Mile High Fourth of July: Denver Gearing up for Unprecedented Independence Weekend

–  Signature events, live music, outdoor festivals and nearby mountain excursions make Denver the perfect place to enjoy a long holiday weekend.  –

DENVER, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Denver will celebrate the Fourth of July holiday weekend with fun for the whole family. From firework shows to art festivals and more there are endless opportunities to enjoy the weekend in the Mile High City. Below are a few highlights. Additional events can be found on the VISIT DENVER website. 

Signature Events 

FAN EXPO
June 30-July 2, 2023, Colorado Convention Center
Experience the ultimate playground for comics, sci-fi, horror, anime and gaming. Three days of citywide events, family-friendly attractions and world-renowned celebrities, including Hayden Christensen, Charlie Cox, Katee Sackhoff, Christina Ricci and more await you at Fan Expo! 

CHERRY CREEK ARTS FESTIVAL
July 1-2, 2023, Cherry Creek North
The Cherry Creek Arts Festival is an innovative outdoor fine art event featuring more than 200 juried artist exhibitors selling original artworks, family-friendly art activities for people of all ages, live music, immersive art experiences and amazing food and drink. The three-day event gives patrons the rare and special opportunity to meet and purchase art from artists from around the country. 

Firework Shows & Patriotic Celebrations

INDEPENDENCE EVE
July 3, 2023, Civic Center Park
Denver’s flagship fireworks show is at Civic Center Park located in the heart of downtown! Experience the sweet sounds of the Colorado Symphony and other local artists, a spectacular light show on the City and County Building and a fireworks finale unlike any other show in the country. Food trucks will be on-site. Gates open at 4 p.m., music starts at 6 p.m., and fireworks blast off between 9:15 and 9:30 p.m. 

INDEPENDENCE CELEBRATION
July 1, 2023, Four Mile Historic Park
Experience the lively sounds of the Denver Concert Band’s Independence Day instrumentals! Try your hand at pig racing! Grab a toy pig and line them up to compete for 1st place! Create a sparkling firework rocket or shining crown at our craft station. Catch a glimpse of the past as our blacksmiths expertly create forged-over-fire works of art, just like they did in the 1800s. See living history as re-enactors set up camp, mine for gold, and create rustic dishes in our Summer Kitchen. Bring a picnic lunch and enjoy our 12 acres of sunshine! 

For Purchase:
Stop by the Big Belly Brothers Barbeque Food Truck to grab delicious bites for the whole family. Cool down with an icy snow cone from Kona Ice! Chill out in Grant Hall and grab a drink from the Four Mile Bar. 

Outdoor Activities

THEME AND WATER PARKS
ELITCH GARDENS
Head to the only downtown theme and water park in the country for roller coasters, water slides, family entertainment and much more! 

WATER WORLD
Beat the heat, relax in the park’s beautifully landscaped 64 acres — and ride some serious waterslides. 

DENVER ZOO
With over 3,500 animals on 84 gorgeous acres, Denver Zoo is an amazing experience year-round. Your donation helps to provide world-class care for the lions, giraffes and elephants, as well as other wild animals and wild places, from the Rockies to Mongolia. 

DENVER BOTANIC GARDENS
One of the top five botanic gardens in the nation, Denver Botanic Gardens is an oasis in the city, offering year-round events, a children’s garden, lifelong-learning opportunities and research to preserve Colorado’s precious natural resources. Meanwhile, Chatfield Farms, located in nearby Littleton, takes pride in its exemplary nature preserve and gardens. Located on 750 acres, this picturesque site includes display gardens and a historical farm with a rustic barn. 

URBAN HIKES
Denver is a city with boundless outdoor fun and has an ideal location next to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. While The Mile High City is conveniently close to major peaks for hiking, there’s actually no need to head into the mountains when Denver’s regional trail system encompasses hundreds of miles for all ages and abilities to explore.

Live Music, Arts and Culture

DUSTY BOOTS
July 1, 2023, Civic Center Park
Some of the top country music artists will perform at this debut concert. Look for live performances by Colter Wall, Orville Peck, Margo Price, Houndmouth, Futurebirds, Murder by Death, Nick Shoulders, Willi Carlisle, Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners, Casey James Prestwood, Kyle Moon & The Misled, Extra Gold, and Honey Blazer. 

CITY GATES
July 2, 2023, Civic Center Park 
City Gates will feature live performances by Omar Apollo, Matt Maeson, Stephen Sanchez, & Thee Sacred Souls with more artists to be announced. 

CENTRAL CITY OPERA’S 2023 FESTIVAL
June 24–Aug. 6, 2023, Central City Opera
Brush up on your Shakespeare and join Central City Opera for the 2023 Summer Festival! Three musical adaptations of timeless Shakespearian stories are brought to life on the historic opera house stage. This season features the classic opera “Romeo & Juliet” by Charles Gounod, the delightful Cole Porter musical “Kiss Me, Kate” and the exquisite masterpiece “Othello” by Gioachino Rossini. 

‘BOOK OF MORMON’
June 21-July 2, 2023, Buell Theatre in the Denver Performing Arts Complex
This outrageous musical comedy follows the adventures of a mismatched pair of Mormon missionaries, sent halfway across the world to spread the Good Word. With standing room-only productions in London, on Broadway and across North America, “The Book of Mormon” has truly become an international sensation. 

BROTHERS OSBORNE
July 1, 2023, Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre, Greenwood Village
The 98.5 KYGO Birthday Bash features Brothers Osborne with Niko Moon, Kameron Marlowe, Hailey Whitters, Randall King and Double Wide. 

ZEDS DEAD
July 2-3, 2023, Red Rocks Park & Amphitheater 
Enjoy two nights of music from Canadian electronic music duo Zeds Dead at Denver’s iconic Red Rocks Amphitheater, Rolling Stone Magazine’s #1 ranked concert venue of 2023. 

AWFUL BIGNESS
Through Sept. 10, 2023, Clyfford Still Museum
Awful Bigness fills the museum’s largest, skylit galleries and celebrates Still’s biggest, most ambitious works. This installation follows a chronological display of Still’s works in the museum’s first four rooms, offering an overview of Still’s groundbreaking path to abstraction. 

DAVE YUST
June 21-Oct, 1, 2023, Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art
Kirkland Museum will host an exhibition of work by longtime Colorado artist and educator Dave Yust. The show, organized by the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery in Lindsborg, Kansas, will feature the artist’s most recent work and will be supplemented when it comes to Kirkland Museum with historical pieces from the museum’s permanent collection. 

Professional Sports

COLORADO ROCKIES VS. DETROIT TIGERS
June 30-July 2, 2023, Coors Field
Cheer on the home team and enjoy the views at Coors Field during this three-night series! June 30 and July 1 games will have Fireworks.

COLORADO RAPIDS VS. PORTLAND TIMBERS
July 4, 2023, Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City 
Celebrate Independence Day as the Colorado Rapids take on the Portland Timbers. 

About VISIT DENVER, The Convention & Visitors Bureau
Celebrating 114 years of promoting The Mile High City, VISIT DENVER is a nonprofit trade association that contracts with the City of Denver to market Denver as a convention and leisure destination, increasing economic development in the city, creating jobs and generating taxes. Denver welcomed more than 31.7 million visitors in 2021, generating $6.6 billion in spending, while supporting tens of thousands of jobs and making Tourism one of the city’s largest industries. Learn more about Denver on the VISIT DENVER website or at Tourism Pays Denver. Denver International Airport (DEN) is the No. 3 busiest airport in the world connecting The Mile High City to more than 200 destinations globally. Follow Denver’s social media channels for up-to-the-minute updates on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn.

With press or photo inquiries, please contact: 
Jesse Davis: (720) 417-9621 or [email protected]
Caroline Campbell: (303) 549-3537 or [email protected]
Abby Schirmacher: (303) 358-0096 or [email protected]

SOURCE VISIT DENVER, The Convention & Visitors Bureau