It was cold outside today. This is the 2025 National Western Stock Show Kickoff Parade. It had all…read morethe things. It had a marching band. It had horseback riding. It had other livestock. It had diversity of culture and representation. It had a mariachi band. It had a nightlife live band. All the committee men and the board of directors. It had all the flags and the beauty queens. It had upcoming county affairs and surrounding support from other areas in Colorado and Wyoming. And it had lots of little freebies. The only thing I missed was the Longhorns in the parade. All of the advertisements have longhorn bulls coming down the street and I thought for sure I'd be able to see him. But there was enough flare flavor, and crowd interaction to make me happy, including the Denver Broncos own, Miles. Pro tip at the end of the parade deck into a coffee shop and let the crowd clear before heading out and about your day. See y'all at the rodeo.

The 2025 parade was a let down to say the least. No signs for parking to start with. The parade…read moreitself was nothing like it should have been. No floats, one marching band, AND NO LONG HORNS!! I have been to small town parades that had a better performance. We left wondering if this is the effort that goes into the kickoff, is it even worth paying to go to the stock show rodeo or other events. Very, very disappointed

This county fair is a joke and is the punctuation to the fact that Boulder County is pretending to…read morestill have any roots to its heritage. 2023 was an epic failure in management, promotion, and events. It's clear the county government and commissioners have a progressive agenda that doesn't include agriculture or traditional American events. The lack of organization and support is clear - not even the carnival operator bothered to show up. Have you ever seen a fair without a carnival?

After a four year hiatus I made it back for this fun and free fair. The police had one of the…read morenearby large streets closed to through traffic so I had lots of time to build anticipation and dream up what amazingly delicious foods would be served. This time I took in some new activities, in particular the demolition derby. While the fair itself is free to enter this special event was $20 per adult ($10 each child). I was hesitant to spend the money on this event but I can now confidently share that I'm so glad I did. The stands were hot, the announcer and cars were loud, the dirt was splashing into the audience and I was at the edge of my seat during much of this action packed adventure (it ran from 5:30-7:45pm). We cheered, we gasped, and most of all we smiled. There were brief intermissions between matches that gave us time to stretch our legs, check out the huge and scary rides, and note which food vendors had the longest lines (the bbq by far had the most traffic). Another activity I enjoyed at the fair was the rescued pit bull showcase. They did amazing jumping feats and were just so darn cute. One even escaped following her performance (she was quickly corralled back). So beautiful to see this group of people showing so much care and compassion for these lovely creatures. I'll definitely re-visit the fair next year and will drag whomever I'm with on one of those tall and death defeating rides for sure!

6 years Colorado Springs, this is the spot I recommend. 3 floors, Great social atmosphere, staff is…read morelike family when you get to know them. Free Drinks for a $10 entry fee on Wednesday nights makes this place competitive to beat.

The security in this place is insane. Never seen so many patrolling in my life. Drinks are…read morereasonable priced. Three stories each has its own vibe. Not a great place to prowl since everyone is obviously already linked up. Supposedly they serve food but I didn't see anyone eating. ‍

Been to a lot of festivals, camping and daily entry and exit and this is a good one…read more First off amazing acts. Varied from year to year but it's usually punk/rock/metal, indie, and hip hop. Big names performing classic albums so for the ticket price you're getting a great price. Especially if you get some of those early bird deals. Have to jump on those deals though, go extremely quick. Can always swoop something off Craigslist last minute though. Usually two stages in front and two in back. One stage in the middle arena. I went 2015 and 2016 but that's when they switched the event to the stockyards. Riot Fest and Rodeo. Not much food selection in 2016 or rides at all. 2015 was much better but the lineups were decent. Varied. You can't please everyone! "Riot Fest Sucks!!!" But honestly it's local and for the price worth going to. Can get dusty at the stockyards or a bandana and sunglasses are a must I would say. Had a water station out back in 2015 but 2016 only inside. Four water fountains for thousands of people, PREPARE FOR LINES.

This is our second year at Riot Fest. For the type of festival it is it does alright. I'm you can…read morego inside the complex to sit down or just get shade. Bummer is the lack of free water. There are 3-4 fountains to fill up bottles inside the building. My biggest issue is the incredible awful smell at night. And the asshole cops who easily get butt hurt with simple words. The selection of food isn't very good either. There is a variety but none really looked good other than the pizza. It was just edible. Some portable table for people to eat on would nice too. Hopefully each year will get better.

Wasn't a fit for us. We arrived at 10:30 am, having read on the website that the inside exhibits…read morewould be open at 10 am. We were able to look at entered paintings and quilts. What was off to me so that the pieces were not named and didn't have a blurb about their background which I've seen at other fairs. It's nice to have a little background to what inspired the artist. The larger exhibit room with 4H didn't open until noon, despite the website's posting of 10 am. The other exhibit hall had some exhibitors like a local bee club but several of those exhibits were unstaffed like the disaster response table. The bee club was hopping and interesting. Food wasn't really available, maybe one place. Customer service booth wasn't staffed at 11:30 a.m. when we left. Plenty of parking. Website said we had to pay but we didn't but maybe we were really early.

So enjoyed myself so did my son. The rides were good and he won some prizes. But to get tickets…read morethe line was too long! They didn't have enough trash cans! They didn't have enough seating for the people and they didn't have enough seating for the handicapped! The food is overpriced! And they did not have enough bathrooms and they were dirty so they need to hire someone to do that! They had enough security! The music was good and so was the beer!

This place has the trappings of an authentic honky-tonk. It has the size, wooded areas, dueling…read moremechanical bulls, gift store, wraparound bar, kitchen, banquet room, etc. I love the rich history of musicians who have played here over the decades, shown in framed, autographed photos covering all of the walls. The Grizzly Rose takes pride in providing live country music, five nights per week. During my visit on a Saturday night, I enjoyed listening and dancing to the music of Duey & Unbroken. The 40,000 square feet of this country dance hall is impressive. Surprisingly, only 2,500 square feet is allocated to the dance floor. This is too small for the demand placed on it during a Saturday night. The front half of the dance floor is devoted to country swing dancing, while the back half is reserved for line dancing. This leaves no room for progressive partner dancing, i.e., two-step (as is normal across Texas). Country swing could not have been the prevailing form of partner dancing here since the inception of this honky-tonk in 1989. So, what year did it displace two-step? I enjoyed the line dance lesson at 7 p.m., followed by the country swing dance lesson at 8:15 p.m. Strangely, two-step is how the opening pattern taught for country swing, before it abruptly switches to country swing. Yet, they refer to all of this as country swing. This supports my suspicion that country swing hijacked two-step at some point in the history of this honky-tonk. If this is how locals here are brought up on country dancing, they're in for a surprise, if and when they go to honky-tonks across Texas, where two-step prevails. Given how crowded the dance floor gets, they might consider expanding it by another 1,000 feet or more. Then it might be possible to spare enough room on the perimeter to bring back progressive partner dancing (two-step, three-step, partner cowboy cha-cha, etc.). The main seating and walkways are concrete ground, which can wear on your feet. Therefore, I doubt the average person lasts more than a few hours of dancing before throwing in the towel.

I had such a fun night here! We were visiting from out of town and wanted to go line dancing, so we…read morefound this spot after hearing some good things about it. The vibes were good, everyone was so friendly which I loved because sometimes people can be a little standoffish to visitors. But everyone was kind, and there were so many great dancers. They have 2 mechanical bulls, a few little games, a store, and I think even more activities in the back. The music was good and the dance floor was packed but not in a bad way. Great spot!