Denver, CO
Denver Botanic Gardens Chatfield Farms hosts Pumpkin Festival Friday through Sunday
LITTLETON, Colo. — Pumpkin Festival is the biggest single-weekend event hosted each year at Denver Botanic Gardens Chatfield Farms. While attendees enjoy just a weekend of festivities, the team behind the event spends all year preparing for it.
“How can you be depressed in a pumpkin patch?” said Larry Vickerman, director at the gardens.
Along with the corn maze, live music and wagon rides, visitors can wander the patch and pick their own gourds and pumpkins to take home.
“This is probably one of the few places where you can come out here on 10 acres — I’ll guarantee you’ll find a pumpkin you really like,” Vickerman said.
Vickerman begins preparing for Pumpkin Festival in the winter, typically in January or February.
Denver Botanic Gardens Chatfield Farms hosts Pumpkin Fest Friday through Sunday
Many of the best seed varieties sell out by then, and securing a rich and healthy mix is paramount to his team.
“There are so many things that can happen to the crop,” Vickerman said, explaining that farmers at the gardens are responsible for protecting the plants from insects, disease and hail for months leading up to harvest.
The work is all worth it, he said, when he gets to share the fruits of that labor with the public.
“I always stand right here so I can throw the gate open on the first day and show them,” he said. “You know, there are some good ones over here. What are you looking for? Big? Small?”
After Pumpkin Festival 2025 wraps up, Vickerman said he will take a short break before beginning work on next year’s harvest.
Pumpkin Festival runs Oct. 10–12 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. Tickets are available in advance on the Denver Botanic Gardens Chatfield Farms website.
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Denver, CO
Renovations begin at Denver’s Civic Center Park for the first time in 100 years
The first major renovations in Civic Center Park for the first time in 100 years began this week. The City of Denver wants to make the park more inviting for events and people while preserving the area’s history.
The park is a popular spot for concerts, protests, and festivals based on its central location in downtown Denver and also its large lawn space with flowers and concrete paths.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston said the park is in need of a makeover while embracing its past.
“We are both custodians of the history of this place, and we are also caretakers of the future, which means we have to make sure that we make the investments like this to prepare this public space for the next 100 years of events,” said Johnston.
Phase one of the renovations is expected to be complete by Summer 2027.
Denver, CO
Rain returns to Denver metro on Thursday; snow stays mostly in the higher terrain
DENVER — We’re in for a quiet night ahead, staying mostly dry and mild. The waiting game begins as the next system approaches Colorado.
Clouds increase throughout Thursday with cooler afternoon highs in the low 50s.
A complex storm arrives, and with models disagreeing on the details, confidence remains low for snowfall in the metro.
Expect rain to move in first. Pockets of rain and snow are possible later, mainly across higher terrain and areas farther east.
Rain returns Thursday; snow stays mostly in the higher terrain
On Friday morning, rain will continue for most of the metro and plains.
However, the Front Range mountains, foothills, and the Palmer Divide could see snow accumulation.
Precipitation should taper off Friday afternoon as the system weakens and moves east.
Heading into the weekend, dry air returns with temperatures bouncing back to slightly above normal.
We should stay quiet through the weekend.
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Denver, CO
Adams County Veterans Memorial vandalized again, just hours after Veterans Day
DENVER (KDVR) — The Adams County Veterans Memorial, a place built for quiet reflection, was left damaged and vandalized just hours after residents gathered to celebrate Veterans Day.
County leaders say they’re frustrated, and crews are once again being forced to repair a monument that’s been targeted repeatedly since it opened.
The Adams County Veterans Memorial, designed to resemble the World War II battleship USS Colorado, had been covered in flowers earlier this month for Veterans Day.
“We do a great event every Veterans Day,” said Byron Fanning, Adams County’s director of Parks, Open Space and Cultural Arts. “You can take a flower and place it at our remembrance wall in honor of somebody that you want to honor that’s important to your life.”
The morning after the holiday, Fanning said he discovered graffiti on the sidewalk, and a park bench soaked in paint. There was also damage to the plumbing system, which now needs to be pumped out.
“It really hurt my heart,” Fanning said.
Fanning described the graffiti as “gibberish” but said photos of it have been blurred while the sheriff’s office investigates.
Most of the cleanup work is already done. Crews removed graffiti that had been sprayed across the walkway and took out a bench for repairs after someone dumped a bucket of paint on it.
And it’s nothing crews aren’t used to. Fanning say this is the tenth time the memorial has been vandalized since it opened in 2023.
“Some of them are small, just a little graffiti on the railings or on some of the structures behind me,” Fanning said. “But some of them have been rather extensive.”
Hoping to protect the memorial as a place to honor those who served, Fanning offered a simple plea to the public.
“Please stop,” he said. “Please show some respect for who this was built to honor, and for those veterans that mean so much to our community. You’re disrespecting them, and it’s not okay.”
Officials estimate the latest cleanup cost about $3,000. The county is working to install security cameras, and the sheriff’s office is increasing nighttime patrols in hopes of preventing future vandalism.
The county is also asking visitors to report any vandalism to law enforcement.
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