Audio By Carbonatix
If you’ve lived in the metro area for more than a month, you’ve discovered the wonder of seeing the Continental Divide as you head up Interstate 70, the joy of catching the sunset from the steps of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, and the awe of watching the sun rise over Denver from the top of Red Rocks.
You’ve found your favorite coffee shop, the most convenient place to park if you’re headed to Ball Arena, and the most relaxing place to take a walk if you need a “work-from-home” break. Since we published the first Best of Denver in 1984, we’ve shared all of these and more, a plethora of prizes that today number more than 16,000…and counting. Taken together, they create an ideal guide not just on how to survive in the Mile High City, but to thrive here. As I have at Westword.
At midnight Monday, I sent the 2026 Best of Denver to the press, chockful of fresh discoveries, new facets of old favorites and a special list of Colorado Classics: 150 people, places and things worth celebrating as Colorado marks its 150th birthday.
This is my 43rd edition of the Best of Denver; it’s also my last Best of Denver: On July 1, after 49 years(!), I’ll be retiring as editor. Know that Westword will be left in excellent hands with our current editorial staff and leadership. And this isn’t goodbye; I’ll remain on as editor emeritus, contributing a regular column and helping prepare for another big anniversary: Westword‘s fiftieth, on September 1, 2027. In so many ways, the best is yet to come.
In the meantime, I’ll be sharing more about my time here at Westword, and what it’s meant to both me and the city; I’ll also be writing the stories I’ve been meaning to get to when I wasn’t distracted by cranky politicians and big protests and projects like the Best of Denver. I’ll finally finish that article about the status of Rocky Flats today, and why people visiting what’s now a “wildlife refuge” might come out with a certain glow. I’ll dig into why there are so few live music venues downtown, when culture is a key to bringing people back there. And I might even write about the time I met with Joe Rogan — yes, that Joe Rogan — who wanted to be the Westword pot critic.
I’ll also be digging into a couple of side obsessions: Colorado Music Hall of Fame, which just turned fifteen, and the much more elderly World’s Wonder View Tower, a roadside attraction that turns a hundred this summer. A crew of history-loving Denver cronies and I bought it a decade ago, then created a nonprofit to carry it into the future because we didn’t want to see another Colorado Classic wiped off the map.
Like Westword, it’s ready for the future.
