Denver's Día de los Muertos celebration is settling into a new home this weekend. The Colorado Día de los Muertos Parade & Festival returns Sunday, running from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Denver Coliseum, with a community altar, live music, folkloric dancing, food and family activities planned for the daylong gathering.
As reported by 9News, the festival's founder shared the inspiration behind the event and what families can expect once they arrive. The gathering is set for the Denver Coliseum at 4600 Humboldt St., according to elcomerciodecolorado.com, which marks a shift for an event that has anchored Denver's Hispanic heritage calendar in recent years.
At the center of the day is what organizers describe as a breathtaking community altar, where attendees are invited to bring a photo of a loved one to honor their ancestors, according to artsandvenuesdenver.com. The venue's listing describes a day filled with live music, folkloric dancing, delicious food, local artisans, vendors and family activities stretching across the nine-hour event window.
Altar Moves to the Coliseum After a Decade of Tradition
Festival founder and altar designer Norberto Mojardín has spent a decade creating the event's centerpiece ofrenda, per elcomerciodecolorado.com's reporting. This year, that effort includes moving the celebration's monumental altar into the Denver Coliseum, the same account notes, a shift that brings the display indoors under one roof rather than in an outdoor downtown setting.
Organizers are also opening the floor to performers and makers ahead of Sunday, extending invitations to singers, musicians, dancers, folkloric groups and visual artists, as well as merchants, artisans and food businesses, per the same account. The event's commercial fair is expected to include traditional food stalls, restaurants, food trucks, craft makers and service providers, according to the outlet's reporting.
A Festival With Deep Local Roots
Denver's Day of the Dead programming has taken different shapes over the years. Back in 2023, the city's first Day of the Dead parade was set to begin at 11 a.m. in the Art District on West 7th Avenue and Santa Fe Drive, heading toward La Alma Lincoln Park before ending at 13th Avenue and Mariposa Street, 9news.com reported at the time. That year's companion festival was slated for Civic Center downtown from noon to 8 p.m., the same report noted.
That inaugural parade and festival didn't go off without a hitch, however. Denver's first Day of the Dead parade and festival was postponed when the first snowstorm of the 2023-24 season hit Colorado that weekend, 9news.com reported separately. The event has since evolved, and elcomerciodecolorado.com now describes it as the largest Día de los Muertos festival in the state, though that characterization comes from a single report.
Family Programming Also Draws Crowds Elsewhere
Denver's Día de los Muertos festivities aren't confined to one venue this season. The National Western Complex also lists a Day of the Dead Festival featuring colorful altars, traditional music, dance performances and food, according to nationalwesterncomplex.com, underscoring how the holiday has spread across multiple Denver gathering spots this fall.
For Sunday's Coliseum event, attendees will need the AXS app to enter, with mobile ID delivery sent to each attendee's AXS account, per artsandvenuesdenver.com's listing. Community organizers describe the gathering as a welcoming space, with the event's Facebook page, Coloradodayofthedead, calling it a community event that welcomes people of every culture.
