The Failure Ball returns to Denver on Saturday, September 19, combining formal attire with candid storytelling about setbacks. Founded by Denver native Jessica Manuszak, the biennial charity event raises money for suicide prevention and creates a setting for people to discuss parenting struggles, failed relationships, professional disappointments and addiction recovery.
The event was initially aimed at Colorado small-business owners, but according to Westword, it has grown into a public event open to people beyond the business community. Manuszak, 37, founded the Failure Ball in 2020 and told the outlet that it has sold out every year since. Tickets for this year's gala cost $220 and include drinks, hors d'oeuvres and themed cocktails called “Glimmer of Hope” and “Existential Dread.”
The program features speeches by Dusti Arab, Otisa Eads, Tiffany Han, Anne Hill, Tiffany Lanier, Amber McCue, Adrianna Muñoz, Kathy Sizemore, Joanna Tiger and Jane Ysadora. The evening will also include an anonymous failure confessional, a silent auction and a memorial for people who died by suicide, according to Westword. These elements put personal testimony alongside fundraising and remembrance.
A Founder Who Has Lived What She Preaches
Manuszak's own professional history informs the event's focus on setbacks. On the Failure Ball's official site, she describes closing her first business shortly after receiving its first order, accumulating $40,000 in back taxes during four years of freelancing and entering an inpatient mental-health facility the same week she launched her copywriting agency. She also owns Verve & Vigour Copywriting Studio and has spent a decade developing marketing campaigns for international clients including Nike and Levi's, the site says.
Support Beyond One Night
A gala can raise money and encourage openness, but people in immediate distress can seek help outside the event. According to the City and County of Denver, Colorado's 988 Mental Health Line provides free, immediate human support 24/7 by phone, text or live chat; every contact provides immediate support.
The event's beneficiary also describes its work as extending beyond awareness and fundraising. To Write Love on Her Arms says it has invested $4.3 million in Treatment & Recovery since 2006, including 4,086 hours of care and $258,000 in therapy gifted in 2024. Those services and crisis-line access offer forms of ongoing assistance distinct from the Failure Ball's single-night program.
“Failure is a natural side effect of effort,” Manuszak has said, framing the gala's philosophy that setbacks deserve to be shared rather than hidden. More than 100 tickets have already sold for this year's event, she told Westword, and tickets remain available through thefailureball.com.
Where the Money Goes
The Failure Ball has donated roughly $13,000 to To Write Love on Her Arms since its founding, according to Westword, and this year's proceeds will also fund free community mental health workshops. To Write Love on Her Arms was founded in March 2006 by Jamie Tworkowski, after he wrote a story and sold T-shirts in Orlando to help fund treatment for a friend battling addiction, depression and self-injury, according to Wikipedia. The organization has recently leaned on digital fundraising.
Ahead of the gala, organizers also launched a “Digital Dozens” fundraiser through GroupRaise in partnership with Krispy Kreme, directing 50% of every $17 donut dozen purchased toward suicide prevention efforts. It's a small, tangible way for people who can't attend the ball itself to still contribute before the event.
The Stakes Behind the Celebration
The Failure Ball's mission touches a public health issue with real movement, and real gaps, in Colorado and beyond. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment reported in August 2025 that the state's youth suicide rate for ages 10 to 18 fell to 5.85 deaths per 100,000 in 2024, its lowest level since 2007 and a sharp drop from a peak of 12.91 per 100,000 in 2020. But the same state data shows working-age adults remain far more vulnerable: Colorado recorded 883 suicide deaths among adults aged 25 to 64 in 2024, with men accounting for 77% of suicide fatalities across all age groups statewide.
Nationally, suicide claimed 48,824 lives in 2024 and remained the 10th leading cause of death in the United States, following a 37% increase in the national suicide rate between 2000 and 2018, according to Hyvemind. Public awareness of crisis resources also lags behind the scale of the problem. A national survey published by NORC at the University of Chicago in December 2025 found that three and a half years after the launch of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, only 10% of U.S. adults were very or extremely familiar with the number, as previously reported by Hoodline.
Details for Attendees
The Failure Ball runs from 5 to 10 p.m. on September 19 at Venture X, located at 1800 Wazee Street in Denver. The venue is a boutique flexible event and coworking space tucked inside the Dairy Block micro-district, close to Union Station and Coors Field, according to Visit Denver. Organizers describe the gala as an accepting and inclusive space where guests can arrive in their finest tuxedos, gowns and crowns, share their own stories of failure, and leave with a little less shame around the setbacks that shaped them.
