Denver City Council Advances Superfly Music Festival at Overland Golf Course

City Council voted on Monday, July 31, to approve a contract with Denver Festivals LLC that would allow the music promotions giant Superfly to run a three-day for-profit music festival at the public Overland Golf Course.

By Kyle Harris

July 31, 2017

Superfly will operate a three-day music festival in the Overland Park neighborhood starting in 2018. Kyle Harris

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "12017618",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17242653",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261320",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261321",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

City Council voted today, Monday, July 31, to approve a contract with Denver Festivals LLC that will allow the music-promotions giant Superfly to run a three-day music festival at Overland Golf Course.

The five-year contract will garner the city $200,000 per year.

Supporters touted the economic benefits the festival would bring to the golf course and the city at large; critics have raised concerns about noise, crime and traffic overwhelming the otherwise quiet community of Overland Park.

The plan sets a precedent for how public parks can be used by for-profit ventures and undermines city ordinances that protect public parks from private gain, argued Councilman Kevin Flynn, who voted against it alongside councilmembers Paul Kashmann and Deborah Ortega.

“We have spent the past year working with the city and community to bring a world class festival to Denver and we’re thrilled to be one step closer to making this a reality", said Rick Farman co-founder of Superfly in a statement. "We are committed to being a respectful neighbor and look forward to continuing to work closely with the community to create the best experience possible. Moving forward, we will be focused on further developing our programming and operational plans with the city in hopes of formalizing an official event announcement in 2018.”

The festival is slated to launch in September 2018.

KEEP WESTWORD FREE... Since we started Westword, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Denver, and we'd like to keep it that way. Your membership allows us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls. You can support us by joining as a member for as little as $1.