Denver Life

Watch this: Crowd shows up at Cheesman Park to support a roller skating newbie

Westword's Instagram video of the event got over 1 million views.
By Katrina Leibee and Sara Rosenthal
"Embarrassment is the spice of life," Heather Walker says.

Lance Walker
Tags:
Carbonatix Pre-Player Loader

Audio By Carbonatix

Denver residents watched a once-in-a-lifetime event this past Saturday in an evening that felt straight out of an episode of Portlandia.

Heather Walker, a 34-year-old Denver resident and amateur improv comedian, drew a crowd of supporters to Cheesman Park on Aug. 22 to watch her roller skate for the first time. Walker plastered flyers around town and posted a TikTok advertising the event, which amassed over 70,000 views. The promotion paid off.

Supporters showed up with signs, ready to cheer on the newbie skater through every fall that comes with replacing your feet with eight wheels for the first time. Westword attended the event to talk to Walker and the people cheering her on.

GET MORE COVERAGE LIKE THIS

Sign up for the Arts & Culture newsletter to get the latest stories delivered to your inbox

Notice of Collection | Terms | Privacy

Editor's Picks

Independent News in Denver Needs You

The article you just read is made possible by a mix of advertising, sponsorships and reader support. As advertising revenue continues to shift, reader support plays a vital role in sustaining the reporting, investigations, restaurant and arts coverage, and storytelling our community relies on. Become a member today and help keep our journalism free and independent.

Select how much you'd like to contribute

/month
Support Us Today

Katrina Leibee is the social media editor at Westword where she’s worked since August 2020. In her role, Katrina oversees and creates strategies for all of Westword‘s social channels, including Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, X and LinkedIn. During the day, she can often be spotted at community events or at local businesses filming content. At night, she’s a musician singing her original songs at various Denver venues. Katrina graduated with honors from Colorado State University. While attending school, she was editor of the student newspaper, the Rocky Mountain Collegian.

katrina.leibee@westword.com

Loading latest posts...