Published on
August 20, 2025
Denver, Colorado, is ready to celebrate autumn, and this year the city is packed with events to help you soak up the season. Surrounded by breathtaking mountain views and buzzing city streets, the Mile High City is the perfect choice for a memorable fall trip. There are major international sports events, colorful cultural festivals, and tons of fun for families. No matter if you love food, sports, or the arts, autumn in Denver has loads of chances to explore, unwind, and create lasting memories. Here’s a sneak peek at the coolest events happening in Denver this fall.
Seasonal Highlights and Major Festivals
Denver Food + Wine Festival: A Culinary Adventure
Mark your calendar for the Denver Food + Wine Festival, happening September 3–6, 2025. Set on the beautiful Tivoli Quad at Auraria Campus, this celebration puts Denver’s top restaurants in the spotlight. You’ll nibble your way through signature dishes, sip impressive wine and spirit pairings, and join in educational seminars. The Grand Tasting caps off the fest, offering a chance to sip your way through hundreds of offerings under the autumn sky. Food and drink lovers can’t miss this sky-high culinary experience.
Colorado Dragon Boat Festival: A Celebration of Asian Culture
Where: Sloan’s Lake, Denver
The Colorado Dragon Boat Festival returns for its 25th year, turning Sloan’s Lake into a colorful celebration of Asian culture. Experience thrilling dragon boat races, taste treats from the Asian food court, shop at the marketplace, and watch performers light up the stage. Best of all, the entire festival is free, making it a perfect weekend for families to explore new traditions and flavors.
Rugby Pacific Nations Cup: International Sports Action
Where: DICK’S Sporting Goods Park
Mark your calendar for Denver’s day of rugby at the Pacific Nations Cup semi-finals. Get ready for back-to-back matches featuring Fiji, Tonga, Canada, Samoa, Japan, and the USA. Three exciting games will keep the crowd buzzing as fans back their teams and witness rugby’s rising popularity across the nation. Don’t miss a chance to be part of the action at DICK’S Sporting Goods Park.
Cultural and Artistic Experiences
Spirit of Japan Festival: A Journey Into Japanese Culture
Mark your calendars for September 12-14, 2025! The Spirit of Japan Festival takes over Sakura Square and invites everyone to explore Japan like never before. Sink your teeth into crowd-pleasers like yakitori, takoyaki, and the crunchy osakana zangi. Sip small-batch sake, shochu, and even Japanese whiskey while the pros share the secrets behind each pour. It’s a three-day celebration that blends ancient Japanese culinary art with the latest trends we can’t get enough of.
Denver Oktoberfest: Celebrate German Traditions
Get your lederhosen and dirndls ready! Denver’s Oktoberfest rolls back into the streets on September 19-21 and 26-28, 2025, lighting up 21st & Larimer with two weekends of German fun. Challenge your friends to keg bowling, see who can lift the heaviest stein, and dance to live tunes—while also enjoying classic bratwurst, pretzels, and schnitzels. Since 1969, this festival has poured the best of Germany into the Mile High City, and this year’s celebration is sure to keep the tradition steaming hot!
Great American Beer Festival: A Celebration of Craft Beer
Head over to the Colorado Convention Center, October 9-11, 2025, for the Great American Beer Festival, the ultimate playground for craft beer lovers. You’ll stroll through 500,000 square feet of hops-inspired magic as independent brewers pour their latest, most creative brews. Picture themed rooms with titles like “Hazy Wonderland,” pine forests for barrel-aged beers, and interactive labs with dry-hopping masterclasses. Live music, hands-on craft stations, and small bites to soak it all up keep the vibe lively between sips. This three-day celebration of American craft beer serves as a yearly reminder: This country invented small-batch brewing, and GABF is its biggest cheer.
Arts, Culture, and Family Fun
Denver Film Festival: A Cinematic Celebration
Just after the beer pours dry, the Denver Film Festival rolls out a star-studded red carpet from October 31 to November 9, 2025. Movies from every continent come to town, with documentaries, shorts, and movie-orgy marathons competing for your theater time. Grab the popcorn, because 150 feature and short films pack the schedule. It’s the place to champion fresh, bold voices from indie filmmakers whose films you’ll brag about seeing first. Nightly after-parties, panels, and “meet the maker” sessions keep the good times rolling, cementing the fest as one of Denver’s biggest cultural dates.
Denver Arts Week: Experience the Heart of the City’s Creativity
Mark your calendar: Denver Arts Week is coming! From November 7-16, 2025, the Mile High City opens its doors to a festival bursting with art and culture. Enjoy hundreds of art shows, breathtaking performances, and eye-popping installations. The celebration kicks off with more First Friday Art Walks, stretching through the city’s coolest neighborhoods. Plus, on November 8, it’s FREE Night at the Museums; walk inside the city’s top cultural gems with zero admission fees.
Explore Arts and Culture that Everyone in the Family Will Love
Denver isn’t just a city of stars; it’s a great playground for the whole family. Visit the Denver Zoo, home to more than 3,000 animals, where elephants, lions, and even a new baby giraffe are waiting to say hi. Dive under the waves at the Downtown Aquarium, where you can touch sea stars and spend the day as a pretend marine biologist. The Denver Museum of Nature & Science ups the fun with dinosaur fossils, rocket tests, and mind-blowing IMAX movies. From roaring lions to glowing galaxies, Denver is the destination where fun, learning, and laughter come together.
Outdoor Adventures and Fall Foliage
Enjoy Spectacular Fall Foliage Near Denver
Denver is a leaf-peeper’s paradise, stretching one of the longest leaf-coloring seasons thanks to its five different climate zones. Color rolls in around mid-September with aspen trees steaming up high with golden charm. Head to must-see spots like Guanella Pass and Rocky Mountain National Park. Prefer a moving view? Hop on the Georgetown Loop Railroad for an old-time train ride through a canvas of the Rockies in autumn. Golden Gate Canyon State Park gives you some of the finest lookout points to take in the entire mountain glory in one wide sweep.
Conclusion
As the scent of wood smoke and the tang of cool air move in, Denver presses play on an autumn-packed playlist of events, eats, and epic activities. Chow your way through a cornucopia of cuisine, catch a nail-biting sports match, stroll through art hubs, or fill the family calendar with rock-solid fun. This fall, don’t just ride the leaf train—ride the Denver experience from shimmering trees to buzz-worthy festivals. Make memories that shine just as bright as the golden aspens right in the heart of the Mile High State.
