10 Can’t-Miss Colorado Food Festivals
Well known as a home to great craft beer, Colorado also has some of the best food festivals around. Coloradans love to take advantage of the bounty of food around them and celebrate the delicious flavors, chefs and foods unique to the area. If you want a taste of some of the best foods the state has to offer, you won’t want to miss these 10 annual Colorado food festivals.
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Photo courtesy of Facebook/PalisadePeachFest
Palisade Peach Festival
Palisade
Taking place annually in August, the Palisade Peach Festival is one of the original agricultural festivals in Colorado. The town’s location on the Colorado River in the western part of the state is what helped it flourish in producing their now-famous peaches. The fruits have grown here for over a century, and some iteration of this festival goes back nearly as far. In addition to a parade, peach-eating contest and pancake breakfast, festivalgoers can purchase tickets for a farm-to-table dinner that features local chefs, products and wine.
A Taste of Colorado
Denver
Heading into its 36th year, A Taste of Colorado is the largest free admission food and music festival in Colorado. This three-day event over Labor Day weekend features more than 50 food vendors, 175 marketplace vendors, a large kids’ area and two music stages featuring regional and national acts. A throwback to a festival that first started in Denver in 1895, A Taste of Colorado was named a Top-5 General Food Festival by USA Today.
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Pueblo Chile and Frijoles Festival
Pueblo
Paying homage to the green chiles grown in the area, particularly the Pueblo chile, the Pueblo Chile and Frijoles Festival in late September is a delicious and fun way to usher in the new season. The event features more than 50 local bands playing on five stages, 180 vendors, a jalapeño-eating contest, chili and salsa cook-offs, a farmer’s market, and even a Chihuahua parade.
Fans of the tasty, spicy pepper know this signals the end of the growing season and use this opportunity to stock their freezers with enough chiles to get them through the winter. More than 50 tons of Pueblo chiles are sold over the course of the festival’s three days.
Aspen Food and Wine Classic
Aspen
One of the most premier, high-end food events in the nation, the Aspen Food and Wine Classic features three days of cooking demonstrations, wine tastings and panel discussions by the very best chefs and wine experts in the world. Passes include the opportunity to sign up for classes and events each day, with more than 80 to choose from. The Grand Tasting Pavilion opens five times over the weekend and includes nibbles and sips from more than 200 vendors. There are also special dinners each night with a separate ticket.
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Slow Food Nations
Denver
This weekend celebrates knowing where your food comes from, sustainability, and local food culture with more than 100 events. The Slow Foods Nations Taste Marketplace features more than 80 different merchants sampling and selling their goods. Festivalgoers will also enjoy a wide range of classes, tours and tastings to choose from. While this summertime event is free to attend, there also select ticketed events available for guests to attend as well.
Applefest
Cedaredge
One of Western Colorado’s biggest outdoor festivals, Applefest takes place in the early fall. The event celebrates the apple harvest with a two-day community festival featuring more than 200 vendors. Sign up for the apple pie eating contest or the beer stein holding contest, run in the 5K, or get up early and take part in the FFA pancake breakfast. There’s live music, entertainment and fun for the whole family.
Colorado BBQ Challenge
Frisco
It’s worth the trek to this small ski town on a lake to taste some of the best barbecue this side of the Mississippi. The picturesque setting is just the beginning of the Colorado BBQ Challenge. Held in June, the event features music, a 6K with a bacon aid station and, of course, lots of barbecue. You’ll find every type of barbecue imaginable to tempt your taste buds at this Kansas City Barbeque Society-sanctioned competition. When you need a break, watch the pig races, check out the bands or join the Whiskey Tour. Festival entry is free.
Taste of Durango
Durango
Taste of Durango serves as a summer kick-off party in mid-May as the town begins to wake up from the cold, sleepy winter. The charming, Victorian-era downtown is transformed into an entertaining and delicious street fair that you won’t want to miss. The free event includes dozens of food vendors serving up tasty bites that highlight the best Durango has to offer. You’ll find award-winning cuisine, tasty craft beer, unique artisan cocktails, live music, dancing and more at this street festival along the Animas River.
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Strawberry Days Festival
Glenwood Springs
Glenwood Springs’ Strawberry Days Festival is the oldest continuously held civic celebration west of the Mississippi. For more than 120 years, this small town known for its hot springs has put on this delectable festival in June to celebrate the fruit farmers of the Roaring Fork Valley. The event features free strawberries and ice cream after Saturday’s parade, live music, entertainment, and a children’s festival, and an arts and crafts fair with more than 100 artisan vendors.
Great American Beerfest
Denver
The Great American Beer Festival is the largest ticketed beer festival in the United States and one of the largest in the world. Taking place in late September or early October, you’ll want to plan ahead for this festival. Tickets usually sell out the day they go on sale.
This massive event that’s both a beer tasting and a beer competition features largest collection of U.S. beer ever served. There are 4,000 beers from more than 800 different breweries for sampling, as well as gold, silver and bronze medal awards in 161 beer style categories.
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