4th of July festivities & fireworks? (Denver, Colorado Springs: amusement park, restaurants, club)

[ajwgroomer]

We are thinking about going to Colorado for the 4th of July. I'm doing a lot of research but there is so much that is going on around the Denver area I'm at a loss at what to do. I am seeing the Civic Center has fireworks July 3rd so definitely want to do that do they have them again on the 4th? We are wanting to do some festivals and stuff like that with parades, food, music, people that dress up & activities for the kids. Any places like this on the 4th or even the weekend before would be great help. And my big question who has the best fireworks? I was really hoping to see fireworks with the mountains in the background. I'm noticing a lot of places around Denver are doing fireworks shows like Aurora and Glendale and the amusement park in downtown Denver to also I saw Manitou Springs has a fireworks show we love Manitou Springs but we will be staying in Denver and not sure we want to make the drive back after fireworks on the 4th of July but if they are worth it then we have no problem with driving back. And does anybody know if they have any festivals activities before they do the fireworks? We just want to good old-fashioned feeling, fun Fourth of July with awesome fireworks with mountains hopefully in the background

[Augie Daugie]

Grand Lake has a nice fireworks show, but that would definitely require an overnight. The show at the Rockies game on July 4th will be pretty cool...but no mountains. The Civic Center show on the 3rd is usually the best overall, IMO.

[abcdefg567]

Maybe try Golden at Lion's Park or Bandimere Speedway for closer to the mountains. They won't be right behind the fireworks though, but it's closer.

There's usually a festival in Englewood too, but we've found it to be way too crowded.

Lion's Park (maybe Lyons, idk) has music, food, bouncy stuff, etc. every year. It's usually not that crowded either & you can check out the river.

There's also Elitches, Coors Field, etc.

[SkyDog77]

For the best mountain display (drought permitting)
Fourth of July | GoBreck.com

[Katarina Witt]

There's always a big fireworks show after the Rapids game on the 4th. They call it "Colorado's Biggest". I don't know if that's true, but it's good.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Cherry Creek Arts Festival July 1, 2, and 3.

[MsBall]

The Air Force Academy has a fireworks event on the 4th.

Air Force Academy To Host 4th of July Fireworks

Events start at 4 p.m. that day on the Academy athletic fields, with numerous games, displays, and food vendors. Music will be provided by the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, 6:30-7:45 p.m., and the Air Force Academy Band, 8:15-9:30 p.m. The fireworks show will begin at 9:30 p.m.

[davidv]

Georgetown has a parade, BBQ, and fireworks display. It also has the Georgetown loop and a few museums dedicated to it mining heritage. Lots of little shops and restaurants as well.

[mettler]

Silverton has an awesome fireworks display, parade, all day festival. But, that would require an overnight trip. Silverton is a lot fun, and the drive through Ouray is beautiful.

[TCHP]

Given Denver's distance from the mountains, I don't think any of its displays will have the mountains featured prominently. Unless you go to places closer to the mountains, Morrison, Golden, maybe even consider going into Boulder or Ft Collins, it probably isn't going to happen in Denver. Even then, you will get the preeminent view of the foothills, not the 14ers behind them.

Colo Spgs has several displays, almost all within a similar time frame, and given its proximity to the mountains, does lend itself to potentially including them in the view. Colo Spgs Memorial Park is usually the largest along with an all day event and the 1812 Overture that concludes with a cannonade that kicks off the fireworks. There also are shows at Garden of the Gods Country Club (private but still viewable nearby), Manitou, Gates Country Club, Broadmoor, Fountain, Ft Carson, AFA, and some of the newer developments on the north-east side of town have taken to having their own shows as well.

However, I've got to admit that fireworks with mountain backdrops in COS don't really add anything to the show. The displays are typically bright enough so as to drown out the ambient background view during the display. Some shows, despite their size, do not illuminate the mountains significantly to the naked eye for the brief few seconds of the explosion. With that said, there are certainly some photographic opportunities where you can manipulate the exposure and I have seen some awesome pictures of displays with Pikes Peak in the background.

Around here, the best mountain illuminating fireworks display occurs at midnight on New Years Eve when they shoot them off the top of Pikes Peak and the explosions illuminate all the snow fields on the Peak.