Welcome, ¡Viva! Streets Denver This Summer; Adios, Labor Day Taste of Colorado

The annual event will be split up over four Sundays in conjunction with the new ¡Viva! Streets Denver.

April 12, 2023

Sunday funday: Taste of Colorado will join ¡Viva! Streets four days this summer. Brandon Marshall

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Inspired by a major bash in Mexico City that's spread to cities around the globe, the Downtown Denver Partnership is planning a "summer of connection and celebration," according to DDP President and CEO Kourtny Garrett. And the biggest celebration is ¡Viva! Streets, a free, recurring event produced in cooperation with DRCOG and the City of Denver that will take over two major downtown streets on four upcoming Sundays, starting May 14.

At an announcement today, April 12, in front of the Denver City and County Building, Garrett and other organizers described how people will be able to walk, bike, roll, scoot or dance (Garrett's favorite) on Broadway from Alameda to downtown, and Welton Street from 20th Street into Five Points, exploring and experiencing the city along the way. While there will be activation all along those car-free stretches, with three activity hubs, the center of the action will be at Civic Center Park, "expanding Taste of Colorado" into four individual Sundays, Garrett says, with all the food and entertainment offerings of that longtime holiday party.

Except: The Taste of Colorado will not be held on Labor Day weekend, the traditional time for the turkey leg-waving musical extravaganza.

The Taste of Colorado got its start as the Festival of Mountain and Plain, founded in 1895 to help bring back a depressed Denver. It ran until 1902, then was resurrected in 1983 to help bring back...a depressed Denver. The event was canceled because of COVID in 2020, moved to the 16th Street Mall in 2021, then moved back to Civic Center Park in 2022. And that's where you'll find it this year — from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on June 4, July 9 and August 6, in addition to May 14, while ¡Viva! Streets will run those same days from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Watch for more announcements at vivastreetsdenver.com.

Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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