The Colorado 150 Commission will bring one of its first featured celebrations to Alamosa in 2026. A drone show called “Stories in the Sky” is scheduled to be part of the next Early Iron Festival, according to a schedule released this week by the Colorado 150 Commission.
Members of the Colorado 150 Commission were appointed by Gov. Jared Polis to map out ways to celebrate Colorado’s 150 years of statehood in 2026 and to ensure celebrations occur across the state. The group is also using America’s 250 Year Celebration in 2026 to motivate communities to come up with their own Colorado 150/America 250 celebrations.
The “Stories in the Sky” drone show is sponsored by Chevron, Tallgrass, and UCHealth and will kick off a 2026 statewide series of shows at the Ouray Ice Festival on Jan. 22, 2026. The drone show will appear at The Early Iron Festival on Sept. 5, 2026.
Here is a list of locations for the “Stories in the Sky” drone show.
Learn more history
Colorado gained statehood on Aug. 1, 1876. That was 100 years after the United States became a sovereign nation on July 4, 1776, when the 13 American colonies declared independence from Great Britain.
While America was getting its start, the San Luis Valley was part of the Spanish empire. Among the Spanish explorers into the Valley was Juan Bautista de Anza II, who in 1776 passed near the Great Sand Dunes with a group of men during a raid against the Comanche people.
The first Hispanic settlement in the Valley was the town of San Luis, established in 1851, 25 years before Colorado gained its statehood.
In 1876, the year Colorado became a state, the Ninth Cavalry regiment – one of six all-black cavalry regiments known collectively as the Buffalo Soldiers – was stationed at Fort Garland and remained until 1879.