Denver’s Biggest Events for 2024-25

Blossoms of Light (Nov. 20, 2024–Jan. 12, 2025) – Celebrate the holiday season with a dazzling and ever-changing display of light and color.

Mile High Drone Show (Nov. 22–Dec. 31, 2024​) – For 40 magical nights, 400 drones will soar into the sky, creating breathtaking holiday-themed animations. See these dazzling displays from across the city every night at 7 p.m. for free. From Santa and his reindeer to iconic Denver landmarks like the Mile High Tree and Denver Union Station, each night will bring a new visual experience to life.

The Mile High Tree Presented by Xcel Energy & Xfinity (Nov. 22–Dec. 31, 2024​) – Denver’s holiday season will once again be illuminated by the spectacular Mile High Tree’s dazzling light and music show. Everyone's invited to get close and step inside this brilliantly lit, 110-foot-tall immersive art installation that will be erected on the Great Lawn in Civic Center Park.

'A Christmas Carol' (Nov. 22–Dec. 29, 2024) – Essential to the holiday season in Denver, this joyous and opulent musical adaptation for the whole family traces money-hoarding curmudgeon Ebenezer Scrooge’s triumphant overnight journey to redemption.

Denver Christkindlmarket (Nov. 22–Dec. 23, 2024) – This annual event brings authentic German and European holiday traditions to Denver! The event offers an authentic German holiday experience. Guests can savor the season as they enjoy authentic Glühwein, Bavarian-style Biers, European coffee or hot chocolate while wandering through the market. Each charming wooden hut offers finely crafted artisan gifts and holiday treats sold by local Coloradan and international merchants.

'Hamilton' (Thru Nov. 24, 2024) – This epic saga follows the rise of founding father Alexander Hamilton as he fights for honor, love and a legacy that would shape the course of a nation. Based on Ron Chernow’s acclaimed biography and set to a score that blends hip-hop, jazz, R&B and Broadway, the musical has had a profound impact on culture, politics and education. 

Mile High Holidays (Nov. 28–Jan. 1, 2024) – This holiday season, Denver will twinkle with millions of lights all across the city. Feel the warmth of family-friendly performing arts classics, find the perfect gifts and marvel at elaborate lights displays. No other city creates holiday miracles quite like Denver. Mile High Holidays has something for everyone.

Trail of Lights at Chatfield Farms (Nov. 29, 2024–Jan. 1, 2025) – Follow a winding path glistening with lights that illuminate the Colorado countryside.

Colorado Ballet: 'The Nutcracker' (Nov. 30–Dec. 29, 2024) – The annual event returns to delight audiences of all ages with this timeless tradition that captures the festive spirit of the season, replete with mischievous dancing mice, sweet Sugar Plums and a symphony of swirling snowflakes.

Sarah Brightman: A Christmas Symphony (Dec. 4, 2024) – International singing sensation and Broadway icon Sarah Brightman is coming to the Buell Theatre in the Denver Performing Arts Complex.

Language Without Words: Works by Ashley Eliza Williams – (Dec. 22, 2024 – April 13, 2025) – Encounter a world inhabited by sun, stone, weather and the intricate living tapestries of tiny organisms. Rediscover the world around you through Ashley Eliza Williams' paintings and sculptures and re-consider the natural world through the eyes of its non-human inhabitants. An invitation to discover alternate ways to interact with nature (and one another), Language Without Words is an opportunity to contemplate perspectives beyond human experience. See it at Denver Botanic Gardens.

Shadow and Light: Patrick Marold (Thru Jan. 5, 2025) – Explore a site-specific installation highlighting the ever-changing qualities of light and shadow. Created specifically for Denver Botanic Gardens, Shadow and Light  is an immersive sculptural installation integrating the poetics of space with the luminosity of light. Discover an exhibition that changes with every visit, highlighting the shifting mood of light throughout the day and across the seasons. 

National Western Stock Show & Rodeo (Jan. 11–26, 2025) – Held every January at the National Western Complex, it's the nation's premier livestock, rodeo and horse show, serving agricultural producers and consumers throughout the world. Enjoy rodeos featuring top-notch bull riders, horse shows, livestock competitions and auctions. And don’t miss acres of shopping at Colorado’s largest Western trade show. 

Held Impermanence (Artists Select: Katherine Simóne Reynolds) (Jan. 17–Sept. 14, 2025) – In the Clyfford Still Museum’s largest six galleries, Katherine Simóne Reynolds illuminates competing desires held in constant tension. The collection reflects Still’s ambitious attempt to keep his collection intact, a commitment that allows us to see his works alongside paintings made in painful transitions, and others that bear the scars of time. Held Impermanence asks visitors to consider healing and rest over time; how we respond to this collection with our bodies; and to contend with his and our mortality—and, with it, a shared desire to hold impermanence.

Migrants, a Tale of Two Hearts (Thru Jan. 26, 2025) – The journey of migrants to the U.S. is full of internal changes taking place in the physical body and mental state. This exhibit at Museo de las Americas will explore the internal and external experiences of the immigrant who leaves home in search of a new and better life. 

Movements Toward Freedom (Thru Feb. 2, 2025) – This exhibition explores the power, possibility and vulnerability of bodily movement in contemporary life. Showcasing recent work and new commissions that span genres of performance, sculpture, video, painting and installation, Movements Toward Freedom considers the ways that physical movement plays an integral role in exercising personal and collective agency, as a means for community-building, civic change and liberation, as well as serving as an antidote to strife and a vehicle for healing and care. 

U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Mixed Doubles Curling (Feb. 17–23, 2025) – The country's top mixed doubles curling teams will compete to determine who will represent the United States at the 2025 World Mixed Doubles Championship and 2026 Olympic Games. Buy tickets.

Wild Things: The Art of Maurice Sendak (Thru Feb. 17, 2025) – Named after Maurice Sendak’s “Where the Wild Things Are,” the beloved children’s book he authored in 1963 that became a cultural touchstone, this exhibition presents more than 400 of Sendak’s creations. Visitors will see unique examples of Sendak’s timeless art, such as the final artworks for  the book, and get a sense of his extraordinary skill and deep understanding of the process of creating picture books and designs for the stage, television and film productions.  

Denver Jazz Fest (April 3–6, 2025) – This four-day inaugural event will establish Denver as a major jazz destination. Denver Jazz is a Colorado nonprofit corporation that will engage the Front Range community through diverse regional, national and international jazz performances and educational programs. Denver Jazz Fest will take place annually in April as a celebration of Jazz Appreciation Month.  

For more events and things to do, see our Denver 365 calendar.