With Pickin’ on the Dead following Bonfire Dub, the Big Snow Bash promises to be one of the best parties of the year, and an event those hoping to protect the river should not miss.

“I think that this year is going be such a fun, exciting event,” said Lindsey Marlow, executive director of the Friends of the Yampa. “I think that we are in the precipice of a lot of big things happening for the Yampa, and it’s super important to get people to be a part of it and feel like they have just as much responsibility to do what they can to protect this vital resource.”

The Big Snow Bash is slated to take place at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 19 at the Old Town Pub. Tickets are $35 for members of the Friends of the Yampa, and $40 for those who are not members. Those tickets will include entry to the event, a token for a beer from Storm Peak Brewery and the opportunity to win door prizes. Tickets can also be purchased for $10 at the door after 9:30 p.m., but will not include the beer or the drawing.

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Bonfire Dub will take the stage at 7 p.m. followed by the headline act Pickin’ on the Dead, featuring Mark Morris of Rapidgrass, along with Michael Kirkpatrick, Adrian Engfer, and Jake Wolf from Rocky Mountain Grateful Dead Revue and Sages and Spirits.

Marlow said the fundraiser has two parts. The first part is the in-person party with live music, and the second is an online auction that runs from Nov. 13 through Nov. 20.

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She said the money raised by the two events covers roughly 25% of the organization’s general operating costs.

Last year, the group raised $40,000 and is hopeful that it will be able to up that by about $5,000 this year.

“I think this party just emphasizes the excitement and the community that is so great in this valley … and how much love is for the river,” Marlow said.

The goal of the Friends of the Yampa is to bring people to the river with hopes of making them stewards.

“We are a watershed group that represents the Yampa River and its tributaries,” Marlow said. “We represent environmental and recreational interests and work for the protection of the Yampa.”

The event is the largest fundraiser of the season for the Friends of the Yampa, and vitally important for the success of the organization. But Marlow said the Big Snow Bash is much more than a fundraiser; it’s a chance to come out and have a good time with people who share a love for the river.

“It’s the in-person event that is the party where we celebrate bringing on the snow for our frozen reservoir which helps the river,” Marlow said. “Then we have an online auction where we make most of our fundraising funds.”