What's on in Denver, United States through the year

Peak crowds — National Western Stock Show, Mountain ski season

• Festival

  National Western Stock Show

  5–28 Jan · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  Sixteen days of rodeo, livestock judging and a downtown cattle drive in the middle of January, running since 1906. It is the reason the coldest fortnight of the Denver year has full hotels. Source ↗

Still on: Mountain ski season (25 Oct – 20 Apr (usually))

Busy — Mountain ski season

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Mountain ski season (25 Oct – 20 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — Mountain ski season, Spring break in United States

• Festival

  Denver March Powwow

  15–29 Mar · usuallyMajor festival

  Three days at the Denver Coliseum in late March, with well over a thousand dancers from something like a hundred nations. One of the largest gatherings of its kind in the country, and open to the public. Source ↗

Still on: Mountain ski season (25 Oct – 20 Apr (usually))

Busy — Mountain ski season

• Opening

  Red Rocks concert season

  1 Apr – 5 Nov · usuallySummer season opensBook early

  The amphitheatre runs from about April to early November, with sunrise yoga and film nights filling the gaps between shows. It sits at 1,900 metres and gets cold the moment the sun drops behind the rock. Source ↗

Still on: Mountain ski season (25 Oct – 20 Apr (usually))

Busy — one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Red Rocks concert season (1 Apr – 5 Nov (usually))

Busy — Summer break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Hazard

  Wildfire smoke and ozone

  15 Jun – 15 Sep · usuallySmoke season

  Smoke from Colorado and out-of-state fires pools against the Front Range in high summer and combines with the city's ozone problem. On the bad days the mountains disappear from the skyline entirely. Source ↗

Still on: Red Rocks concert season (1 Apr – 5 Nov (usually))

Busy — Summer break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Hazard

  Afternoon monsoon storms

  5 Jul – 5 Sep · usuallyStorm season

  Moisture pulled up from the southwest sets off thunderstorms most afternoons in high summer. It matters most in the mountains an hour west, where the rule is to be off any summit by noon. Source ↗

Still on: Red Rocks concert season (1 Apr – 5 Nov (usually)), Wildfire smoke and ozone (15 Jun – 15 Sep (usually))

Busy — Summer break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Red Rocks concert season (1 Apr – 5 Nov (usually)), Wildfire smoke and ozone (15 Jun – 15 Sep (usually)), Afternoon monsoon storms (5 Jul – 5 Sep (usually))

Peak crowds — Aspen colour, Summer break in United States

• Nature

  Aspen colour

  15 Sep – 10 Oct · usuallyAutumn colourCrowded

  The aspens above 2,700 metres turn in the last fortnight of September and the colour works its way down to the foothills by early October. Guanella Pass and Kenosha on a Saturday are as busy as a ski weekend.

• Festival

  Great American Beer Festival

  10–11 OctMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  The country's biggest brewing competition and its public tasting, held in Denver each autumn and moved outdoors to Levitt Pavilion for 2026. Sessions sell out in advance; there are no tickets on the door. Source ↗

Still on: Red Rocks concert season (1 Apr – 5 Nov (usually)), Wildfire smoke and ozone (15 Jun – 15 Sep (usually)), Afternoon monsoon storms (5 Jul – 5 Sep (usually))

Peak crowds — Aspen colour, Great American Beer Festival

• Season

  Mountain ski season

  25 Oct – 20 Apr · usuallyCrowded

  Denver is the airport for the I-70 resorts, which turn lifts from late October to April. The cost is the corridor itself: Saturday mornings west and Sunday afternoons east are a two-hour queue on a good day.

Still on: Red Rocks concert season (1 Apr – 5 Nov (usually)), Aspen colour (15 Sep – 10 Oct (usually)), Great American Beer Festival (10–11 Oct)

Peak crowds — Mountain ski season, Thanksgiving break in United States

Nothing new starts in November.

Still on: Red Rocks concert season (1 Apr – 5 Nov (usually)), Mountain ski season (25 Oct – 20 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — Mountain ski season, Winter / Christmas break in United States

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Mountain ski season (25 Oct – 20 Apr (usually))