10 Reasons Makers Love Denver
We’re hosting our 2023 live event in Denver and we’re thrilled to be making in the mountains in the Mile High City!
Our bags are already packed (90% yarn obvi), and it doesn’t take much convincing to have an epic maker meetup where there’s sunshine for 300 days a year, a thriving cultural scene, diverse neighborhoods, and natural beauty.
Fun fact: Denver is nicknamed the Mile High City because it’s 5,280 feet above sea level.
Meeting up in Denver has definitely piqued (peak pun intended) our interest.
We’ve explored online and found 10 reasons for you to love Denver too!
You Can Shop for Yarn
Finding your fave Denver LYS is easy thanks to Google Maps.
We’re especially excited to explore Fancy Tiger Crafts Co-op, ReCreative Denver, Lamb Shoppe, and Yarn Shoppe Denver!
You can craft new friendships
The city of Denver has a population of 727,211 (2019), while there are nearly 3 million people in the metro area. The city's population grew 21.2 percent between 2010 and 2019. We’re hoping to meet and maker with old and new maker friends!
You Can Yarn Along the Rockies
Yarn Along The Rockies is a 9-day yarn crawl including a Passport Tour of 20 vibrant yarn shops in Colorado, that include Denver yarn shops. We’re looking forward to this year’s 2023 pending crawl.
You can explore the mountains around Denver.
City resources credit the mountainous area of Colorado as six times the size of Switzerland, containing 9,600 miles of fishing streams, 2,850 lakes, and more than 1,000 peaks two miles high. The road to the top of the 14,260-foot peak of Mount Evans is the highest paved road in North America and is maintained and operated by Denver City Parks Department.
Would you climb for an epic view? It’s on our bucket list.
You can rock climb or hike
Ah the great outdoors! Denver Climbing Company offers the thrilling experience of rock climbing in Denver with a professional Colorado mountain guide. The class will teach you the basics techniques like proper belaying, climbing techniques, and safety precautions.
If you love hiking, Day Hikes Near Denver course out 10 hikes and trails with varied distances and difficulties.
No judgment if you bring your yarn to climb and hike the views.
You can learn Denver’s land history
Historical facts show that the Denver area was home to a large variety of native peoples before they were displaced by European settlers. The land that Denver sits on originally belonged to the Arapaho tribe, as laid out in the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie.
Other indigenous nations native to Colorado include the Apache, Comanche, Shoshone, and Ute. The latter includes the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, which are federally recognized tribes that have their current headquarters in Ignacio, CO and Towaoc, CO, respectively. These groups have historically lived in the southern and western portions of the state.
You can enjoy culture
If you get into the city early (a tad before OML on July 22), you can experience and enjoy African American culture through live music, great food, and an arts festival at Colorado Black Arts Festival!
The mission of the Colorado Black Arts Festival (CBAF) is to seek to involve the total community in helping to establish self-reliance, believing that pride in one’s culture is the foundation for long- term stability and prosperity. The Colorado Black Arts Festival strives to develop, promote and celebrate Black arts and culture in Colorado.
Colorado Black Arts Festival celebrates its 37th annual celebration of African American art and culture this July in historic Denver City Park West.
You can brew up a good time
Did you know that there are more than 150 breweries in Denver (craft beer is one of the top attractions in Denver) and that Denver is among the top 5 cities in the nation for entertainment? Talk about a good time.
We’re loving Travel Lemming’s 19 Best Breweries in Denver in 2023 (By a Local) and this study that finds that Denver Residents are 4th in the Nation for Spending on Entertainment.
You can get a good scare
The airport is thick with intrigue and humor, and a bit of creepy. What's up with 'Mustang', the iconic blue horse with glowing red eyes outside the Denver Int'l Airport? Click below for the article that offers everything you’d want to know about it.
Or if haunted parks give you a thrill, check out Cheesman Park. It’s said to be haunted from the 100,000 people that descended on Denver during the gold rush in the city’s first two years.
This article gives Cheesman Park as the most haunted place to spend Halloween in Denver, but we think this could be applicable in July at OML. *scared emoji eyes*
You can explore books.
We’re yarn lovers, and book lovers too. Have you gotten a copy of the Our Maker Life Book?
When exploring Denver, we’re definitely visiting Tattered Cover Bookstore, a Colorado independent bookstore with multiple locations across the Denver area. In operation for more than 50 years, and with 10 locations statewide, Tattered Cover boasts hundreds of thousands of books in its inventory. Equipped with knowledgeable staff, Tattered Cover is a Colorado landmark — and a great place for makers to find a perfect book and create a memorable experience.
Let us know if you’ll be indulging in one or all ten of these reasons to love Denver.
PS - Be sure to grab your seat to OML Denver this year and get our full welcome packet that includes ways to explore the city with us on July 22!
Happy Making (see you in Denver soon!),
The OML Team
