12 for 2012:
A Dozen Can't Miss Events in Denver
Only in Denver exhibits, incredible events and much more... Here are a dozen reasons why the Mile High City is the place to be in 2012!
NATIONAL WESTERN STOCK SHOW
January 7-22, 2012
Grab your cowboy boots and head over to the world’s premier stock show and one of the nation’s largest rodeos, a Denver tradition for more than a century. www.nationalwestern.com
LIZARDS & SNAKES at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science
February 3-July 8
Lizards & Snakes stars the Burmese Python, Gila Monster, Komodo Dragon, Green Basilisk, and more live reptiles from five continents, The interactive experience introduces visitors to these adaptable, colorful, and sometimes dangerous creatures. www.dmns.org
MOLLY BROWN HOUSE MUSEUM:
100th Anniversary of the Sinking of the Titanic
Opening February 15
Titanic and Molly Brown – two names in history that are now virtually synonymous. As the 100th Anniversary unfolds, the Molly Brown House Museum, throughout the year, will be hosting many Titanic-related, including the Heroine of the Titanic exhibit, which explores the Margaret Brown’s experience from bow to stern with accounts, artifacts and photographs from that fateful voyage. www.mollybrown.org
DENVER RESTAURANT WEEK
February 25 – March 9, 2012
Treat your taste buds when more than 300 top Denver restaurants offer multi-course meals for the “mile high” price of $52.80 for two (tax and tip not included). www.denverrestaurantweek.com
YVES SAINT LAURENT – THE RETROSPECTIVE at the Denver Art Museum
March 25 – July 7, 2012
The Denver Art Museum (DAM) will present Yves Saint Laurent, a sweeping retrospective the designer’s 40 years of creativity. The DAM will be the only United States venue for the exhibition, which features a stunning selection of 200 haute couture garments along with numerous photographs, drawings and films that illustrate the development of Saint Laurent's style and the historical foundations of his work. www.denverartmuseum.org
HISTORY COLORADO CENTER
Opening April 28, 2012
Celebrate Colorado’s glorious landscapes on a three-story multimedia presentation. Traverse an 80-foot map of the state using a “time machine.” Virtually travel the plains in a Model T Ford. Don a headlamp and descend into the hard rock mine of Silverton. Soar off the world’s first ski jump in Steamboat Springs. Do all this and more among Colorado’s most historic treasures. True Colorado experiences come alive at the History Colorado Center, located in Downtown Denver. www.historycolorado.org
TOYOTA ELEPHANT PASSAGE at the Denver Zoo
Opening June 1
Toyota Elephant Passage, a landmark $50 million exhibit, will occupy 10-acres on the southern edge of the Denver Zoo, and will be the world’s largest bull elephant habitat. Watch majestic Asian elephants care for their young, Indian one-horned rhinos cooling off in a shallow stream, acrobatic gibbons swinging overhead from tree to tree, fishing cats diving for their next meal and the piercing stare of a black leopard, all from the center of an Asian village. These, and a host of other experiences, soon will be possible without leaving Denver.
www.denverzoo.org
USA PRO CYCLING CHALLENGE
August 20-26, 2012
After a hugely successful first year in 2011, The USA Pro Cycling Challenge will return to Colorado. The event is the most demanding bike race ever held on American soil, with racers experiencing breathless altitudes, day after day, bringing the high speeds, danger and adrenaline of professional biking to elevations over two miles high in some of the most picturesque terrain in the world—the Colorado Rocky Mountains. The race’s grand finale is in Denver on Sunday, Aug. 26. www.usaprocyclingchallenge.com
A DAY IN POMPEII at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science
Opens September 14
What nature destroyed, it also preserved. Hundreds of exceptional artifacts offer an insider's glimpse into the daily life—and tragic end—of this ancient Roman city that was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. On display are archaeological treasures that lay buried in Pompeii’s ruins, preserved as if sealed in a time capsule. Highlights include marble and bronze sculptures, jewelry, gold coins, everyday household items, and more. In this once-in-a-lifetime experience, visitors uncover the treasures of a city steeped in legend, examine casts of the volcano’s victims frozen in their last moments, and discover the power of volcanoes past and present. www.dmns.org
DENVER BEER FEST / GREAT AMERICAN BEER FESTIVAL
October
A celebration of all things beer, Denver Beer Fest (Oct. 5-13) includes beer tastings at local Denver restaurants, beer-paired dinners, "meet the brewer" nights, beer tappings, Denver brewery tours and a variety of other entertaining beer events throughout the Mile High City. It coincides with the Great American Beer Festival (Oct. 11-13), the largest gathering of beer enthusiasts boasting more than 1,500 different beers from 300 American breweries at the Colorado Convention Center. www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com, www.denverbeerfest.com
BECOMING VAN GOGH at the Denver Art Museum
October 21, 2012 – January 20, 2013
Vincent Van Gogh was virtually unknown during his brief life, but his art has made him one of the most beloved painters of all time. The Denver Art Museum’s in-depth exploration of the artist’s unconventional path to becoming the icon we know today, Becoming Van Gogh features more than 70 paintings and drawings by Van Gogh, along with works by artists to whom he responded. Denver is the only venue for this exhibition. www.denverartmuseum.org
DENVER ARTS WEEK
November 2-10
Denver celebrates all of the arts from performing to visual. Explore Denver’s neighborhood studios and galleries, as well as its world-class museums during this annual event, including Night At The Museums, during which most of the city’s museums offer free admission. www.denverartsweek.org