Warm weather and rising vaccination rates invite the illusion that summer, and everything it entails, will be back to normal.
The reality is that full-capacity events likely won’t return until fall, at the earliest, .
That extends to Denver’s Art District on Santa Fe, whose First Friday art walks routinely attracted up to 20,000 people on the first Friday of each month. Central Denver boasts more than a half-dozen First Friday art walks, but Santa Fe’s was by far the largest, having been certified as in 2012.
“Everybody was trying to brainstorm a concept that would both be safe and exciting, because normally this time of year we start our Art of Brunch series,” said Shaina Belton, president of the Art District on Santa Fe. “We’ve been talking with businesses about how to mitigate crowds, but also be inviting to the public.”
Amid those talks, an idea bubbled up that would provide a slow transition back to First Fridays — and offer the potential for increased revenue at dozens of galleries, eateries and boutiques along Santa Fe Drive.
“Businesses here are seeing anywhere from 25% to 75% revenue losses month-to-month starting in April 2020, so it was a rough year for everyone. Itap going to take a long time to recover from that,” Belton said. “We hope to come back with smaller First Fridays in June or July, but you can’t have 1,500 people coming through a space in a couple of hours anymore. First Fridays won’t look the same for the rest of the year.”
Officials at the district are in talks with the city’s Office of Special Events to acquire permits as they continue to carefully watch updated COVID-19 regulations. The hope is that they can shut down the street for a night or two as early as August. Meanwhile, is nearly finished, with new “parklets,” bike lanes, turn lanes, murals, seating, bus stops, planters and more.
“It took many months to get to this place,” Belton said of the new, , which take place 11 a.m.-3 p.m. the final Sunday of each month (the most recent was April 25; the next is May 30).
While the events have drawn a modest audience compared to past Art District on Santa Fe events (about 150 people or so) they offer more than just limited gallery-hopping. Discounts, workshops, artist talks and other programming provide casual peeks inside the district and its still-needy storefronts.
“I would love to see a few more permanent places in the way of restaurants, and maybe a bar or two,” said Nadia MacKinnon, owner of , a buy-sell-trade shop at 825 Santa Fe Drive. “Tattoo shops and dive bars are cool, but we don’t need any more of those. We need reasons to make a day out of coming down here.”
MacKinnon, who formerly managed the Broadway location of the now-shuttered Buffalo Exchange chain, opened her shop in January knowing full well the challenges she would face. But business has been brisk, she said, despite only a handful of stores and galleries being open on a daily basis.
“There is no replacing (First Fridays) with a digital version,” Belton said. “But as an all-volunteer nonprofit, we have raised $75,000 for small grants to businesses. Itap not a lot compared to some others, but it offers anywhere from $500 to $2,000 (per grantee).”
Officials just finished their second round of grants, with amounts based on operating budgets, and grantees can still apply for future rounds, Belton said. (Visit the Small Business Relief Fund online at for details.)
“We’re not sure what itap going to look like. We may have to gate off the district, count people and offer time slots,” Belton said of Santa Fe’s return. “I’m just excited to see human beings back in the district.”
