Things for Black People to Do in Denver

Things for Black People to Do in Denver

Black in Denver, Concerts, Events, Sports, things to do in Denver, Uncategorized Michelle@SquareState
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It may surprise people that Denver has always had a Black community and presence. Notably, Black Cowboys and Buffalo Soldiers who were sought personal freedom and autonomy out West. There were also people who went West during instead of North during The Great Migration. It’s now almost 2024 and I’d like to point out that Black people do live in Colorado.

And while Denver is not an Atlanta, D.C. or Detroit there are things for Black people to do in Denver. Some activities that you’re used to enjoying and a ton of others that you may have considered participating in but were convinced that Black people don’t do-like, skiing. If you’re coming to Denver I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by all of the things that there are to do here. This post is accurate for 2023 and 2024 and I’ll continue to update it.

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How to Get Around Town

If you’re in Denver’s city center you can walk around, take the bus or light rail, use a scooter or take a ride share. But, if you plan on exploring beyond downtown Denver you’ll need a car. I highly recommend using Discover Cars, a free tool that helps travelers compare prices before booking their rental car. Discover Cars helps users get the best price before you say “yes” to your next rental car.

Places to Go

  • Blair-Caldwell Public Library-You will go to the third floor and check out the exhibit detailing Black life in Denver. For those of you who are from Denver and haven’t checked this exhibit out-do it! It’s free. For those of you visiting or thinking about moving to Denver-it’s a really fascinating view of the history of Black life and Black citizens in Denver. You’ll be surprised by some of the faces that you’ll see.
  • Contemporary Art Museum-This is one of my favorite museums in Denver. It has consistently displayed a number of Black artists and curated Black art and is, in general, just a really cool museum to visit. It’s also the first building designed in the US by an Afro-European architect.
  • Dairy Block
  • Union Station
  • McGregor Square
  • Visit The Museum for Black Girls-Did you know this roaming exhibit across the United States started in Denver? I love this space and am so excited that the exhibit is back in town. Take your friends, your daughters, sisters, etc. It’s a wonderful experience.

Book a Tour to Breckenridge

If you’re planning on visiting Denver, I strongly encourage adding a trip to the mountains, especially if you’ve never had the opportunity to enjoy the mountains before. But mountain driving is a pain in the butt, there’s a ton of traffic on the highways which is why I recommend booking a tour. Leave the driving to someone else. And a tour guide can share details about the mountains at the same time. Breckenridge is my #1 mountain town for African-American visitors. I spend a lot of time up there and highly recommend visiting. Book your tour today.

Where to Stay

Use the following map to get a feel for where some major points of interest are located. I’ve also included a few hotel suggestions as well.

Spring and Summer Activities

  • 420 Festival (Spring)
    • Support Simply Pure owned by Wanda James, the first African American woman issues a cannabis dispensary license in the United States and only Black woman owned dispensary in Colorado.
  • Juneteenth-Denver has one of the largest Juneteenth celebrations in the United States. Partly because of its proximity to Texas. I really love this event because it’s so much fun and is a huge party.
  • Fan Expo Denver-I am a huge fan of any opportunity for people to geek out about their favorite pop culture fandoms. Fan Expo Denver is where I go to do that. Affordable, fun and the attendees are nice. If you’re a part of the Star Trek fandom this is the year to go.
  • Five Points Jazz Festival-There’s nothing better than listening to great music, being around great people, eating drinking and having fun. Held in the heart of Five Points, I love the variety of ages, communities and music experienced
  • Chalk Art Festival-This is one of my absolute favorite Denver events. You just wander around, enjoy a drink in a coconut (serious) and listen to live music while looking at beautiful art.
  • Cherry Creek Arts Festival-This festival is held in July and is consistently literally the hottest festival that I attend every year. Happily, the festival provides ice cold water with a cherry in it to drink as you walk around and enjoy the art, food trucks and more.
  • Colorado Black Arts Festival-What I love about this festival is that it displays the art and creativity across the African-Diaspora that lives in Denver. Bring money because you’ll find yourself wanting to buy art, food and more.
  • Mo’ Betta Green Marketplace-Love farmers markets? Looking for a Black owned farmers market? We have one in Denver! This market also hosts community dinners-I’m so excited to attend one sometime soon!
  • Vibes in the Park-Love a nice hangout in the park with cool people? This is the event to attend.
  • Outdoor Afro or Meetup.com Events-One of my favorite things to do when I travel to a new city is to check out Meetup events. It’s a great way to meet people in town and enjoy an activity at the same time. Outdoor Afro and Meetup both have chapters around the world.

Hip Hop and R&B Concerts Coming to Denver

There was a time when it was incredibly difficult to see Black singers in Denver. Concerts just didn’t come here and I think this happened because of two reasons: concert bookers didn’t court Black music and Black musicians didn’t think that tickets would sell. I do want to point out that other genres of Black music are represented in the list below.

Fortunately, people are now booking destination trips with the goal of attending a special event. In fact, I’m in the process of planning a trip to (hopefully) see Beyonce in a town that I’m excited to check out. I’m keeping that location quiet. Here’s a shortlist of concerts you might want to fly into to Denver to enjoy. This is not a complete list as other concerts will be added on or things may change.

  • Fishbone-5/6/2023
    • This concert is free as a part of Levitt Pavillion’s free concert series. You do need to RSVP to get a ticket.
  • SWV-6/10/2023
    • This concert is free! It’s The Drop 104.7 Annual Block Party
  • Paramore-7/13/2023 (I couldn’t resist)
  • Jodeci (Summer Block Party) 8/31/2023
  • Drake-It’s All a Blur Tour 9/8/2023
  • Black Uhuru 9/9/2023
    • This concert is free as a part of Levitt Pavillion’s free concert series. You do need to RSVP to get a ticket.
  • LL Cool J The F.O.R.C.E. Live-9/29/2023
    • This is actually the STAND OUT concert for me this year other artists joining him include (not listing everyone): Common, Queen Latifah, De La Soul, Method Man and Redman, MC Lyte

Miscellaneous Events and Activities

  • Film on the Rocks-Black Panther: Wakanda Forever 6/19/2023
    • The coolest movie watching experience I’ve ever had was watching Black Panther with a sold out crowd of 9,000 other people at Red Rocks. I’m so excited that they are showing Black Panther: Wakanda Forever this summer.
  • Slam Nuba-If you like spoken word poetry, this once a month experience is a must attend.
  • Denver Cruiser Ride-Want to ride your bike through the City of Denver with hundreds of your newest friends? This is the chance to do it.
  • Denver Urban Skate-If you love roller skating at night and experiencing towns in a different way-DUST is group to check out.
  • Black and Gold Day CU Boulder Football
  • Biennial de Las Americas-This is a unique project focused on deepening Denver and Colorado’s connection to The Americas (North and South America) there is a lot of program that explores this connection such as concerts with artists being brought in from other countries, cool interactive art experiences and more. It’s one of my favorite initiatives that expands Denver’s connections to communities outside of Colorado.

Enjoy the Theater

Denver has a phenomenal theater community and numerous places to see incredible performances. We have a wide variety of shows to enjoy and I’ve included a few that I’ve seen or are looking forward to seeing in the upcoming year.

  • The Color Purple-This was one of the best performances I’ve seen in a long-time. It’s also one of the few shows that I’ve attended that had a standing ovation during the middle of the performance.
  • Tina Turner-My mom doesn’t know that I’m going to be taking her to see this musical. She’s going to be so happy.

Professional Sports Events

  • Denver Broncos
  • Denver Nuggets
  • Colorado Avalanche
  • Colorado Rapids
  • Colorado Rockies
  • Denver Barbarians

College Sports

The most notable college sports team in Colorado right now is CU Boulder’s football team. Why? Because Coach Prime has brought an unexpected energy and excitement long missing to the CU Boulder Football team. I have a lot of thoughts about Boulder, but some of my earliest memories include watching Ralphie run onto Folsom Field. We’ll see how things go.

  • CU Buffs Football (Coach Prime)

Winter Activities

My favorite part of winter is hanging out in the mountains, soaking in a hot tub and going snowboarding. If you’re nervous about snow sports or haven’t tried them before-sign up for a lesson. Or, hang out in a new to you mountain town and relax. Breckenridge is, in my opinion, the best mountain town for Black visitors.

Some activities below:

  • Snowboarding/Skiing
    • Join BIPOC Mountain Collective to ski with Black/Brown and Allied skiers. They go up weekly to the mountains. Most have IKON passes.
  • Martin Luther King Jr. Day Rodeo
  • Tubing

Start Planning Your Trip to Denver

Don’t forget to optimize your rewards points so that you can save on flights and other expenses related to traveling. If you’re wondering wear to eat, I’m putting together a post and will share it soon.

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