By Courtney, the Insider –

Being an Insider in Aspen means art and music! The Aspen Art Museum offers totally free admission and free tours (which I highly recommend). And, they have opportunities for music and movies on the rooftop. The size of the stunning museum, with its dramatic basket-weave exterior, is nice and manageable, leaving you with enough time and energy to go do other things around town.

Snowmass, the town next door that shares in the popular Jazz Festival, has Anderson Ranch Arts Center, something of an artist’s collective where you can take classes, meet artists, seeing them as they create and you can purchase their art. You’ll find yourself thinking about the art you used to make in school and wonder why you ever stopped doing it! On Fridays, they have an art auction and lunch. It’s a chance to get a great deal on the art of professional and student artists in a fun atmosphere. Some art is literally finished just before auction time!

The Jazz Aspen Snowmass music festival is, flat out, famous! Concerts run from Memorial Day to Labor Day, plus their Winter Series. In the summer of 2016, there were concerts from the likes of Diana Ross, Train and Sheryl Crow. TIP: Those in-the-know tell us that the day after Thanksgiving, while supplies last, you can purchase Blind Faith Tickets – discounted passes even though performers haven’t been determined. As one woman told me, “the lineup is always great, year after year, so you can’t lose!”

How to shop affordably
Aspen’s shopping scene is pretty stunning. It makes for great window shopping which is always free! And the shopping areas are nice too with cobblestone, pedestrian streets where, if anything, you’ll see a horse-drawn carriage. We found a very fun shop on Main Street called the Emporium and Flying Circus. How can you not shop at place with a name like that?! Fun and funky, with leaves on the floor, it’s like a wonderland to shop the works of local artists.

Read about our other Aspen discoveries, here.