At 5:45 Monday evening, the program starts at Warren Miller Performing Arts Center. Eleven people will be on stage across three panels: people from the Big Sky Fire Department, the Gallatin River Task Force and the Forest Service, two state legislators, a county commissioner, and leaders from Big Sky Resort, Lone Mountain Land Company and Outlaw Partners. The reception opens at 5, the program follows at 5:45, and the event is livestreamed.
That evening opens Big Sky Community Week, which runs October 5 through 9. It's in its fifth year, and the Big Sky Chamber of Commerce and the Big Sky Resort Area District host it together. Every event is free and open to the public. Most of the calendar is pumpkins, Pilates and live music. The other track is shorter. From Monday evening through Wednesday afternoon, residents can question the people making decisions about Big Sky's fire service, river, Forest Service land, taxes, county governance and housing. Those events earn the same raffle entries as a yoga class.
Monday: Eleven Panelists, Three Panels
State of the Community is built around three themes this year: Collaborate, Connect and Create. Each one has its own panel. In 2025, Explore Big Sky reported that the same event was organized around "common knowledge," with four panel subjects and audience Q&A. This year's lineup groups people by what they do. The panel on public services sits apart from the panel on legislation and county government, and both are separate from the developers and the resort.
| Panel | Panelist | Organization |
|---|---|---|
| Collaborate | Jeff Bolton | Big Sky Fire Department |
| Collaborate | Kristin Gardner | Gallatin River Task Force |
| Collaborate | Lizzie Peyton | Big Sky SNO |
| Collaborate | Eric Riener | U.S. Forest Service |
| Connect | Alanah Griffith | Montana House District 60 |
| Connect | Katie Grice | Big Sky Wellness/Hospital District–Gallatin |
| Connect | Pat Flowers | Montana Senate District 31 |
| Connect | Ryan Finn | Gallatin County Commission |
| Create | Matt Kidd | Lone Mountain Land Company |
| Create | Megan Paulson | Outlaw Partners |
| Create | Troy Nedved | Big Sky Resort |
Questions come in by QR code. They're anonymous, organizers ask that they stay respectful, and all of them go to the panelists. Questions may be made public after the event, and the panelists choose which ones to answer as time allows. The handout advises submitting early. If your question isn't answered, it suggests following up with the panelist directly, and it prints each panelist's email address for that purpose. So the conversation doesn't have to end when the program does. You leave with contact details for a state senator, a state representative, a county commissioner and the Gallatin River Task Force's panelist.
Tuesday: Pizza With a Purpose at Big Sky Chapel
Tuesday's civic event is smaller. Pizza with a Purpose runs from noon to 1:30 at Big Sky Chapel. The Coordinating Council of Big Sky hosts it, and this year's topic is TEDD and TIF work, with questions and comments invited. No registration is listed. Monday's panels give a broad overview. Tuesday's lunch spends 90 minutes on a single topic, and the people attending are the ones who chose that topic.
Tuesday afternoon is purely social. Community Cocktails runs from 4 to 6 at Big Sky Center for the Arts, with live music from the Damn Duo and refreshments. There's also a community vote, and the winning drink becomes Big Sky's Signature Mocktail for 2027. Pizza at noon and the mocktail vote at 4 o'clock happen less than a mile apart on the same day.
Wednesday: Both County Commissions in the Morning, a Groundbreaking in the Afternoon
On Wednesday the civic track hits its busiest stretch. From 9 to 11 a.m., the Big Sky Resort Area District board meets with the Gallatin County and Madison County commissions at The Wilson Hotel, 145 Town Center Ave. The Resort Tax listing also offers virtual attendance. Big Sky's local resort tax board and both county governments will be at one table, and anyone can watch from the room or online.
Three hours later, from 2 to 4 p.m., the Big Sky Community Housing Trust holds the Cold Smoke groundbreaking at 1700 Lone Mountain Trail. The event is outdoors and may involve some walking. Parking is limited, so carpooling is encouraged, and the designated event parking is near Big Sky Thrift.
The Housing Trust calls Cold Smoke the largest workforce housing and community investment in Big Sky's history. These are the details it has published:
- Scale: 389 rental and for-sale homes on a 99-acre site, planned with trails and open space
- Funding: $54.75 million in voter-approved Resort Tax bond funding for land and infrastructure
- Approvals: Gallatin County commissioners approved the preliminary plats on November 18, 2025, and the Housing Trust bought the land on January 7, 2026
- Construction so far: Infrastructure work began in April 2026, with Lone Mountain Land Company as project developer, SIME Construction as general contractor and WGM Group providing oversight for the community
- On the ground now: Crews are installing fire hydrants and utilities, building the south bridge and building the eastern roads for the 125 for-sale homes
- Timeline: Apartments are expected in 2028, with the first homes in 2029
The groundbreaking marks a milestone, but the trucks have been on site since spring. A decision is still ahead, too. By the end of 2026, the Housing Trust will decide whether to bring in a developer for the for-sale homes or manage that work directly with a general contractor, and it's still choosing an architecture partner for preliminary design. The Cold Smoke project page has the milestone graphic and construction photos from July 2026.
Matt Kidd of Lone Mountain Land Company will be on Monday's Create panel. His company is also the infrastructure developer at Cold Smoke. That means a question asked at Warren Miller on Monday night and a walk around the site on Wednesday afternoon cover the same project from two directions.
Thursday and Friday: The Social Events Count Toward the Same Raffle
Thursday and Friday feel more like a homecoming. The raffle connects both halves of the week. Checking in at any event earns an entry. Bringing a friend doubles your odds, and so do three nonperishable items brought to Monday's coffee or Friday's pumpkin giveaway. Winners are drawn after the week ends. The prize page lists gift cards from Conoco for $500, Ace Hardware for $250, and Gallatin River Guides, Big Sky Thrift, Pinky G's and Caliber Coffee for $100 each. Sitting through the joint commission meeting counts the same as a stretch class.
Here's what's left after Wednesday, in order:
- Thursday, 8 to 9:30 a.m.: Community Coffee at Big Sky Fire Department Station 1, hosted by the department.
- Thursday, noon to 2 p.m.: Free health care screenings from the HealthCare Connections bus at Len Hill Park, 33 Lone Peak Drive. The bus offers immunizations, wellness checks, and A1C and cholesterol screenings. No appointment is needed, and the event is new this year.
- Thursday, 4 to 6 p.m.: Community Appreciation Celebration at Len Hill Park, with the Kailey Marie duo, food and activities. Local organizations have been invited to host interactive booths.
- Friday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.: CPR and First Aid training at Big Sky Medical Center, taught by the center's team. Participants earn American Heart Association certification, and advance registration is required.
- Friday, 3 to 6 p.m.: The Great Pumpkin Giveaway at Len Hill Park. Bring 10 cans, 10 pounds of food or $10 for the Big Sky Food Bank and take home a prize pumpkin.
The week opens and closes with the food bank. Monday starts with Community Coffee from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the Big Sky Community Food Bank, hosted with Big Sky SNO. Parking there is limited.
Some events need advance registration. These are the youth and adult watercolor classes at Big Sky Center for the Arts, hosted by the Arts Council of Big Sky; the youth class is capped at 10. Registration is also required for the workouts at Moving Mountains, Big Sky Fitness Fusion and Santosha Wellness Center. The classes at BASE are drop-in, and Monday's Kids Storytime there has Big Sky Fire Department staff as special readers.
Community Week falls in the same quiet weeks that shape the rest of Big Sky's fall, which we covered in our look at how Town Center winds down in stages. More local news is collected on our Big Sky neighborhood page.
If something said on Monday's stage or at Wednesday's groundbreaking leaves you wondering what it means for your street, your HOA or a property you're thinking about, Julie Blakeley is happy to talk it through, calmly and from decades of local experience. And if you'd like news like this sent to you directly, sign up to Receive Listings in Your Inbox.
