Our 8 Favorite Quirky Colorado Festivals

Submitted by alison on Mon, 05/05/2014 - 5:12pm

No matter where you choose to vacation, you can probably find some kind of fun local festival, whether it's a gourmet food festival, a music festival or an art festival, but when you want to experience an event that you won't find anywhere else, Colorado festivals can deliver. Ranging from delicious to goofy to downright bizarre, here are our eight favorite festivals for the summer starting with the somewhat unique and ending with the quirkiest we could find.

8. Crested Butte Wildflower Festival 

When: July 7-13
Where: Crested Butte
What: Crested Butte bills itself as the wildflower capital of Colorado, and every summer it spends a week celebrating the local flora. Enjoy garden tours or jeep tours, take a class in art or gardening, and try local products. Or, just hit a nearby hiking trail to see firsthand what all the fuss is about.
Website

7. Mac and Cheese Festival 

When: June 28
Where: Durango, CO
What: Sure, there are other food festivals, but a festival dedicated to mac and cheese? More than a dozen local chefs go head to head to produce the best gourmet mac and cheese. Try them all in addition to beverages from local wineries and breweries.
Website

6. Leadville Boom Days & International Pack Burro Race 

When: August 1-3
Where: Leadville, CO
What: A celebration of the local mining history. While Leadville Boom Days may initially seem similar to other heritage festivals in towns throughout Colorado, Leadville is one of the quirkiest towns in the state – and the 21 mile Pack Burro Race is truly unique.
Website

5. Renaissance & Pirate Festival 

When: July 18-20
Where: Pagosa Springs, CO
What: Combining all the fun of a medieval festival with a one-of-a-kind pirate flair, the weekend includes live music, roast turkey legs, belly dancing, archery, and more.
Website

4. Donkey Derby Days 

When: June 28-29
Where: Cripple Creek, CO
What: As the name implies, there’s a donkey race. There’s also chicken poop bingo, a dog show, a best beard contest, a hairy legs contest, a tobacco spitting contest, and plenty more quirkiness for everyone.
Website

3. Blue Ribbon Bacon Tour  

When: June 21-22
Where: Keystone, CO
What: A celebration of everything bacon. What more is there to say?
Website

2. Kingdom Days 

When: June 14-15
Where: Breckenridge, CO
What: Breckenridge Kingdom Days are a celebration of the town’s long mining history, but the main event is an outhouse race in which teams haul hand constructed “outhouses” (often adorned with clever scatological puns) to the finish line on Main Street.
Website

1. Mike the Headless Chicken Festival 

When: May 16-17
Where: Fruita, CO
What: Literally celebrating a headless chicken from 1945, the festival includes chicken wing eating contests, peep eating contests, live music, disc golf, and plenty of quirkiness.
Website



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