The private jets started stacking up at Friedman on Tuesday, which tells you all you need to know: the most powerful people in America are in Sun Valley this week, pretending to relax. Allen & Company's conference runs through Saturday. The rest of us get the traffic, the vanished dinner reservations, and the best plane-spotting of the year.
This is the first Bigwood Brief. The deal is simple: everything happening in the valley, once a week, in a read that respects your time. This week that's the moguls at the Lodge, a heat wave pushing 93, the Ketchum Arts Festival, a water vote tonight, and a river that's holding up better than we feared. Here's the week.
Allen & Company is back. The whole valley can tell.
The Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference runs through Saturday at the Sun Valley Lodge, and it's exactly what it is every July: a few hundred of the most powerful people in tech, media, and finance, flown in to talk deals and call it a vacation. Friedman airport director Tim Burke told the Idaho Mountain Express the fly-in is the single biggest economic-impact stretch of the valley's entire year. The reported guest list, which Allen & Company never confirms, includes Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, the Murdochs, Bob Iger, and a row of network anchors. The backdrop this year is the pending $110 billion merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, so the hallway small talk is worth more than most companies.
What it means for your week: up-valley restaurant tables are gone, the Lodge is locked down tight, and the sky over Friedman is the best show in town. Down-valley gets the jet noise and the airport crush without the open bar. It's also a real payday for the servers, shops, and drivers who work the week. Not everyone's thrilled: the Democratic Socialists of America have a protest set for Ketchum Town Square on Saturday over the private-jet footprint and the disruption, after smaller rallies in Hailey last weekend.
Our take: it's the one week a year the valley's wealth is impossible to look away from, and also the week that quietly pays a lot of local bills. Both are true at once. Wave at a Gulfstream for us.
Source: Idaho Mountain Express
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KetchumThe city council is set to vote tonight on a new three-stage water ordinance, with staff asking to run all the readings through one hearing so it's enforceable fast. Stage 1 bans watering between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., caps irrigation at three days a week, and asks for a voluntary 10% cut. Stage 2 and 3 tighten the screws if the Northwood well keeps dropping. After a low-snow winter, this was coming. [Eye on Sun Valley]
KetchumA new state law is forcing the city to gut its short-term-rental rules. Idaho's HB 583 took effect July 1 and bars cities from regulating short-term rentals any more strictly than regular ones, so Ketchum is scrapping the permit system, safety-plan approvals, and inspections it built, and losing about $100,000 a year in permit fees. Hailey and Bellevue have to rewrite their rules too. Roughly 600 short-term rentals operate locally, and the city says only about a third are compliant today. [IME]
KetchumExpect a local-option tax hike on the November ballot to pay for streets: retail up to 8.5%, lodging to 13%, and a bump on building materials, about $2.19 million a year in all. A city-commissioned study found roughly 82% of that tax gets paid by visitors, not residents. A resident spending $2,000 a month would pay around $120 more a year. [Eye on Sun Valley]
CountyThe valley's newly merged fire agency, Blaine County Fire and Rescue, went live July 1 and put out its first fire the next day: a stovetop blaze near Fifth and First in Ketchum, handled fast. The three departments (Hailey, Ketchum, and BC South) are running as one under a joint agreement, with a November ballot measure to make it permanent. [Eye on Sun Valley]
CountyRiver Bend, an 81-unit workforce-rental community just south of Ketchum, cleared another step this week as its housing agreement reached the county commissioners. It's built for people who work in Blaine County and earn roughly $56,000 to $98,000, with rent capped at 30% of income. Slow, unglamorous progress on the thing everyone says they want. [IME]
Tonight, Thu July 9 Wynton Marsalis Septet at the Argyros, 7:30 p.m. The Jazz at Lincoln Center leader in a 462-seat room. Likely sold out, but worth a look if you move fast. From $125. [tickets]
Tonight, Thu July 9 Percival Everett, who won this year's Pulitzer for "James," gives the Community Library's Hemingway lecture at 7 p.m. on the Donaldson lawn. In-person seats are gone, but the livestream is free and open to anyone. [info]
Fri July 10 to Sun July 12 Ketchum Arts Festival, the marquee of the weekend. More than 100 Idaho artists, food, and cold beer at Champions Meadow on Sun Valley Rd. Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday 10 to 4. Free. [info]
Sat July 11 "The Snake and the Whale," a new documentary on the fight over the four Lower Snake River dams, screens at the Argyros. 6:30 p.m., $20. Ketchum's Scott Levy is an executive producer. [IME]
Sun July 12 Alyssa Joy Claffey, an Idaho "grassical" violinist, plays the Argyros' small upstairs studio. 7 p.m., $23. [Visit SV]
Thu July 9 to Sun July 12 "The Marvelous Wonderettes," a jukebox musical, closes its run at the Liberty Theater in Hailey. Thursday through Saturday at 7 p.m., Sunday matinee at 2. $45, students $20. [info]
Thursdays, 6:30 to 9 p.m. Hailey Rocks free concerts at Hop Porter Park, Hailey. On tonight. [info]
Thu, Fri, Sat, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Live Music in the Pasture, Hotel Ketchum's backyard. A different act each night; this week it's Adam Williams, Moonshine Schubert, and Jimmy Robb. [info]
Sundays, 6 to 8 p.m. Jazz in the Park, Rotary Park on Warm Springs Rd, Ketchum. Free, through July 26. The Ashley Rose Band plays Sunday. [Visit SV]
Sat 10 to 2, Wed noon to 4 Wood River Farmers Market. Hailey on Saturdays at Roberta McKercher Park, Ketchum on Wednesdays at Forest Service Park. [info]
Tuesdays, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Ketch'em Alive free concerts, Forest Service Park, Ketchum. Next up July 14: Ethan J. Perry and the Remedy Band. [Visit SV]
Wednesdays, 6 to 9:30 p.m. Wicked Wednesday at the Wicked Spud in Hailey. Free live music and a different local nonprofit every week, 23 years running. [Visit SV]
July 18 to 20 Sun Valley Writers' Conference at the Pavilion. Passes are sold out, but the lawn talks and the livestream are free, and the Argyros runs a $25-a-day watch party. [info]
Tue July 21 Old Crow Medicine Show at the Argyros. From $85. [tickets]
Wed July 22 and 29 River Run Summer Series: free live music and food trucks at the base of River Run, with the gondola running late. [Visit SV]
Thu July 23 Pianist Yuja Wang plays the Argyros with the collective People of Earth, premiering a new concerto. From $75. [tickets]
Fri July 24 Sun Valley Tour de Force car show. About 150 supercars staged along Main Street in Ketchum, 5 to 8 p.m., free to gawk. [info]
Sat July 25 Sun Valley on Ice: Ilia Malinin, the reigning world figure-skating champion, on the outdoor rink. Ticketed. [info]
July 27 to Aug 20 Sun Valley Music Festival. Free orchestral concerts at the Pavilion, most nights at 6:30. Opening night is July 27. The big one of the summer, and it doesn't cost a dime. [info]
River and fish. The Big Wood is running about 400 cfs at Hailey, roughly 63% of the normal median for July 9. That's low, but better than a thin-snow winter had us fearing, and wading is easy right now. The catch is the heat: with highs pushing the low 90s this weekend, the water warms up by midday, so fish early and release fast. Green Drakes have about a week left, with caddis, PMDs, and crane flies coming off mid-morning. Down on Silver Creek it's as technical as ever at 109 cfs, Tricos in the morning and terrestrials once the afternoon wind kicks up. [Silver Creek Outfitters]
Trails. The Fox Creek helicopter lift is now set for the week of July 13 to 17, when the Forest Service flies in the new bridge and closes the drainage during the work, so plan on that trail being off the table into early August. Better news up high: the elk-calving closures on Galena and Baldy have lifted. Sheep bands are out on a lot of trails, Deer Creek and Warm Springs and Baker Creek among them, so keep the dog close around the guardian dogs. [BCRD trail alerts]
Mountain. Sun Valley's summer ops run Wednesday through Sunday: the Roundhouse gondola, scenic rides, and lift-served downhill biking off River Run. The top of Baldy is closed all summer while they rebuild the Christmas and Lookout lifts, so the summit and a few connector trails are out. [sunvalley.com]
Fire. No fire near the valley right now and the air is clean, but danger is rated high to very high and the season outlook is above normal. We're not under fire restrictions yet. It's the kind of dry that turns on you fast, so be careful with anything that sparks. [Sawtooth National Forest]
The county's 2026 assessments are set, and the number that matters is $918,000: the median assessed value of a home in Blaine County, up about 5% from last year. All told, the county is now assessed at $26.2 billion, up 2.6%. There were 642 sales in 2025 at a median price of $870,000. Assessor Jim Williams says the market "began to balance out in 2025" after several years of fast growth. Two practical notes: the window to appeal your assessment closed June 22, and tax bills land in late November. The Board of Realtors hasn't posted second-quarter sales numbers yet. When they do, we'll run them. [IME]
Still settling in: Cookbook has moved. After structural trouble at its old 7th Street building, the restaurant relocated into sister spot Scout's former space at 360 East Avenue in Ketchum, and the two menus now live under one roof. Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 9, reservations on Resy with half the tables held for walk-ins. [cookbookketchum.com]
Coming later this year: The Observatory Sun Valley, the Viceroy hotel at 300 River Street that started life as "The Harriman," is aiming for a fall opening. It brings 73 rooms, a dozen penthouses, a restaurant, a zinc bar, a cafe, and a rooftop built for stargazing in the dark-sky reserve. [Hotel Online]
Filed under only-in-Ketchum: A high-end Western store called Kemo Sabe (hats, boots, the works) is headed for 200 North Main by 2027. The kicker: the developer scrapped a planned Mediterranean restaurant for the space over worries the cooking smells would drift into the apartments above. [IME]
We're also hearing an up-valley coffee shop may have quietly closed its Ketchum location. We're not naming it until we can confirm it. If you know what's opened or shut near you, hit reply. Tips beat press releases every time.
Our anonymous town board, the group chat with a stage. We don't have your submissions yet, because this is issue one. So here's the kind of thing that runs here. Next week, this space is yours.
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• To whoever's been circling Friedman in the Gulfstream since Tuesday: we get it, you're important. The elk are not impressed. Neither is the tower. -
• The council votes on watering rules tonight, and my neighbor is out there running his sprinklers at noon like it's a personal dare. -
• Shoutout to the stranger at Atkinsons' who spotted me four bucks when the card reader ate my card. You're the reason I still like this town. -
• Overheard at the farmers market: "I flew private one time and I will be telling people about it until the day I die." -
• Can we all agree the roundabout does not improve during Allen & Company week? It does not. The roundabout will outlive us all. -
• To the cyclist on the bike path who yelled "on your left" from half a block back and still clipped my elbow: impressive range.
Got one? Submit anonymously → (one tap, no name required)
That's the first one. Thanks for being here on day one. It means more than you'd think. Drink water, wave at a jet, and get to the Arts Festival before Sunday's heat sets in.
See you next Thursday.
The Bigwood Brief