Fright Festival, Pumpkin Chunkin, the Pumpkin Harvest Festival and Enchanted Hollows are just a few fun events in Denver this week. See our event calendar for the full listings.
ZERO TO THREE’s Annual Conference at the Downtown Sheraton Denver
Oct 3 – 5
The early childhood field is evolving – every day there are NEW things to learn, NEW people to meet, NEW perspectives to consider, NEW opportunities to discover. ZERO TO THREE’s Annual Conference 2018 is your destination for professional and personal growth. With a vast array of outstanding speakers and sessions, this exceptional event will expand your horizons and raise your expectations.
Just Between Friends of Loveland at The Outlets at Loveland
Oct 4 –8
Thousands of shoppers find bargains on kids’ clothing for newborn-preteen, toys, strollers, furniture, baby equipment, books, shoes, maternity items and more…all at 50-90% below retail. Times: Thurs. 9 a.m.-6 p.m.; Friday-Sunday 9 a.m.-6 p.m.; Monday 9 a.m.-6 p.m. (50% off)
Colorado Avalanche vs. Minnesota Wild at Pepsi Center
Oct 4, 7:00 – 8:00 pm
Colorado Avalanche vs. Minnesota Wild at Pepsi Center.
St. Philip Early Learning Center Sale at St. Philip Early Learning Center
Oct 5 – 6
Thousands of shoppers find bargains on kids’ clothing for newborn-preteen, toys, strollers, furniture, baby equipment, books, shoes, maternity items and more…all at 50-90% below retail.
Friday 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m.; Saturday 8 a.m.-1 p.m. (white ticketed items are half-price)
Enchanted Hollows at the Denver Zoo
Oct 5 –6
(Every Friday and Saturday in October)
An eerie nighttime experience designed for families with children 8 and over that brings Halloween story and lore to life. Enchanted Hollows features Woodland Hollow, an immersive night walk, Jack-o-lantern sculptures and spooky décor; seasonal foods, beer, wine and cocktails; animal meet-and greets and demonstrations; and trick or treat candy stations (Oct. 26 and 27 only).
Free day at Denver Art Museum
Oct 6, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
General admission is free on the first Saturday of the month thanks to Your 6 Hometown Toyota Stores and the citizens who support the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD). Explore fun things for families (including bilingual programs for the whole family), visit exhibitions throughout the museum, hear storytelling, and more.
General admission does not include special ticketed exhibitions.
Pumpkin Harvest Festival at Four Mile Historic Park
Oct 6 – 7
Visit an old-time fall festival on twelve historic acres—without leaving the city! Build your own scarecrow, select your favorite pumpkin from the patch, and tour the Park in a horse-drawn wagon. Explore how 19th-century Coloradans lived and prepared for the season, with historic demonstrations and tours of the Four Mile House Museum. Try your luck with county fair games, and enjoy delicious treats from the beer garden (21 and up) and local food vendors.
Punkin Chunkin
Oct 6 –7
Celebrating its 19th year, Punkin Chunkin is one of Colorado’s most unique and favorite fall festivals. The 2017 event attracted 30,000+ attendees from the Denver/Aurora metro-area and beyond to see how far pumpkins can fly using a variety of air cannons, catapults and other wild contraptions. This year, nineteen teams of Chunkers from across Colorado, Delaware, Texas & Oklahoma will attempt to break world chunkin records and earn invaluable bragging rights.
Colorado Rapids vs Los Angeles FC at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park
Oct 6, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Adventure Film Fest Kids’ Show
Oct 7, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
A full morning of inspiring entertainment for young kids and their adults at Boulder’s premier venue for live music and film. Jeff & Paige will perform and emcee the whole event.
Free Family Tour at the Clyfford Still Museum
Oct 7, 10:30 am – 11:30 am
Enjoy a free art adventure for the whole family! Designed for children five through ten years old and their caregivers, family tours are an interactive way to explore the art on view. Every tour features games, close looking, and an art project to take home. Our professional team of gallery teachers will introduce a different theme–such as color, line, shape, movement, music, or architecture–in every tour.
Kidz Bop Live at Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre
Oct 7, 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm
KIDZ BOP connects with kids and families through its best-selling albums, music videos, consumer products and live tours. In the U.S., KIDZ BOP is the No. 1 music brand for kids, featuring today’s biggest hits “sung by kids for kids.” KIDZ BOP has sold over 19 million albums and generated over 1 billion streams since the family-friendly music brand debuted in 2001. The best-selling series has had 24 Top 10 debuts on the Billboard 200 Chart; only three artists in history—The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Barbra Streisand—have had more Top 10 albums. KIDZ BOP Live 2018 is the ultimate family concert experience, “sung by kids for kids.”
Indigenous Peoples’ Day at History Colorado Center
Oct 8, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
History Colorado is proud to once again host the 2018 Indigenous Resource Management Partnership. The History Colorado Center will host both the all-day roundtable, “Visualizing and Realizing Diversity in the Museum of the Future,” and the culminating film for this year’s Indigenous Film & Arts Festival.
Ongoing Events and Exhibits
Haunted Field of Screams
Sept 21 – Oct 31
On Friday, September 21, the Haunted Field of Screams (HFOS) opens as an all-new scream park for the 2018 season. Built into a 40-acre corn field, HFOS will deliver a daunting indoor/outdoor haunt experience only 15 minutes from downtown Denver at 10451 McKay Road, Thornton, CO. Backing the famously haunted Riverdale Road, the scream park offers four contrasting interactive haunt experiences that prey on individual’s innermost fears: Dead Man’s Maze, Zombie Paintball Massacre, CarnEvil and Condemned.
Corn Maze at Botanic Gardens Chatfield
Sept 21 – Oct 28
Wind your way through seven acres of corn. The maze can be viewed from two 15-foot tall illuminated bridges. Visitors under the age of 10 can explore the corn mini-maze.
In an effort to reduce waste, printed maps will not be available at the mazes.
Maize in the City
Sept 28– Oct 31
Maize in the City is Colorado’s favorite rural fall event featuring convenient, fun attractions for the whole family to enjoy. Get lost in your own backyard as you navigate your way through the 20-acre corn maze or mini maze. Find your perfect pumpkin in our easy-pick field. Locally grown by the Maize in the City farmer, choose from 15 variety of pumpkins and gourds. Launch ears of corn 50+ feet across the field with our all-new corn launchers; have your little ones ride through the field on the barrel train; take a turn on our obstacle bouncer. All new this year, bounce above the corn stalks on our pumpkin bounce pillow – the largest in the state! Visit and feed animals in our petting zoo. Swim through our free corn kernel box as the all-new corn kernel waterfall pours over or have your kiddos take a turn conquering the free playground area. Experience hours of family fun just 15 minutes outside of downtown Denver.
Fright Fest at Elitch Gardens Theme & Water Park
Sept 28 – Oct 28
In October, Elitch Gardens transforms into Family By Day and Fright By Night, plus all your favorite Theme Park rides. Don’t miss out on five weekends of scary fun at Colorado’s largest Halloween event!
BUGTOBER at the Butterfly Pavilion
October 1-31
Overwhelming pain, paralysis and death in a matter of minutes – real peril lurks with the fangs, barbs and stingers of the spineless. Move over sharks – these animals and plants give danger a whole new meaning! Safely see these toxic terrors at Colorado’s Butterfly Pavilion during BUGTOBER, a Halloween-themed event where their most intimidating invertebrates take center stage.
Mindbender Mansion
July 20 – January 6, 2019
Love brainteasers? Enter “Mindbender Mansion,” a quirky place full of puzzles, brainteasers and interactive challenges that put minds of all ages to the test. This unique, high-energy experience opened at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science on July 20.
Denver Art Museum
There are several family-friendly exhibits at the DAM including Stampede: Animals in Art on view at the museum through May 19, 2019. A Walk in the Woods is still on view, which coincides with Stampede, and includes animal-themed artmaking activities and after their summer break, Foxy & Shmoxy: Art Detectives, are back. Children have been really loving the gallery games and book in the exhibition Ganesha: The Playful Protector. Their Learning & Engagment department created a children’s book specially to be used while visiting this exhibition with children, and don’t miss Past the Tangled Present. Go to https://denverartmuseum.org/ for more information.
AI Weiwei: Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads
Oct. 18, 2017–Oct. 17, 2018
The 12 bronze heads of Ai Weiwei’s Circle of Animals represent the 12 animals of the traditional Chinese zodiac. See it for free at Civic Center Park! https://www.denver.org
Zoom In: The Centennial State in 100 Objects
Nov. 21, 2017–Dec. 31, 2018
History Colorado created a brand-new space, the Tim Schultz Gallery, to house this 3,700-square-foot exhibit of 100 objects, each of which had a role in shaping history.
Author: Amber Johnson
Amber is the founder and editor of Mile High Mamas, travel writer and former columnist for The Denver Post. She is a passionate community builder and loves the outdoors. She has two awesome teens and is happily married to a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin.
