Denver, CO
Denver’s Underground Music Showcase moves to RiNo; “It’s sort of the perfect marriage”
After more than two decades on South Broadway, one of Denver’s most popular music festivals is moving across town.
The Underground Music Showcase will return this summer in the RiNo arts district, backed by a new financial partner and a plan to grow beyond music while keeping its community feel.
For more than 20 years, the Underground Music Showcase has been a staple of Denver’s live music scene, drawing thousands to South Broadway for a weekend of local and national acts.
“It’s been going for 26 years, so it’s kind of bigger than any one person at this point,” said Keanan Stoner, festival director.
Stoner said the future of the festival was uncertain after last year. Organizers needed a sustainable financial path forward to ensure it could continue.
“It was bittersweet leaving Broadway, and ultimately it just came down to we needed to find a path forward,” Stoner said. “The BID approached us and obviously, provided a lot of financial support as well as connections, which made it possible to continue it.”
That partner is the RiNo Business Improvement District, which is purchasing a 50% stake in the festival and committing support for the next three years.
Organizers say the move to RiNo will allow the festival to expand its footprint, activate more venues and public spaces, and increase its economic impact.
“We hope that the feeling and the vibe of the festival really remains similar to years past, but it’s obviously an all-new district, a larger district, and a lot of new spaces to put stages in live music,” Stoner said.
Terry Madeksza, executive director of the RiNo Business Improvement District, said the neighborhood’s creative identity makes it a natural fit.
“RiNo is known as a neighborhood with creative thinking, with creative artists,” Madeksza said. “We have venues, we have businesses. So I think live music, I think energy, I think the opportunity to interact and create these unique experiences with UMS and RiNo, it’s sort of the perfect marriage.”
Leaders say they envision the showcase as a recurring signature event that activates the neighborhood while supporting local artists and businesses.
“What we’re really excited to do is not only showcase great, creative public spaces, but to bring thousands and thousands of people into the district to show them what’s going on and to get them into the businesses, where they can become reacquainted with or experience a new business for the first time,” Madeksza said.
Organizers plan to finalize and sign the purchase agreement during the board meeting Wednesday.
The three-day event is scheduled for July 24 through July 26, the last weekend of July. Ticket presales are expected to launch in the coming weeks, followed by venue announcements and artist lineup details ahead of the festival.
Denverites looking for a stellar cup of Joe don’t need to travel far to savor the flavor of excellent coffee.
That’s according to The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops, a website that rates global hospitality establishments where coffee lovers can find better brew. The website recently announced its 2026 list of the best coffee shops in North America, Central America and the Caribbean and two local companies made the list.
Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters came in at No. 43, while Queen City Collective Coffee ranked No. 61. Not bad for a list that includes must-hit destinations in places like Guatemala and Costa Rica, which are known for their exports of coffee beans.
The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops decided the ranking through a mix of nominations and voting by both the public and experts. Places were evaluated based on the quality of coffee served, barista expertise, ambiance, sustainability practices, and innovation among other criteria, according to the website.
Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters, which came on the scene in 2013, helped usher the so-called fourth wave of coffee locally, which focuses on honoring the beans’ agricultural roots and using techniques like pour-over to extract more flavor from each brew. The company started with a wholesale roastery and retail shop in Lakewood before expanding to Arvada through a merger with another company called Two Rivers, and later to Westminster. In 2022, Food and Wine magazine named Sweet Bloom’s Westminster locale the best coffee shop in Colorado.
Queen City Collective has certainly earned the popular vote among Mile High City coffee drinkers if the company’s expansion is an indication. Since opening its first retail location in 2018, in a spot shared with Novel Strand Brewing Co., Queen City has expanded to seven locations between Denver and surrounding suburbs, including Wheat Ridge and Aurora.
To see the full list of must-hit coffee shops across the globe, visit theworlds100bestcoffeeshops.com. For additional recommendations, check out our list of Colorado’s best coffee shops with picturesque patios and views.
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DENVER (KDVR) — With the mild winter and warm start to spring, beekeepers are seeing swarms earlier in the year and expect the season to be longer than usual.
Gregg McMahan is a dispatcher for the Colorado Swarm Hotline. It’s usually his job to send a beekeeper to collect a swarm when someone calls, but on Sunday afternoon, he decided to handle one himself.
“Nice little swarm,” McMahan said. “It’s tricky, though, because it’s hanging on a fence.”
A warm winter and spring mean swarm season has begun four weeks early.
“Never seen it like this ever,” McMahan said.
This call is to a house on Denver’s east side. When McMahan arrived, he saw a swarm had taken up residence on the fence.
“Absolutely typical, it is on the small side,” McMahan said.
He got to work, first luring them into a box when he spotted a good sign.
“See all these girls, they got their butts up, they’re fanning their wings. That’s telling us the queens in here,” McMahan said.
With the queen in hand, the rest began to follow her into the box.
McMahan said two years ago, he had 400 calls like this. Last year, only 100, the Swarm Hotline was as unpredictable as the weather, which has caused bee activity earlier in the year than ever.
“It makes it hard on the bees, you know? Two days ago, I’m collecting swarms in the snow,” McMahan said.
Rescuing them is integral to Colorado’s ecosystem. McMahan hopes people give a beekeeper a call instead of spraying them or harming them in any other way.
“They do a phenomenal amount of pollination within this state. Not only our native flowers but all the other flowers that people bring in,” McMahan said.
Slowly but surely, the swarm left the fence and moved into the box. McMahan loaded them into his truck to deliver them to their new home.
“Westminster to the Stanley Lake Wildlife Refuge, so these girls will have lakefront property tonight,” he said.
As he wrapped up, McMahan’s phone was buzzing more than the bees. Just another call to start a swarm season, he thinks, could be a long one.
“This year I’m already 20 swarms deep, so I’m expecting way more than 100 this year,” McMahan said.
To have a bee swarm removed for free from your property anywhere statewide, the Swarm Hotline number is 1-844-SPY-BEES.
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