For more than 50 years, Ruggerfest has welcomed rugby players from all over the world to Aspen for some hard-hitting competition and good spirits.
After being canceled last year due to the pandemic, this year’s tournament will feature 30 teams, Ruggerfest Chairman John Staub said Thursday afternoon.
“This event’s been going on for 53 years and it’s the epitome of Aspen,” Staub said of Ruggerfest. “It’s like a big family reunion for the valley and rugby around the United States.”
The Kansas City Blues Rugby Football Club won the first Ruggerfest in 1968 and since then, teams from Denver, Minneapolis, San Francisco and — on numerous occasions — even the local Gentleman of Aspen have taken home the tournament’s top prize.
For the first time in more than half a century, the renowned rugby festival in Aspen was canceled in 2020, another casualty of the pandemic. But, like the Jazz Aspen Snowmass Labor Day Experience and Food & Wine Aspen Classic earlier this month, Ruggerfest is back. It kicked off Thursday, and will run through Sunday, with all matches taking place at Wagner and Rio Grande parks.
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