Denver Festivals 2026

Denver's biggest festivals include the Great American Beer Festival (late September, Colorado Convention Center — 800+ breweries, sells out months in advance), Denver PrideFest (mid-June, Civic Center Park — one of the nation's largest Pride events), Cinco de Mayo Festival (first weekend of May, Civic Center Park — the largest Cinco de Mayo celebration outside of Mexico), Cherry Creek Arts Festival (Fourth of July weekend — 250+ artists), and A Taste of Colorado (Labor Day weekend — 50+ restaurants, free admission). Denver hosts major festivals nearly every month of the year.

Denver has a remarkable number of free festivals. The Cinco de Mayo Festival at Civic Center Park is free. Denver PrideFest parade and festival are free. Juneteenth Music Festival at City Park is free. A Taste of Colorado (food festival, Labor Day) is free. City Park Jazz every Sunday in summer is free. The Denver Parade of Lights in December is free to watch. Denver Day of Rock in September is free. The Denver Zombie Crawl in October is free to participate. Many of Denver's best annual events cost nothing.

May through September is Denver's peak festival season. June and September are arguably the best months — June has PrideFest, Juneteenth, and Jazz in the Park; September has the Great American Beer Festival, A Taste of Colorado, and the Denver Day of Rock. July is peak Red Rocks concert season. The Cherry Creek Arts Festival over Fourth of July weekend draws over 350,000 visitors. Denver also has excellent winter events — Blossoms of Light at the Botanic Gardens runs November through December.

Yes — the Great American Beer Festival is one of the most important craft beer events in the world and is uniquely tied to Denver. Over 800 breweries and 4,000+ beers are poured across three sessions at the Colorado Convention Center. It's both a competition (beers are judged by style category) and a festival. Tickets sell out months in advance, often within minutes of going on sale. If craft beer is your thing, this is a bucket-list event. The surrounding Denver neighborhood also transforms with satellite events, tap takeovers, and brewery parties during GABF week.