The 2026 Royal Gorge Whitewater Festival has officially been cancelled.
The Daily Record reached out to organizers this morning, who verified that the decision was made just hours ago because of the evacuations announced for southern Fremont County on Sunday night in relation to the Aspen Acres fire.
The fire, which began on June 29, has since devoured more than 91,000 acres in Custer, Pueblo, Huerfano and Fremont counties and displaced more than 11,000 residents.
At approximately 8:15 p.m. Sunday, the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office issued a mandatory evacuation order for neighborhoods along Colo. 67, including Fremont County Roads 15, 103 and 100, Newlin Ridge Road, the Los Pinos subdivision and Lock Mountain Estates, and the towns of Coal Creek, Rockvale, and Williamsburg.
At this time, authorities have noted that more than 180 structures have been destroyed, including 55 homes in Custer County.
“It wasn’t an easy decision,” said land and whitewater events coordinator and Royal Gorge RIO member Chris Moffett. “But we decided that our resources will be better used for our neighbors and friends at this time.”
Fremont Community Foundation board president Dawn Schmittel went on to note that the festival relies on 250 volunteers every year — many of whom have been affected by the current evacuations.
“This festival can’t be done without the community, and this year, we’ve decided to cancel it for our community,” she said. “This year, our community needs us in a different way, and it doesn’t make sense to have a party in the middle of a crisis.”
“This has been one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make during my time on the Whitewater board,” she added.
Moffet noted that, currently, organizers are working quickly to dissolve the entirety of the festival, which was slated for July 17-18, including vendors, bands, and the large group of volunteers who were slated to help.
“We want to make sure we’re doing what’s right for our community,” he said. “All the people that are affected by this are our neighbors and friends.”
Both Moffet and Schimttel noted that, though the 2026 festival has officially met its end, the community can and should look forward to the 2027 Whitewater Festival.
“Just because this year had to be cancelled doesn’t mean we won’t be back next year,” Schmittel said.
In a Facebook post on Monday afternoon, organizers encouraged those with questions to reach out to the board at [email protected].
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.canoncitydailyrecord.com ’
