The seventh Palmer Lake Wine Festival runs Saturday, Sept. 12, at the Palmer Lake Recreation Area — tastings from 21 Colorado wine and mead makers, live jazz, five food trucks and a portion of the proceeds for Tri-Lakes Cares. VIP is sold out; general admission is $50, from 1 to 5 p.m.
PALMER LAKE — The Palmer Lake Wine Festival is back for a seventh year on Saturday, Sept. 12, at the Palmer Lake Recreation Area, 199 County Line Road. General admission opens at 1 p.m. and the festival closes at 5; the organizers stop admitting people at 4 p.m.
VIP tickets, at $60, are sold out. They bought entry an hour early, at noon, along with a covered seating tent, private restrooms, VIP-only pours and, new this year, a sommelier to lead tastings. General admission is $50 and a designated-driver ticket $10, each before a TicketSpice service fee of $2.77 and $1.37 respectively. On Thursday afternoon the ticket page showed 155 general-admission tickets left. The organizers say they lowered prices this year. Tri-Lakes Cares offers a discount code, TLC5OFF, for $5 off general admission.
A general-admission ticket covers unlimited tastings. The first 1,000 people through the gate also get a souvenir tasting glass, which the ticket page describes as a 9-ounce stemless, and a wine tote. Bottles are for sale, most of them at festival discounts, the organizers say. Tri-Lakes Cares runs a wine check at its booth by the entrance: leave purchases there for a suggested $5 donation and collect them on the way out.
The pour list names 21 producers: Antelope Ridge Mead, Avanti Winery, Bad Bitch Cellars, Blendings Winery, Bugling Elk Vineyards, Chill Switch Wines, Deep Roots Winery, Dragon Meadery, Evergood Lemonade Wines, Kold Prairie Mead, LaNoue DuBois Winery, Latigo Winery, Mad Marmot Meadery, Manitou Winery, Mountain Spirit Winery, Purgatory Cellars Winery, Shiras Winery, Snowy Peaks Winery, Taboche Winery, The Wine Barrel and Water2Wine.
The Alpenglow Jazz Trio and singer-guitarist Blaise Carpenter play.
Food comes from five vendors — Biggi’s Little Bavaria, Ricky’s Island Cafe, Smokin’ J’s, O’Malley’s and Three Farm Girls, which the organizers list as gluten-free — and The Lemon Trolley, new this year, makes non-alcoholic lemonade drinks.
The festival is 21 and over, and the organizers put the ID rule plainly: no ID, no admission, even with a ticket. The designated-driver ticket is the one exception. Every designated driver must hold one, the minimum age is 18, and drinking is not allowed, though a designated driver who is 21 or older may buy bottles. Children are not admitted, and animals other than service animals are not allowed. New for 2026 is a no-re-entry policy, so sunscreen, layers and the ID all have to come through the gate the first time. The organizers suggest bringing a water bottle, a lawn chair, a rain jacket and a wagon for bottles. The festival runs rain or shine.
Tickets are non-refundable. Purchase protection can be bought through TicketSpice, and tickets can be transferred to someone else free of charge. Attending also counts as consent to be photographed for the festival’s marketing; anyone who would rather not be should tell a staff member on arrival or tell the photographer.
The festival’s co-founder is Matthew Hexter, who also founded Evergood Adventure Wines, according to Ark Valley Voice, which reported in January that the company’s sponsorship was helping bring back the Salida Wine Festival. Evergood is a Palmer Lake winery that makes its wine from lemons, according to its Visit Colorado Springs listing, and Tri-Lakes Cares’ event listing names it as the festival’s organizer.
The organizers say this is their seventh consecutive year partnering with Tri-Lakes Cares. The nonprofit, which describes itself as serving northern El Paso County for more than 40 years, runs a no-cost market and provides food, housing and financial assistance.
If you go
When: Saturday, Sept. 12 — general admission 1 to 5 p.m.; no admission after 4 p.m. and no re-entry
Where: Palmer Lake Recreation Area, 199 County Line Road, Palmer Lake
Cost: $50 general admission, $10 designated driver, plus TicketSpice fees. VIP sold out. Non-refundable, transferable
Ages: 21 and over with ID; designated drivers 18 and over. No children, and no animals except service animals
Includes: Unlimited tastings; a souvenir glass and wine tote for the first 1,000. Food sold separately
Bring: ID, a water bottle, a lawn chair, rain gear, and a wagon for bottles
More events: The Independent’s community calendar
Getting there
El Paso County’s parks department gives the route from Interstate 25 as exit 161, northwest on Highway 105 for about 5 miles, then east on County Line Road to the park entrance. The Town of Palmer Lake owns and manages the site’s recreation facilities and the lake, the county says.
Sources & further reading
The Independent’s own coverage: Monument Pours in the Park Returns Sept. 19 — the Tri-Lakes Chamber’s tasting festival at Limbach Park, the following Saturday · the community calendar, which carries the wine festival and the rest of the month
Event record: The festival’s ticket page, carrying the date, hours, prices, lineup and rules · Tri-Lakes Cares’ event listing, which names the organizer and the discount code · the Town of Palmer Lake’s announcement
Venue: El Paso County Parks, Palmer Lake Recreation Area, carrying the address, directions and management of the site
Background: “Salida Wine Festival Set to Return After Seven Years,” Zachery Proctor, Ark Valley Voice, Jan. 14, 2026 · Visit Colorado Springs, Evergood Adventure Wines listing
Entities: Tri-Lakes Cares · Town of Palmer Lake