Colorado’s Freak-in Fabulous Festivals
Ready For Colorado's Best Festivals?
This is our personal list, and its a good one! Here is a snippet for what's ahead..........
Get To Your Colorado Festival FAST, Links Here:
We lived in Colorado 23 years and we hit most of these festivals at least once if not, every year.
Also, tips below for Accommodations, Furry Fun and Pet Friendly Hotels !
Hey, just so you know, this post does NOT include MUSIC FESTIVALS, but we have you covered!
>>>Here is a 2018 Music Festival Guide for Colorado HERE.
My BEST recommendation is ANY music festival in Telluride, Colorado and ANY concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
>>>Here is a link to Red Rocks 2018 Music Schedule:
RockOnTheRocks
NOW, LET'S DO THIS!
Frozen Dead Guy Festival- March
A three day party celebrating a DEAD grandpa, still frozen in a tuff shed in the eclectic, town of Nederland, Colorado. I think this one gets crazier every year! Read more about it here: FROZEN DEAD GUY
ACCOMMODATIONS: Nederland is SMALL, approximately 1,500 live there, so one suggestion would be to check out Airbnb for lodging, here is their SITE
We ALWAYS stayed at the Sundance
Lodge, the breakfast is unbeatable and the views are lovely! Here is their website: Sundance. There are only 12 rooms, so you would have to book early.
Here is another great site we love because it shows you TripAdvisor rating up front AND you can filter for Pet Friendly hotels too! This site will give you two other options which are close by --Boulder and Eldorado area. Hotels Here
Boulder is approximately 30+ minutes from Nederland, and you could head down there, but keep in mind those roads are Winding Roads AND two lane, so It could be longer, depending on traffic.
Below is a video for FROZEN DEAD GUY Festival. Enjoy!
Breckenridge Ullr Fest- January
Ullr, the God of Snow, don't cha know?! More than 12,000 pack the streets of Breckenridge, Colorado for this snow worship party! Get ready for many, many Viking hats; Ice Plunge; Wacky Parade; Talent Show; Comedy Night and much more. Let's just put it this way, the town is WIRED!
Breckenridge is approximately 1.5 hours from Denver, just you take I-70 west.
ACCOMMODATIONS: This is ski resort territory, so prices can be high. Make reservations early. Unfortunately, the cabins we stayed in during the festival, are gone, however below is a link to lodging and just below that, Pet Friendly hotels; Pet Friendly restaurants and nearby activities.
VIDEO OF ULLR CRAZINESS BELOW
Great American Beer Festival-Denver September Event
Yeah Denver Gots Beer- Lots Of It!! The LARGEST beer competition in the US! Over 3,800 kinds of beer with 800 breweries 60,000 attendees over 3 days.
Get ready for VARIETY- IPA's Sours, Stout and many new variations such as Rhubarb Vanilla, Blueberry Pancake and some of the Bourbon Barrel Blends.
All smiles at this Fest!
Here is a link to the Festival website:
BEER
My two tips: Get your tickets EARLY they sell out fast and plan on calling a Uber,( or limo of choice) it wasn't long after my 80th tasting that I felt a little woozy, I KID. Really.. call.. Uber.
ACCOMMODATIONS: We lived in Denver, so we were able to Wobble home, however just use the link below and you'll see a variety of options for the staying in the Mile High City and surrounding areas.
Tip: If you search just outside Denver proper, prices drop a bit, it's very easy to get into the city from all directions. Below the lodging link, is Pet Friendly Hotels and Dog Friendly Parks.
Fibark Festival- June
Fibark, Fibark, Fibark, Love that Name! Anyway, it means First in Boating on the Arkansas and the event is held in Salida, Colorado and right downtown! Love Salida! Anyhoo, This is a whitewater festival that started in 1949! Competitors came from all over the world to run the 45 miles of very rough waters!
This is a 4-day Freak-in Fabulous Event!
The Hooligan race happens on Saturday night, on this evening, the race is open to any "container" that floats and is not a boat! It's CRAZY and the participants create quite a scene with their creative vessels and costumes. There is also bike and road races, music, and a Fibark parade.
You can get to the official event schedule here: Fibark
ACCOMMODATIONS: Many participants camp, as we did, however one year we stayed at the historic Palace Hotel right in town. Here the link: PALACE
Below is a link for BOTH lodging and Pet Friendly Hotels!
Hotels; Cabins; B&B; Pet Friendly and More! Click Here: STAY SALIDA
To get a "taste" of the event, below is a video of the Hooligan race.
Steamboat Springs Cowboy Downhill- January
Hell yeah! 43 years of Cowboys hitting the slopes. Fringe-a-Flyin, Ski Rodeo!
Steamboat Springs is approximately 3 hours, northwest of Denver. The participants are professional rodeo cowboys and cowgirls! They are required to wear chaps and cowboy hats in each of the ski competitions. This event coincides with Denver Stock Show, so it's only right, to continue the party on the ski slopes!
The competitions are free to watch and there will be more than enough BBQ, music and parties to tucker out the cowboys and spectators. GREAT FUN for all ages! Here is a link to the website and a video just below the accommodations.
I chose a 2014 video, which in my opinion, represents the real spirit of the event.
ACCOMMODATIONS: Another big Ski and resort. We were fortunate enough to have friends in the area who let us crash at their place, so I am unable to give you a personal review on lodging, however is here is a link to all types of lodging in Steamboat and below that, a LONG list of Pet Friendly hotels, condos and more!
Watch the Cowpokes below
Kinetics Sculpture Race- July
WACKY and FUN! Human Powered Sculptures take over the Longmont Reservoir! It's a one day event CRAMMED with activity! All Kinetic Contraptions must be able to move on land and water, some quite frankly don't even make it to the water! HA! Many are absolutely genius!
Approximately 45,000 will attend this fest. There is music, food & beer garden, kid's recycled raft race, Dragon boats and Burn Sculpture at dusk on the Lake. Longmont is approximately 38 miles from Boulder.
ACCOMMODATIONS: We lived in Denver, so it was a quick trip home, however, I want to give you some links to Longmont and Boulder. One place we have stayed, is the Historic Hotel Boulderado, it's a bit pricey, but we spent New Years Eve there and it was quite the par-tee!!
Just one block from Pearl street in the heart of Boulder. It is sweet!!
Check it out here: Boulderado
Here are some other Boulder suggestions: Stay Boulder
If you want to stay around Longmont, here are some Chain Hotels, via Trip Advisor: Stay Longmont
Pet Friendly, no problem! Here you go! Pets A Go Go
**There will be plenty of Airbnb's in the area too!
Check out the Silliness..., I mean Ingenuity below!
Leadville Boom Days- August
Ready To Get Real High? Leadville, Colorado is the highest city in the United States; elevation: 10, 152 ft. The town is approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes from Denver, if you take I-70.
This fest happens the first weekend every August.
Well, no foolin' here, Leadville was a mining town, so many competitions revolve around the spirit of the mining days.
Do you Muck? or Drill?
You know who you are!! The competition is Waiting!
If not, enjoy the International Pack Burro Race. Legend has it, that miners would race back to town after finding gold to stake their claim. They couldn't ride the burro's of course, so off they went running ( and galloping) toward town!
The race continues today, in fact, in 5 mountain towns from May to September.
Other festivities include the Boomin' Auto Show, Boomin' Parade, Boomin' Gunslinger skits, Boomin' food, and Boomin' kids activities.
Here is your link to the festival: BOOMIN'
ACCOMMODATIONS: We usually camped when we visited Leadville. Here is a link to camping and other lodging HERE.
Besides the campgrounds ( not our type of camping) you can head up any jeep trail in the National Forest and pick a spot! This was our preference- total
privacy! On one occasion, we did stay in town at the Historic Hotel Delaware. It was lovely. Here is the link for that: Historical Hotel. Just a note on the hotel, it was very nice, but the rooms are original, they are very small and have wood floors, so it's not super quiet.
TIP-O Pet Friendly Hotels~ Please call ahead and verify Pet Fees, they often change! Here is more tips on selecting a Pet Friendly Hotels, BEFORE YOU GO, read my post HERE
Colorado is Dog Friendly! Check these Events in 2018
Provided by Woof in Boots, you'll find OVER 20 fabulous 4 -legged events!
From Dog-a-Pool-Ooza to The Ugly Sweater Run to Wine & Whiskers!
Check them out : PAWS HERE
More on Colorado?! Try a Yurt! YURT camping in Creede, Colorado. Just click here: YURT
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