Lyons event will be resurrected in inaugural festival

SUMMER VIBES

Denver’s Katrina Kowalski takes a sample of Santan Brewing Company’s Hefeweizen from Eben Weisberg during Lyons annual Oskar Blues Burning Can Beer Festival held at Bohn Park on in June of 2012. KIRA HORVATH — DAILY CAMERA

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By Dana Cadey

dcadey@prairiemountainmedia.com

After more than five years without Burning Can Fest, the classic Lyons event is being resurrected this weekend as a new summer festival for all ages.

The inaugural Summer Vibes Fest at Bohn Park will offer biking and running events on Saturday, including 71-mile and 32-mile gravel bike races. Festival participants can also enjoy a rock concert, lounge pools and Friday night camping.

“My goal for this is to bring people together — runners and riders and families and music lovers — and just enjoy a really, really fun summer day,” said Josh Kravetz, founder of Summer Vibes Fest.

Summer Vibes Fest is new, but it grew out of an established Lyons event. Burning Can Fest at the Lyons Outdoor Games was a beer and music festival hosted by Oskar Blues and produced by Boulder company Adventure Fit Events.

The COVID-19 pandemic put Burning Can Fest on hold for years. Kravetz, who is the president of AF Events, said Summer Vibes Fest is an opportunity to reboot the previous festival with more emphasis on promoting an active lifestyle.

“I think a lot of people in Lyons really missed the festival,” Kravetz said of Burning Can Fest.

Summer Vibes Fest is revamping a few Burning Can Fest events, including the dirt bike jump contest and the “beer relay” race. On top of the gravel bike races, Saturday’s festival features a dog-friendly trail run and free bike races for kids.

The 71-mile bike race takes riders through the small mountain community of Gold Hill.

“It’s a really fun route, and everybody starts and finishes in Lyons,” Kravetz said.

AF Events also puts on the Old Man Winter Rally, a biking and running festival held in Lyons every February. Kravetz said Summer Vibes Fest is meant to be a “summer version” of Old Man Winter Rally, aiming to provide a warm alternative to the cold endurance festival.

The Summer Vibes Fest concert in Bohn Park will start at 1 p.m. and end at 6 p.m. to encourage guests to support Lyons businesses and restaurants that evening. The festival falls on the summer solstice in its debut year. “It’ll be a nice, long day,” Kravetz said.

Registration fees are required for biking and running events as well as camping spots. Concert admission, which includes pool access, is free. VIP concert tickets are $35.

Bohn Park is at 199 Second Ave. in Lyons.

To register, visit summervibesrally.com.