The inaugural Choral Festival has been postponed

For a historic B&B experience, check out the Bross Hotel, A Simpler Time B&B, or Wisehart Springs Inn.

If you want a more traditional hotel experience, we recommend the Redwood Arms Motel or the Rocky Mountain Inn.

For those looking for an AirBnB experience, Paonia lists over 80 stays in area from individual rooms to entire houses and farms.

Paonia also offers several campgrounds, including Big B’s, Sage View Ranch, and Kebler Corner (this last one is about 20 minutes away).

And lastly, if the hostel life is for you, check out the Local Nomad in downtown Paonia.

Paonia is home to several delicious restaurants and a healthy rotation of food trucks and weekly meal shares.

For a delicious lunch, check out Nido, Sweetgrass, Root and Vine, Big B’s, Rio Bravo, the Simple Cafe, or any of the other food truck/popup kitchen experiences Paonia has to offer.

For dinner, check out the live music at Big B’s or Louie’s Pizza, enjoy an upscale dinner at the Flying Fork, grab a quick bite at Rio Bravo, or take a drive up the mountain to indulge at Electric Mountain Lodge.

If you’re looking for good coffee, Espresso Paeonia offers a great selection to get you jumpstarted for the day, or stop by Paonia Bread Works, Sweetgrass, the Simple Cafe, or Root and Vine to grab coffee and a pastry. Fridays are also Mountain Oven Bakery’s local day, so check them out at the Edesia community kitchen.

For wine and wine tastings, visit the West Elks Ava page for information about the valley’s wineries. If you’re more of a beer person, Paonia United Brewing makes a delicious variety out of an old church building, while Chrysalis specializes in sour beer and chill vibes. For hard cider and non-alcoholic beverages made locally, Big B’s offers a good variety of ciders, lemonades, and other delicious options with a shady outdoor seating area and farmer’s market.

There are two multi-hour breaks in the festival schedule to give singers’ voices a rest and allow them to truly enjoy the Paonia experience. During these times, you’re free to do whatever you like - we’ve recommended the self-guided farm and winery tour for one and a trip to Black Canyon National Park for the other, but feel free to mix and match to suit your own interests.

For outdoor enthusiasts, try a hike along the North Rim of the Black Canyon to Exclamation Point. If you’re a biker, check out the unofficial Jumbo Mountain trail system - if you need a bike, stop by SK Bikes in downtown Paonia. The Gunnison River also provides gold medal trout fishing waters and the opportunity to raft/kayak/paddleboard - for more info on river sports, talk to Western Slope SUP. There are also dozens of hiking trails of varying lengths and formats throughout the surrounding area, so feel free to ask us for a recommendation tailored to your specific interests!

If you’re more of a food and wine person, Paonia is home to one of two American Viticultural Areas located in the state of Colorado, the West Elks AVA, which includes two wineries run by local choir members - Alfred Eames Cellars (Eames and Pam Peterson) and Stone Cottage Cellars (Brent and Karen Helleckson). Farm Runners and Big B’s Delicious Orchards both offer farmer’s markets full of local meats, cheeses, produce, oils, soaps, candles, and other specialty items. The local goat farm and creamery, Western Culture, offers tours of their farm and facilities, and Lamborn Mountain Farmstead (owned by local choir member Carol Schott and her husband James) offers tours of their farm and lavender fields by appointment.

The valley is also home to several art galleries, including Elsewhere Studios, Paonia Clayworks, Blue Sage Center for the Arts, Azura Cellars and Gallery, and Horse Cow 57. Other downtown attractions include the Paonia Library, TLC Ice Cream Corner, the Paonia River Park, and the Paonia Town Parks.

If you can’t get enough music, check out the musical offerings at Big B’s, Pickin’ in the Park, and Louie’s Pizza!