Saturday. The grand Denver Derby Party is calling it quits, having fulfilled its mission of raising $5 million for the Sean Ranch Lough Foundation. That nonprofit was founded in 2001 in honor of 29-year-old Lough, who died after a mountain biking accident. Twenty-five years later, organizers say, it’s become the largest Derby party west of Kentucky, selling 90,000 tickets and raising the full endowment for the foundation’s scholarship fund.

The final event is, of course, going large: 17,000 square feet of open-air space at McGregor Square, the Kentucky Derby itself on a 66-by-20-foot LED stadium screen, live entertainment and DJs, a fashion contest, and “unlimited” food and drinks with your ticket purchase. All-inclusive tickets are $150 each, with VIP options already sold out. It runs 1-6 p.m. at 1901 Wazee St. in Denver. Find out more about the 21-and-up event at .

Cinco de Mayo 2026

Saturday-Sunday. Denver’s delicious Cinco de Mayo celebration returns Saturday, May 2, and Sunday, May 3, with a impressive menu, given that its host, Civic Center park, is partially shuttered for construction. That hasn’t stopped the nonprofit NEWSED from bringing back chihuahua races, taco-eating contests, a lowrider car show, three stages of live music and dance performances, and dozens of food, drink and retail vendors.

Don’t miss the 11 a.m.-noon parade on Saturday, which leaves the staging area (three blocks west of the City & County Building) and continues through downtown before arriving at Civic Center. Admission is free and all-ages, with items available for purchase. The festival runs 10 a.m.-8 p.m. both days at 101 14th Ave. in Denver. Visit for more details.

SeriesFest Season 12

Wednesday-May 10. Denver’s SeriesFest, which brings global talent to the city for the “Sundance of television” (their words, but also accurate), is celebrating its 12th year with another round of world premieres, pilot competitions, workshops and panels, screenings, awards and a gala. Like a film festival, it’s part industry, part come-as-you-are and all focused on discovery.

This year’s opening-night (May 8) includes advance screenings of the next season of Peacock’s “Ponies” and the Netflix version of “Lord of the Flies,” among others. The event kicks off on  Wednesday, May 6, and continues through Monday, May 10. Most events take place at Denver Film’s Sie FilmCenter, 2510 E. Colfax Ave. in Denver. Tickets range in price per event, with screenings about $19 each. Visit for more details.

Denver Fashion Week’s spring fling

Friday-May 9. It’s time to line up those outfits for Denver Fashion Week, which returns for its spring showing Friday, May 1, and Saturday, May 9. The packed schedule features eight runway shows with workshops, auditions, “new concepts, returning favorites, and inclusive experiences that spotlight both rising designers and established talent,” organizers said. “This season introduces the Outerwear & Athleisure Fashion Show, marks the return of the Swimsuit & Resort Wear Show, and continues the inspiring Adaptive Fashion Show, showcasing fashion innovation for individuals of all abilities.”

The spring events — more will take place later in the year — are at the Furniture Row Showroom, 5445 Bannock St. in Denver. Tickets start at $50 per show, with VIP front and second row runway seats available. Visit for the full schedule.

But with construction taking over most of the park this year, its biggest events will have to move, shrink or split into pieces. That’s due to the lack of regular space for beer tents, music stages, vendors and the public. The first phase, which includes reorienting the iconic Greek Theater on the south side of the park, is set to be completed by summer 2027.

“We are working with permit holders to continue to have limited activations in the park,” said Jenna Harris, downtown parks program manager for the city. “We’re doing our best to accommodate events as they come up, but it is a major, $50 million construction project. The more we delay it for big events that are about to happen around the perimeter, the harder it is to meet those milestones.”

The renovation project, which officials say will refresh Civic Center for another 100 years, includes glowing up the Greek Theater with a better stage and seating. “A new canopy arched over the stage will support contemporary theatrical equipment and provide shade and rain protection,” city officials wrote in a statement. “The design also improves accessibility and circulation through interconnected paths that better connect the park’s various outdoor spaces, including a new plaza commemorating the Gang of 19 protest and disability rights movement.”

The changes will close much of the park, including the Greek Theater, Central Promenade, and South Plaza of Civic Center, where big festivals often set up stages and vendors line the curving sidewalks. To continue at Civic Center this year, events must adapt.

Here’s what we know so far:

, which celebrates cannabis culture every year on April 20, is still scheduled to take place in Civic Center, according to city records. Event producers couldn’t be reached for comment, but general admission will cost $28.52 this year. Expect live entertainment and food vendors, although performers had not yet been announced at the time of this writing.

, May 2-3, draws about 400,000 total visitors each year. In 2026, the vibrant celebration of Mexican independence and culture will still take over parts of Civic Center, while shutting down Broadway just east of the park.

“The overall footprint is remaining almost the exact same, and we are reorganizing a few festival components that are impacted by construction,” said Austin Tafoya, special events manager for NEWSED Community Development Corp., which produces Cinco de Mayo. “Other than that, we will utilize the surrounding streets as we have in the years past.”

, the entertainment portion of Outside Magazine’s industry event in Denver, held its second successful gathering at Civic Center May 31-June 1 last year. This year, it’s moving to the Auraria Campus due to space constraints. Taking place May 29-31, producers changed the name from Outside Festival to Outside Days, added an extra day, and booked top live acts such as Death Cab for Cutie, My Morning Jacket and Cage the Elephant.

Denver PrideFest, which typically takes place in late June and draws more than 500,000 total visitors, rivals Cinco de Mayo in size and footprint. This year they’ll reimagine the event from the ground up, said organizers at the nonprofit LGBTQ organization The Center on Colfax, CEO Kim Salvaggio said.

The Denver Pride Parade will move to 17th Street on Sunday, June 28 (from East Colfax Avenue), while the Denver Pride Festival will be held the same day on 16th Street. The annual Denver Pride 5K will take place at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 27, starting at Cheesman Park Pavilion. A route is still being finalized, according to Salvaggio.

Independence Eve, a free, popular program that taps live orchestral music and a drone show to celebrate Independence Day, will not take place this year on July 3, said Eric Lazzari, executive director of the Civic Center Conservancy, which works with the city to program and maintain the park.

However, there will still be throughout the year, he said, such as the return of the food truck gathering Civic Center Eats, a Dia de Los Muertos celebration, and a local-vendor Night Market, among many others.

“We haven’t seen many public announcements yet about the bigger festivals, but we’ll have about 60 to 80 events over the course of the next year produced by Civic Center Conservancy and partners in the park, including some new events we’re working on.”

The long-running A Taste of Colorado festival, the food event that typically runs on Labor Day weekend, has not used Civic Center for a large-scale festival since 2022, so don’t expect that to jump to another large location. And by the time it’s fall, start looking for the wildly popular Christkindlmarket and Mile High Tree attraction to stay put at the Auraria Campus, where they moved for their 2025 event to make way for Civic Center’s November groundbreaking.

“The reality of an urban park in the 21st century is that it has to work for groups of 5,000 or 20,000,” Lazzari said. “On the other side of this construction, we’ll see a blend of what it’s traditionally been, but also how it is gathering people in smaller sizes for new events.”

We are gathered here today to celebrate the life of an Arvada idol who quite literally never stopped smiling, whose funny bone was always on full display and who always had a good head on his shoulders.

Until this week.

A decapitation has shaken this suburban community to the bone.

Neighbors are leaving flowers at the gravesite. Someone started a GoFundMe for the impacted family. And a is blowing up with equal parts sympathy and outrage.

A community is mourning, and Taryn Marshall is left staring beside the corpse of Skelly, the beloved — and now beheaded — 12-foot-tall Home Depot skeleton in her backyard.

“I was so mad yesterday, I was shaking,” said Marshall, Skelly’s owner. “I was crying because it just feels like a breach of privacy… It’s something we love and something the community loves. Why would someone want to take that away and do it in such a horrific manner?”

When Marshall and her husband, Ryan, woke up Wednesday morning, they discovered that Skelly — outfitted in summer attire, including a pool noodle, snorkel and a shark-themed floatie around his bony waist — was lying headless in their backyard, which faces busy Ward Road.

Upon investigation, Marshall discovered saw marks on his neck.

The couple is fairly certain the headhunters hopped their fence and, perhaps, brought a ladder to carry out the beheading.

“I’m sure it was just kids in the area who thought it would be funny since he’s so popular,” Marshall said.

Skelly was the kind of guy who always dressed up for holidays. When Marshall first brought Skelly into the family last September and set him up in the backyard to oversee the active roadway, a nearby construction project inspired her to clothe Skelly in a construction vest and hard hat.

“He was the construction supervisor,” Marshall said. “People thought it was hilarious.”

Passersby posted pictures of the skeleton in neighborhood social media groups. Folks dropped letters of thanks in the Marshall’s mailbox, saying the macabre decor brightened their day. Little kids left pictures they drew of Skelly. People started droping off costume accessories and dress-up requests — a sombrero for Cinco De Mayo, for example.

Marshall even started the on Facebook. The Halloween decoration has 329 Facebook friends.

“We never thought people would love him so much,” she said.

Skelly wore a Santa hat for Christmas, bunny ears for Easter and had just been adorned in his summer ensemble when tragedy struck.

Kerry Ferro is a neighbor whose daily drive past Skelly brought delight.

“I’ve sent pictures of him to friends around the country,” Ferro said. “I don’t think they realize what they’ve done by taking this. I really hope that if they didn’t destroy it, they can have the kindness in their heart to return it.”

The post announcing Skelly’s decapitation garnered nearly 70 comments.

One neighbor started a GoFundMe to raise money for a new giant skeleton — they cost hundreds of dollars — but once Marshall found out about the fundraiser, she kindly asked the creator to take it down.

“We don’t want to accept anything,” Marshall said. “I like that people are passionate about him and want him to come back, but we just wanted to make the community happy. We’re going to just figure it out.”

Marshall’s computer search history is now full of queries about giant replacement heads.

When the skeletons go back on sale around Halloween, Marshall suspects they’ll adopt a new one.

Or maybe, Marshall hoped, the fanfare around Skelly’s violent end will prompt the perpetrators to return the head from whence it came. (She said the family didn’t report the theft to police because they don’t have video footage of the crime.)

“Life is hard enough,” she said. “It’s the little things that make people happy, and it’s not worth taking away.”

Re: “Cinco de Mayo is a battle cry for Black Americans to stand up to empires of oppression,” May 3 commentary

In his commentary,  Hashim Coates calls Donald Trump “the enemy fueled by racism, fear and hate.” He brings up Trump’s father and by association, labels Trump a “white nationalist … masquerading as a patriot.” He goes on to say the Trump administration is an “evil empire … determined to erase our history, silence our voices and crush democracy itself.”

Wow, Trump, the rare president who keeps his promises and in his first one hundred days, has closed the border, reduced government waste and corruption via DOGE, and reduced the size of government so the country does not go bankrupt, that Trump? Just another anti-Trump hate-filled column full of lies. As Rush Limbaugh would say, accusing Trump of what the Democrats and the left already did or are doing. I thought The Denver Post had gotten over posting these types of smear campaigns. This type of inflammatory rhetoric and lies is why Trump was elected.

Steve Gehrke, Aurora

New opportunities for Department of Government Efficiency

Re: “Trump DOJ sues state, Denver officials,” May 3 news story

Perhaps DOGE should investigate the amount of money being spent by the government on lawsuits.

Nancy Litwack-Strong, Lakewood

Re: “Army says military parade will be held on Trump’s birthday,” May 3 news story

Where is DOGE when you need them? I just heard Trump wants to spend up to $45 million for a military parade to include tanks and aircraft on his birthday. Are you kidding me? Talk about waste!

Alice Farquhar, Denver

With due process under threat, careful how you drive

What the heck is this thing “due process” that everyone is screaming about from the mountaintops?  Due process is fundamental to fairness as guaranteed under the Constitution to all persons, including non-citizens in the United States. True due process distinguishes Democracy from Fascism. So what is it?

Due process means two things: 1) Notice; and 2) Opportunity to be heard.  First, “Notice” means that a person must be informed that the government intends to possibly deprive said person of life, liberty, or property. Example: You have an accident and the police believe you were at fault. So, they have to give you a summons, or ticket, telling you what law you are suspected of breaking. This notice has a date/time for you to appear in court to face the allegation.

Second, “Opportunity to be heard”  happens in court, where you can defend against the government����ap claim. It is here that you can be “heard,” so as to avoid being deprived of liberty (i.e. jail), and/or property (a fine). Without due process, should you have an accident, the responding police officer would simply put you in handcuffs and take you off to jail, no ifs, ands, buts, or explanations.

That����ap due process (in its most rudimentary and basic form … many books have been written about the nuances of due process, but this is its essence).

Bottom line: The way things are going, you better be damn careful how you drive.

Rick Nicoletti, San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico

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Yet Moby Dick stands defiant along the bow of the S.S. Coors, harpoon at the ready. Only his white whale is a salary cap, and his ship is taking on water faster than the Pequod did in Herman Melville’s original text.

At Cinco de Mayo, the Rockies sat 17 games out of first. At 6-28, Monfort’s Rox are only a game ahead of the 1988 Orioles (5-29), who went on to lose 107 games; and two games back of the 2024 White Sox (8-26), who lost 121.

Monfort wants a cap the way Ahab wanted that whale. But come on — nobody’s obsessed about Major League Baseball’s economic model enough to trot out a 120-loss team on purpose. After all, that would take planning. Innovation, even.

“I’m not sure how much I buy that,”

“I think the team, and its ownership — it’s run pretty terribly. But honestly, I don’t think (Monfort is) vindictive that way. If this were the Reds, if that were (Cincinnati owner) Bob Castellini, I might’ve bought that.

“The Rockies are just in a weird place right now. Overall, it’s better run than it was three/four years ago. It’s just been so hard to dig out of that hole. And they haven’t had a ton go right.”

Don’t want to alarm Dan, but a ton of things could get worse. The 6-28 Rockies have eight series between now and June 1. Seven of those are against teams with winning records — Texas, at 17-18 as of Monday morning, being the lone “reprieve.”

Four of those eight are with clubs (Tigers, Yankees, Cubs, Mets) that led their respective divisions at the start of the week, starting with a three-game set vs. Detroit (22-13) that opens Tuesday night at Coors Field.

“I hope they have the worst season they’ve ever had,” longtime ex-Rockies fan and comedian Bob Meddles told me Monday. “I don’t see any other way to leverage Monfort out of there, unless it’s by complete and total humiliation.”

Bob’s rooting for 122 losses, which would beat the ChiSox’s record set just last year. Why go for broke when you can go for broken?

“To win that few games, you need to be awful, and you also have to have absolutely nothing go your way,” Szymborski said. “Not much has gone the Rockies’ way so far this year. At some point, you would imagine they’ll get some good fortune … they’ve kind of hit snake eyes on all these things. They’ve had a lot go wrong.

“Realistically speaking, if you could play the worst teams 162 games, it would be really hard to find that team with average luck that wins below 50 or so that often. You have to be bad and be ‘luck’ bad.”

And if you’re both, well, look out below. On May 5, Kyle Freeland and German Marquez were a combined 0-10. If the old Boston Braves’ pitching was described as “Spahn and Sain and pray for rain,” the slogan for the ’25 Rockies rotation might as well be, “Ryan (Feltner) and Chase (Dollander) and pass the mace.”

Fire Bud Black, you say. Why? If you’re forced to sit through this season, then so should he.

Szymborski had the ZiPS computer run through a new simulation of the rest of the Rockies’ season for The Post on Monday afternoon.

The AI gave the Rox a 14.3% chance to reach 121 losses and an 11.9%  shot of hitting 122 defeats or more.

On the other hand, those 121-loss odds are double what they were just last week (7%), Dan noted. And so are the chances of Colorado breaking the ChiSox’s record (5.2% a week ago).

“There are things to like about the organization,” Szymborski added. “But there are also some tough questions. Like, ‘When do you tell Kris Bryant this is not happening?’ When do you move beyond Ryan McMahon and trade him while he still has value?’

“They’re still cringe in how things are run. Obviously, their record is completely cringe. There are still things to like.”

And things that make you wonder. A lockout and a nuclear winter are looming on Dec. 1, 2026, when the current MLB collective bargaining agreement expires.

This is shaping up to be a big one, too. Never mind the usual gripes of owners vs. players. We’re going to have some billionaire-on-billionaire violence. Small-market owners vs. the owners of the Dodgers, Yankees and Mets. Teams with their own TV networks vs. those who got burned by the RSN collapse.

“On one level, at least they’re willing to try some of these minor-leaguers that they weren’t a few years ago,” Szymborski said.

“The Bridich administration would never have given Nolan Jones a real shot in the first place … I think this team is more willing to look at (young) players. The problem is, they haven’t really developed them to this point.

“Michael Toglia — the Bridich (front office) wouldn’t have even given him a shot at the majors. It would be Anthony Rizzo (at first base) on an awful contract. They seem willing to make some trades at the deadline. They haven’t spent an obscene amount of money on relief pitching. It was brutal there.”

Dude, it’s still brutal. And about to get worse.

It����ap a reminder that oppressed people have always had to fight empires. And it����ap proof that when we stand together, even the so-called “unbeatable” can fall.

On May 5, 1862, the French army — white, European, wealthy — invaded Mexico to install a puppet emperor. Confident of easy conquest, they were instead met by poor, brown, Indigenous Mexican fighters who refused to kneel. At Puebla, they handed France its first major defeat since Haiti, 1803.

That was more than a military win — it was a moral one. A victory of the oppressed over the oppressor, of dignity over domination. It altered history.

While Puebla raged, the U.S. was in civil war. The Confederacy — traitors — were fighting to keep my ancestors enslaved. They begged Europe, including France, for help. according to records of his meetings with Confederate John Slidell. But Mexico threw a wrench in his plans. The resistance at Puebla forced France to send more troops and money south, draining their ambitions. That disruption, along with British pressure to remain neutral, helped keep France out of our war.

That delay bought the Union time: time for Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, and time for nearly 200,000 Black people to pick up arms — not just to save the Union, but to end slavery.

So no, we don’t celebrate Cinco de Mayo because of tequila. We celebrate because Mexican resistance kicked the sh … struck a blow that echoed across borders. Their stand helped crack the foundation of slavery in the U.S. Their fight helped make our freedom possible.

And now, in 2025, we face a new kind of empire. A domestic one. Fueled by racism, fear, and hate — and led by a man who embodies everything Puebla stood against: Donald Trump, son of an immigrant, Fred Trump, .

Trump isn’t just a politician. He’s the face of white nationalism masked as patriotism. He has called for mass deportations, praised dictators, promised revenge on enemies, and targeted the civil rights of Black, brown, and queer people. He’s openly campaigning to become an American autocrat.

Let����ap be clear: Trumpism is an evil empire. It����ap a movement determined to erase our history, silence our voices, and crush democracy itself.

We can’t treat this like just another election. We are in a fight for our future. Like the soldiers at Puebla, we are outgunned, underestimated, and up against a ruthless machine. But history teaches: when people rise with truth, peaceful protest, and voting, empires fall.

Mexico abolished slavery in 1829 — decades before the U.S. When our ancestors fled bondage, many didn’t go north. They crossed the Rio Grande, . That was revolutionary.

That����ap what Cinco de Mayo means to me. Not kitschy slogans, but resistance. A rejection of white supremacy — past and present. Puebla wasn’t just a Mexican victory. It was a blow against global white domination. It was our victory too.

Today, we must carry that legacy. We must name the enemy — racism, fascism, Trumpism — and fight it. Not politely, but powerfully. At the ballot box, in the streets, in schools, in our culture, with our dollars. We must organize like our lives depend on it — because they do.

So no, I won’t be celebrating Cinco de Mayo with sombreros and shots. I’ll be honoring the freedom fighters — Mexican and Black — who faced down empires and said, “You will not conquer us.”

Their courage gave us this moment. Now it����ap on us to make it matter.

The struggle didn’t end in 1862. It����ap here. It����ap now. And if we don’t resist — with everything we’ve got — we risk losing everything they bled for.

Cinco de Mayo is a call to resist. Answer it.

Hashim Coates is a U.S. Navy veteran, born and raised in Colorado. He is a seasoned political strategist with a deep commitment to social justice and equity.

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El Borrego Negro, which attracted a lot of attention in 2020 and 2021, returns May 3-4, from 7 to 10 a.m., at The Warehouse, 2239 Larimer St. (enter through the back alley). The timing is related to Cinco de Mayo, but the barbacoas will continue each weekend.

Avila’s process involves slaughtering a sheep or another animal at his ranch in eastern Colorado and then slow-cooking it in a covered underground fire with maple and oak wood, rocks and maguey leaves. The meat is eventually served with tortillas and toppings like onion, cilantro and lime, according to a Denver Post interview with the chef in 2021. Previously located in the Westwood neighborhood, the underground pit is now on La Diabla’s back patio.

“We can cook up to three whole animals at a time,” Avila told The Denver Post in March. “We’ll pull them out and serve them fresh.” It����ap a traditional cooking technique in Mexico, where Avila was born, and one he brought to Colorado from the state of Hidalgo.

El Borrego Negro’s return is just one part of a much larger picture for Avila, however. The chef is opening an entire food hall next door to La Diabla. When it is ready, it will include a carniceria, a churro shop, a tortillarilla, a seafood restaurant and a stall for mushroom dishes.

Saturday. Denver’s most visible Kentucky Derby parties tend to be pricey, bougie, 21-and-up affairs. But then, isn’t that the point? To get dressed up and sip mint juleps while marking the season? This year’s biggest, as usual, double as fundraisers, so you can feel good about those fancy drinks and elaborate hats.

The Denver Derby Party returns to McGregor Square from 1 to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 3 ($125-$300 with an all-inclusive ticket, ).

Denver Derby Day at the Ritz-Carlton runs 1-5 p.m., with an afterparty 5-8 p.m. ($35.73-$83.21, )

And the 2025 Denver Mini Derby runs 1-6 p.m. at RiNo Art Park ($107.19, ). See more at denverpost.com/event-calendar.

Cinco de Mayo Festival

Saturday-Sunday. Along with Denver PrideFest and a raft of upstart music fests, the Cinco de Mayo Festival is one of the biggest events taking over Civic Center park each year, drawing 250,000-plus people to its two-day run of Mexican cultural delights.

This year’s event returns 10 a.m.-8 p.m. on Saturday, May 3 and Sunday, May 4, at 101 W. 14th Ave. in downtown Denver. Expect live music and dance, cultural contests and shows (hello, lowriders and chihuahuas), some of the city’s finest food vendors (for real), and vendor booths from local artisans. Free and all-ages.

A joyful park for kids

Friday. This week marks the spring reopening of Adventure Forest at the Children’s Museum of Denver at Marisco Campus, the jaw-droppingly cool, smartly designed aerial course and play structure that can be seen from Interstate 25 and parts of downtown. (Note: Climbers must be 5 years old or 44 inches and dressed for outdoor activities.)

In addition to that Friday, May 1, reopening, the Children’s Museum of Denver is opening its Joy Park Water Features, as well as its Joy Park Free Nights (4:30-8 p.m.) on the third Friday of each month through September (May 16, June 20, July 18, Aug. 15 and Sept. 19). General admission prices: kids under 1 are free, 1-year-olds cost $16.75 (as well as 60-and-over), 2-59 cost $18.75. Located at 2121 Children’s Museum Drive in Denver. Free parking. Visit for more details.

2025 Furry Scurry

Saturday. The nonprofit Humane Colorado (formerly the Denver Dumb Friends League) this weekend is holding its 32nd Furry Scurry, a 2-mile dog walk and festival at South Denver’s Washington Park. The 9 a.m.-noon event on Saturday, May 3 — which typically draws about 3,000 pooches, cats and other pets — is a fundraiser for the shelter, which provides care and adoption services for roughly , organizers said.

Expect contests, food trucks and more all-ages, family-friendly fun. Registration fees and donations go directly to the nonprofit’s animal-support services. Individual registration runs $35 for ages 6-12 and $60 for adults, with options to register a new team or join an existing one. on May 3. The Furry Scurry starts near 701 S. Franklin St. in Denver. Visit for more.

Only 55% of those surveyed who visited Denver’s central business district last fall described having a great experience, which is down from more than 70% who used the term “great” in similar surveys in 2021 and 2023, Jon Gambrill, Gensler’s Denver managing director told the annual breakfast gathering hosted by the Downtown Denver Partnership on Thursday.

“I think that safety, affordability and filling all these vacant retail (spaces) are areas that we need to improve on,” Gambrill said, adding that Denver should boost its green canopy and work to integrate some of the larger and aloof towers in the Uptown area into the streetscape.

Gensler conducts surveys in 53 cities across 20 countries and the major reasons people give for non-work visits to a downtown are to shop, dine and socialize. The third highest-ranked draw is to “hang out” or just enjoy the downtown experience. But in Denver, the third-place draw was to “visit parks,” which ranks way down on the list in other cities.

That would be comparable to visiting your neighbors because of their lush lawn and colorful flowerbeds, not because you genuinely enjoy spending time with them or sharing a meal.

Gambrill attributed the decline in “great experience” reports to a diminished sense of safety, as well as to the multiple construction projects underway in the city’s core. At the time of the survey, about four blocks of the 16th Street Mall had been delivered, but another nine were still under construction or about to be torn up. RTD upgrades on its downtown light rail lines didn’t help matters.

Three-quarters of downtown Denver visitors surveyed said their sense of personal safety had worsened last year, a common concern cited in other cities. Denver stood out in that another 25% said their sense of navigation in getting around had worsened, a problem rarely mentioned in other cities, Gambrill said.

Mayor Mike Johnston has pushed hard to clear homeless encampments from central Denver and last week announced beefed-up police patrols, including the return of officers on horses and bikes. Both violent and property crimes are falling in District 6, which includes downtown, but a random stabbing spree that killed two people on the Mall in January only reinforced a sense of danger.

“We still have 50,000 less people coming downtown per day on average, and that’s driven by the Monday through Friday (visits) coming into the office — the typical 8 to 5 workday,” said Kourtny Garrett, president and CEO of the Downtown Denver Partnership.

But traffic in other areas has come back stronger, especially on the weekends and evenings. Garrett noted that more than a million people visited the Denver Center for the Performing Arts Complex, which at 12 acres is the nation’s second-largest arts complex after New York’s Lincoln Center. Another 750,000 came to the Colorado Convention Center, pushing visits close to pre-pandemic levels.

Another 400,000 people visited Civic Center Park, drawn by large-scale gatherings such as the Cinco de Mayo Celebration and the Denver Kristkindle Market, although once big draws like the People’s Fair, which went away in 2018, and Taste of Colorado, which suspended its operations in 2024, are gone.

Downtown Denver has a 16% storefront vacancy rate, while the 16th Street Mall, which has been in the throes of a $175 million upgrade since 2022, has a storefront vacancy rate closer to 27%. Garrett said 50 new ground-floor businesses moved in during 2024 and the vacancy rate should fall once Mall construction wraps up later this year.