31. Yellow Rose Ball: Opening Night
City: Denver, CO
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (303) 292-6500
Address: 124 Eureka St.
Description: In late June or early July, the Central City Opera’s season begins, usually with the annual presentation of debutantes called the Central City Flower Girls, followed by a dinner at the Teller House and a performance.
32. Cherry Creek Arts Festival
City: Denver, CO
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (303) 355-2787
Insider Pick:
Description: Pulling some 350,000 visitors for this event, Denver’s upscale retail shopping area hosts a sidewalk festival during Fourth of July weekend that features fine arts and crafts. About 200 artists from around the nation and Mexico come for the juried show. National and international performers provide entertainment. Local chefs cook up their best for a block-long culinary arts extravaganza. Browsing is free, but prepare to pay top dollar for the artworks.
City: Denver, CO
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
City: Denver, CO
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
35. Independence Day Celebration
City: Denver, CO
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (303) 399-1859
Address: 715 S. Forest St.
Description: Four Mile Historic Park, Denver’s living-history park, throws a good old-fashioned, family-style Fourth of July party each year. This is a day of patriotic music, games, food, and visits from costumed actors such as Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and Uncle Sam who do historical reenactments. Past events also included historic and craft demonstrations such as blacksmithing, quilting, weaving, lace making, and butter churning.
36. Independence Day Eve Celebration
City: Denver, CO
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Description: What do you get when you combine a free patriotic concert by the Colorado Symphony, a dazzling light show on the Denver City and County Building, and a spectacular fireworks show? A great preholiday kickoff to the July 4th celebration! Bring a blanket, low-rise beach chairs, and picnic before the show. Space is available on a first-come, first-served basis, so plan to arrive at least 2 to 3 hours early for a prime location. Food is also available. Park in one of many nearby downtown surface lots or parking garages just a few blocks from the park.
37. Kaiser Permanente Moonlight Classic
City: Denver, CO
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (720) 974-2457
Insider Pick:
Description: Imagine cycling through the deserted streets of downtown Denver with the glow of the moon defining the course for you. Imagine doing so alongside thousands of other riders. The Moonlight Classic begins and ends at the State Capitol. The 10-mile course passes through the business district, LoDo, and by landmarks such as Coors Field and the Cherry Creek shopping district. The event benefits InnovAge Foundation and is followed by the Lunar Breakfast, a breakfast with music and prizes. The first wave of cyclists leaves at 8:30 p.m., and all must have helmets and front and back lights and reflectors. Note: The ride takes place in August on some years.
38. Lakewood on Parade
City: Denver, CO
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (303) 225-7680
Address: 500 Kipling St., at 6th Avenue
Description: The city of Lakewood’s community festival, this free event is often centered on a theme such as Celebrating Our Troops. Although there’s no longer a parade, the festival typically combines food, games, live music and other entertainment, a golf tournament, a beer garden, a car show, and an art show. End the day with a fireworks show.
39. Pikes Peak International Hill Climb
City: Denver, CO
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (719) 685-4400
Description: You can enjoy this famous annual Pikes Peak hill climb even if you’re not one of the top race-car drivers who come here to test their skills on one of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks. But you do need tickets ($40) ahead of time to drive up, park, and watch the race from designated areas on the mountain. In preceding weeks other smaller races lead up to this big race, held the last week of June or first week of July.
40. NHRA Mopar Mile-High Nationals
City: Denver, CO
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (303) 697-6001, (800) 644-8946
Address: 3051 S. Rooney Rd.
Insider Pick:
Description: This is motorhead heaven. Between 600 and 700 cars and the nation’s top racers gather for 3 days of competition in pro-stock dragsters, top fuel cars, motorcycles, and nitro funny cars in mid-July. All seats are reserved. Tickets can be purchased far in advance from the website, in person at the box office, or by phone at the number above.
41. Rooftop Rodeo
City: Denver, CO
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (970) 586-6104
Description: Repeatedly voted Best Small Rodeo of the Year, this 6-day event in mid-July offers a rodeo parade and six Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association rodeos. These are joined on various days by music concerts, a golf benefit, and other activities. The Queen’s Dance is held after the rodeo, hosted by the Rooftop Rodeo Queen and Royalty, and the entire community comes to celebrate Western heritage and practice the two-step. Other past attractions include cowboy cartoonists and poets, and a dirt dance. The rodeo parade is free; admission is charged for the rodeo.
42. Carnation Festival
City: Denver, CO
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Description: Wheat Ridge was founded by farmers who supplied Denver with wheat, produce, and, in the 1940s, carnations. Still going strong after more than 40 years, the Carnation Festival celebrates that heritage with a jolly small-town parade along 38th Street from Harlan to Upham Streets on the third weekend in August. Some floats are covered with carnations, but most just carry bigwigs and their families. The carnival in the park has rides for children, and the carnival midway has food and arts and crafts. There’s also entertainment, a spaghetti dinner, a chili cook-off, a beer garden, a classic car show, and an art show. Enjoy a fireworks display on Friday night. Admission is free.
43. Colorado Scottish Festival and Highland Games
City: Denver, CO
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (303) 238-6524
Address: 9651 S. Quebec St.
Description: Wake up and smell the heather early each August. Enjoy the competitions: bagpiping and drumming, highland athletic events, and highland dancing. You’ll also find vendors selling merchandise from the British Isles, exhibitions of highland cattle and dogs, and Scottish food and beverages. Take C-470 east to Quebec Street and go south to the intersection with Lincoln Avenue. The park is on the southwest.
44. Colorado State Fair
City: Denver, CO
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (719) 561-8484, (800) 876-4567
Address: 1001 Beulah Ave.
Insider Pick:
Description: The city of Pueblo is 2 hours south of Denver on I-25, but this is the state fair. It’s one of the state’s largest annual events and is well worth the drive. In addition to the full range of rodeo events, expect parades, art exhibitions, a Latin Fiesta Weekend, livestock sales, horse shows, cooking competitions, midway carnival rides, games, and lots of good food. Big-name entertainers in past years have included Pat Benatar, Tom Jones, Bob Dylan, Chicago, and Julio Iglesias. The fair runs for 2 weeks, late August to early September.
45. Douglas County Fair
City: Denver, CO
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (720) 733-6900
Address: 500 Fairgrounds Dr.
Description: This is an old-fashioned August shindig with a rodeo, carnival, and all the accoutrements. Simultaneously with the county fair, Castle Rock holds a community fair that includes a parade to celebrate the 4-H winners, with more than 100 parade entries and a barbecue in the Courthouse Square.