It's not fair. Oh wait, it is. Not the greatest fair if I'm being honest. There's some massive ones around the country that blew me away. This one is a bit more low key. My theory is that everyone around here is so busy, so spoiled for things to do, so outdoorsy, that the fair doesn't need to be a big deal because it's not a focal point of a disjointed community that all like to do their own thing rather than coming together, unless it's for a Broncos game maybe. So with that said it's still well worth a visit if you love fairs. read more

Fantastic, folksy fun! I spent two days at the county fair this year, and even with a severe cat allergy it was a blast. I took meds before, brought my inhaler, saw the cat show, and went home to sleep with 2 Benadryl. It took me days to recover, but it was worth it. My friends and I had a blast. I watched trick pigs, dancing dogs, and talented cloggers. I ate an extreme breakfast burrito and tasted camel milk and cricket flour cookies. I played games with Oh Heck Yeah. I got a free loaf of bread. I saw folklorico dancers and a pie-eating contest for kids. Oh, and there was the chile-pepper-eating contest too. My husband and I were also inspired to participate next year. He's going to enter the home brew competition. Not sure which competition I'll enter myself, but I'll be bringing my dog to the Chihuahua-Pug races next year. This is truly a fun, affordable, family friendly community event. Highly recommended. read more

I REALLY enjoyed the fair. I think I spent my entire bankroll on jams and wine mixes and hand carved puzzle boxes and I can't wait to do it again! I really enjoyed the Chicken exhibit. Not only did it give the fair a much needed "fair feel" but I have never seen so many Big Beautiful Cocks in a single room! The 5 bucks for the Extreme Pancake Breakfast was SSOOOOO well spent as I had a plate that weighed probably 3 pounds. 3 Pounds of all the epic noms I have ever dreamed of putting on my hotcakes. Sadly I was in a wheelchair so I didn't get to play in the Carnival area but it looked passable with a merry-go-round and Ferris Wheel. I LOVED all of the "Ag Share"/"Co-Op" booths and the green/local aspect of the fair as I knew my money was staying largely in my own community an going to fund people with progressive ideas. The last thing I will mention I loved was the FRIED cereal *coughs* John W *coughs* To get that last star next year they will have to find a way to make it feeeeellll more .... 'fairier'. Hard to do when you are in a big concrete and steel building, but I think they can pull it off! read more

*This is not called the "Denver Country Fair". It's the Denver County Fair. I've submitted the changes to Yelp a couple times, but it's still listed wrong. Anyway....Easily the best $10 I spent last weekend. It was a beautiful day, so my husband and I rode our bikes to the fairgrounds. When we arrived, we almost turned around and went home. But don't let the National Western Complex's dreary outside fool you about all the goodness inside. If you're not bringing an actual child, make sure you bring your inner child. You can ride a camel, pet a tiger (see scary photo), snag some free BBQ sauce samples and Village Inn coupons, browse some sweet local art, see a local fashion show, and so, so much more. They even had a silent auction with 4-H kid homemade items mixed in with multiple psychics. It was definitely the most eclectic fair I've ever been to. The fair is well organized with signs marking various pavilions like Geek, Craft, Holistic, History. You name it, it was probably at the fair somewhere. I loved that you could find so much more than pie eating contests and award winning chickens. My favorites: Dog agility contest. Too bad not many people were watching the poor dogs try to navigate the maze. I'm not even a dog person but laughed (and even cheered) throughout it. Food trucks. Specifically - gluten free donuts with add your own toppings. Better than funnel cake and my Celiac husband was in heaven. Freak show. It's $1 to see the world's smallest mermaid. Another dollar to see two additional freaks. I felt like I was in a Pee Wee Herman movie so it was worth it. Weiner Mobile. See photo. You missed it this year. Don't make that mistake again. read more

Denver County Fair - Weiner Mobile - Festivals Near Me - Denver, Colorado

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I had a great time at the fair yesterday. Parking was $5, but that seems very reasonable to me. We got very close parking and didn't have to wait in any lines at all. I bought my tickets online and it was a breeze to go in. I just flashed my printed tickets at some guy. It wasn't very crowded when we went because it was a Friday in the afternoon. I prefer to experience things when they are not crowded, so this was perfect for me. What really made it for me was the Freak Show! It was a small venue so you were really close to the action. There was sword swallowing, piercing, a bed of nails, and you got to staple your tip to the guy's chest! Crazy!! I also enjoyed the food trucks outside. I knew that the trucks weren't going to arrive until 4pm, so I scheduled our time there so we'd have about 1.5 hours of browsing, then we could eat at the food trucks. Having heard a lot about Biker Jim's, I opted for that cart because I don't think I would have gone to their location otherwise. So being an out of towner, but curious about local places, seeing them here at the Fair made the fair more interesting for me. There was also Little Man Ice Cream that I finally got to try. I went for the Salted Oreo because that's their most well known flavor and it was pretty good, but I'm not going to think about it again. We spent a total of about 2.5 hours there. In no way is this an all day thing, but I certainly enjoyed the time I spent there. I don't think I would feel the need to go again next year, but I'm glad I went this one time. read more

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So, Denver FINALLY gets a FAIR! (well, we didn't get a 'fair' we got an 'AWESOME' but that's a bad joke..) Congrats to Dana Cain and Tracy Weil on a job well done. The fair is a hit... I don't know which I like better... The food, the fun, the booths or the art because I loved them all. There is a bus that is covered in quilted cloth. There's a Yelper selling the best Jalapeno jelly I've had in a long time. I saw the Mayor and Blinkey the Clown.. (Oh and I am going to see DEVO on Saturday night!! DEVO's first ever appearance in a fair..) The fried cereal was yummo, as was the fruit vinegar. All around fun for every age. I can't wait for the freak show, and wished I could have seen the tall hair competition. There is also a speed texting competition!!! You have to go see the fair! read more

I don't want to be harsh because I think it's about time Denver got back into the County Fair game. However, I live in Adams County and go to the ACF every year so I am a fan of the fair and Denver's just didn't cut the mustard. Here's why: Way to freaking expensive!!! $10 bucks a person and EIGHT dollars to park. Sorry, but it wan't big enough to justify the outrageous cost. We walked around in less than an hour and were ready to leave only to walk around again hoping we missed something. Oh, and if you wanted to see Devo you had to purchase the ticket to the show PLUS admission to the fair. I think that was just price gouging. Then there is charging for the petting zoo?? What did my $10 get me? I've NEVER paid for a petting zoo at a county fair!! Next time do one price for all parking plus admission and/or concert ticket + fair admission + parking. Plus EIGHT dollars for a beer and not just any beer but a Colorado made Coors...I can see if it was a micro brew but c'mon!!! Not to mention I totally got taken at one of the beer booths where they suddenly charged us tax on our beer so it convieniently came out to be an extra dollar. I should have put up more of a fight since I had a feeling I was getting scammed, but I let it go....I seriously didn't appreciate those shananigans! All the awesome Denver restaurants and no out of the box fair food. You guys can do W....AAAAY better than that. It was HOTTER than Hell in there. That just sucked. The freak show. Great idea, but it went so wrong and was just cheezy, silly and was poorly executed. Hopefully you will keep that idea, but hire someone who can properly put together a real freak show. Here's what I liked. Blinky!! I missed his show, but he is a Denver legend and adored him as a child. Good grab!! The animals! I saw the pig show. Oh boy were these guys adorable. The jalapeno jelly I bought. I have had a PBJ everyday since the fair. YUM! 4-H club by CSU! No fair should be without a 4-H it helps the kids get involved!! The awesome cake that was decorated to look like a chicken. Seriously awesome stuff!! I also was thrilled to see Devo picked...if I could have gone I would have. Great choice!! I heard it was memorable! My favorite booth was the Yelp booth. I got a new nail file and got to hug one of my favorite people...Tiffany. I hope she's at the fair next year that may be one way to persuade me to go again. Oh by the way, the Adams County Fair is this coming weekend. You'll find me with the goats. I'll be giving them all my lovin'!! read more

I spent all weekend trying to think how I wanted to rate the fair. In fact, had it been available, I might have gone into a sweat lodge, taken some peyote and had a fever dream to take the soul searching journey that I had to take to make my decision. I'm going to go with two because the Yelp definition says "Meh. I've experienced better." And that is exactly how I feel. Actually, if there was a rating called "I had such high hopes for an urban county fair and was let down on virtually every aspect" then that's the rating I would give it. I was talking to another Yelper about my thoughts on the fair and she said, "I think they tried to be too big right away without letting the fair grow organically." And that pretty much sums it up, I think. The crafts section, 4H and the animals were fantastic and spot on, but it felt like everything else was booked because they needed vendors to pay for the hugenormous space that is the National Western Complex. They could have used a quarter of the space and had an incredibly successful first fair. Instead, the place felt deserted most of the time. I also read that this fair was trying to target hipsters. Of the people I saw, I believe maybe 5% fell into the hipster category. The remainder of the people with mullets were not sporting them ironically. For a fair that touted local, I didn't really see much local outside of the craft and animal section. Giant companies' booths lined the rows and all three cable companies tried to get me to sign up for their provider. Next year, if the fair can truly go local (local bands, local food) and maybe scale back a bit, I'll give it another go. But if they have it at the National Western Complex again, that will be a good sign that they did not learn their lesson that they went too big too soon and I won't be back again. read more

Truly the worst fair I've ever had the experience of attending. Admission was $10, parking was $8, and a few other reviews have mentioned the obscene prices so I'll not belabor it. This type of grifting is commonplace at events like this, but the prices were a bit exorbitant nonetheless. Moving past the high prices, the Denver County Fair is a failure because there is so little to do in such a large space. The vast majority of the stalls in the convention center were occupied by local and national businesses, all trying to sell you something that can only be said to be tangentially linked to the "fair" atmosphere. I had a lady try to sell me juice. I saw two people looking bored at a Living Social table. I noticed a ton of patchouli in the Holistic hall. Woo. So what is there to do if you're not there to buy things? Well, the answer, unfortunately, is "not much". If you're attending the fair without a loaded wallet, chances are you'll peruse the art gallery--which has some decent pieces--observe some twenty (twenty!) live chickens on display, and wonder why the petting zoo has an admission fee. For all the space that the convention center provides, it's evident from the entrance that the people who planned the fair did not know how to properly fill the place. The hall is simply too big for the amount of people that are attending. Vendors and volunteers seem to match the number of guests at a 1:1 ratio giving the feeling of a ghost town. (About the only thing that feels vaguely "western" about the whole affair). Oh, and the rides? Forget it. They're overpriced and robbed of any atmosphere because no one is using them. I paced the grounds where the rides were located and didn't see the Ferris Wheel spin once. I did get to see a carnie make fun of some guy's haircut though. Again, woo. Stay well away from this event. Wait for the Stock Show, the State Fair, or the Boulder County Fair. read more

This fair has growing pains that even the guests can feel. Love the idea but there needs to be a lot more to do in order for me to pay $18 ($10 for tickets and $8 for parking) for me to return here next year. The problem is that everyone is trying to sell you something. I fully support local, small businesses, but the reality is that I just spent $1200 on a car bill and I don't have the money to buy your jalepeño jelly or you Breckenridge get-away. And the food is especially overpriced and basically just your standard crap stadium food. I paid $4.00 for a hot-dog that nearly made me sick and it would have been $8-10 for things like a BBQ sandwich or a bratwurst. Where were our wonderful Denver mobile food vendors offering me delicious gourmet food at reasonable prices? There are a few things to recommend though. I did appreciate the fair as a showcase for Denver's wonderful creative class. The artwork and crafts I saw here were incredibly well done and if I had a bit of money to spend, I would have gladly given it to some of Denver's finest artisans who had some great works to display. The entertainment was also pretty cool. The only thing I got a chance to see was the Denver School of Rock performers, but I was quite impressed at their rocking skills, especially considering their young age. This one young man really belted a great performance of Prince's "Purple Rain." As a gardener, I was especially interested in the agricultural aspects of the show. Though, unfortunately was somewhat disappointed in what they had to offer, which was basically a few sad looking veggies. I think they would be more successful at getting some Denver gardening goodies if the fair was later in the harvesting season. I know for me it's a bit late for the cool-season veggies, but too early for the hot-season ones. So basically you are left with just sub-par. I think the Denver County Fair is a fantastic idea just not quite living up to its ultimate potential. Hopefully, some better planning and learning from this year's festival will create improvements in the future. As of now, I can't recommend that people spend $10 or $18 on this. read more

Fairs always sound way more fun than they actually end up being. I know this and still I go! In my defense, I heard this year that the DCF had decided to include an actual Freak Show and my interests were peaked. So I headed on down the National Western Complex to see some freakishness! OK, first off I don't know this area. I know where the stock show is, but I don't know every turn. I guess the people of Denver feel you should know because I did not see one sign on how to get into the complex ANYWHERE (I did see 1 when I left, but not coming in). That was annoying. As were the really small dusty lots that we apparently have to pay $10 for the privilege to park in - that is a first for a fair! So we get the tickets (another $10/ea) and have to practically beg for a program from the gray haired volunteer who was more interested in chatting than passing out programs. We actually had to lean over and pick up our own, because she totally ignored us. Fine. OK, we are finally in. It is all inside (yay, no weather concerns), but is a maze of a building to figure out. (gee, isn't nice to have a program with a map). We found the freak show (very entertaining) and the food trucks - always yummy and then realized that everything else was really just vendors selling something. We did a haunted house (couple extra bucks), got a fried snickers (a few extra bucks) and perused a bunch of merchandise. The few rides they had were all for the little kids (tiny roller coaster and trampolines) so those were out. And a after a couple hours and not really in the mood to spend more money on crap we crapped out. Not a huge emphasis on animals at this fair, which is fine, but I need more than just vendors. There was pie eating and pickling and what not, but not a lot included with the price of your ticket. Kind of equal part fun and let down. We did it, who knows if we ever need to come back. Bring cash, a lot of places only take the green stuff - no plastic. read more

I've never been to a county fair before. Thus, I have nothing to compare this experience to so I had no idea what to expect. I came in with thoughts of crazy fair food, good people watching and rides. Well, I'm a little sad. There was no crazy fair food. You know, I REALLY wanted a deep fried twinkie or kool-aid. But no, besides funnel cake and "butterfly fries", there was nothing else! That was my main reason to go and I was totally let down. It seemed like this was just one big ass trade show where everyone is just trying to sell you something. Apparently I had to come with a stuffed wallet to enjoy myself here. $10 for admission, $8 for parking. The "Freak Show" was nothing cool, even. I in fact thought it was one big joke. The "bat boy" really was just a kid who went to the costume store, slapped on a mask and then sat in a crate...wtf? I did like the live animals though. The alpacas, owls, rabbits and chickens were really cool to see. There was a pig show going on but I wasn't able to see it because I'm so short. There were some carnival rides, and we went on the Gravitron. Big mistake-especially after eating a corn dog and drinking a beer. Ughhhhh. This was such a cool ride when I was younger- not so cool when you're in your thirties. I understand this is Denver's first county fair but if next year is anything like this year's was I will be quick to pass it up. I don't see the big hype about this but based on the other reviews I wasn't the only one let down. read more

Henceforth known as the fair of tears. This really was a 1, but I want them to try again next year. A county fair can't be easy to pull off, and Denver isn't exactly a county packed with 4H clubs and rural areas. We've got Aurora and Cherry Creek. The biggest fail for me was a complete lack of fried food. Well they had 2 booths selling corn dogs and funnel cakes, but really, nothing else? No twinkles, oreos, candy bars, etc battered and fried? The midway was downright scary. I mean don't get me wrong, most midways are scary, but this one was made up of carnies the other carnies shunned. I was waiting for the killer Klowns from Outer Space to appear and just start popping us all into cotton candy. Part of my issue is that I've been to the Orange County Fair in CA, the Arapahoe (fairly scary too) county fair and the Farmers Fair in Perris, CA. All were way better, ran way longer and were places I'd want to go a few times before it closed for the year. I couldn't wait to get out of the Denver county fair. It was all of the scary of Aurora, but closer to my house. Please organizer of the fair, don't take this as a criticism to not come back. Take it as it's meant, a challenge to come back next year and kick some butt! Ok first try, but not let's really rock the County Fair for 2012. read more

Keeping in mind that this is just the "county fair" and not a state fair, it's not too bad, albeit a little quirkier than most other fairs. We went on a Saturday and it only took us about 1.5 hours to get through the whole fair, but we didn't sit down and watch any shows so maybe it would take longer if you wanted to do that. The Geek Pavilion was a little weird....we exchanged some strange looks between our group as we walked by. It kind of reminded me of what I thought a fair version of Comic-Con would be. The food truck thing was kind of cool, but there wasn't a huge selection of options. I don't see us coming back unless there's something that we needed to see. Of course the Pot Pavilion was an interesting novelty, but not anything I'd need to see twice. read more

I've literally never been so disappointed in something. This was a waste of money. Considering how big Denver is and how big the population is you would think the fair would be much bigger. The lot the rides are in was smaller than a target parking lot. Inside where the booths were was pretty small as well. Compared to other fairs this was a bust. read more

I enjoyed the Denver County Fair and it was a nice event to have, but ultimately I was a bit disappointed. It appeared to be mostly vendors selling items, which was fine, but I expected more. As it was indoors, which was nice, because it was so freakin' hot, there were lots of blank spaces and the Western Complex was a bit of a maze. I felt there were lots of signs, but the food vendors were not clearly labeled as there was food sort of everywhere and what I really wanted (a corn dog), was apparently outside with the rides, but I didn't figure that out until I left. I do think that for the first year, the Fair was a great experience. I do expect more in the coming years. I didn't like that parking was $8 and then $10 entrance, as well as a concert ticket, if you wanted to see Devo or additional prices for the rides. That part felt like a price gouge, so I hope they rethink the pricing for next year. Also, I think a great addition to the food there would be to have a place for food trucks to be set up as well. Depending on what changes are made next year, I may attend again. read more

This was a great, fun and interesting place. Normally one would expect a fair to be outdoors in the hot and or muggy weather surrounded by miserable people, screaming kids and stinky animals. but this fair was inside a giant air conditioned building filled with *surprise* happy people! In every spot of the whole building there was tons of things to do, see or participate in. The parts that I liked best was the drift trike, a big wheel modified of steel and other parts so that an adult could ride it, you would peddle around the track and try to drift it fast and furious style! The freak show was amazing with the sexy and hot scissor sisters, the creepy monster like man known as the Enigma and the tricks and stunts that they performed. The animals were downstairs away from the general public and the were quiet and calm and didn't stink. There was also a camel there that the caretakers were selling camel milk from. which tasted like regular milk just thicker, creamier. The fair also had tons of vendors giving out free samples that included frozen yogurt, dips, chips and one was even giving out whole loaves of bread! (the expensive $5 a loaf kind.) there was a art exhibit that had alot of interesting and unusual styles and genres of art, a tiny cinema that showed cartoons from the 50s, but fashioned to look like they were made in the silent film era. and a cat show that was purrrrrfect. Free on the street parking in the nearby neighborhood and a carnival with games and rides for the kids. great fun for everyone! read more

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What a great family event! From free trike rides to a petting zoo also a freak show. A little something for every one. Samples of dips,tcby yougurt,naked drinks, and got a free loaf of bread. Never seen a freak show it was very different and funny at times. I enjoyed some parts more than others. I enjoyed looking at the local art people had entered in the fair. Tons of fun for all!! read more

Denver County Fair - Festivals Near Me - Denver, Colorado

They tried. In the coming years, it could get better. But I'm not reviewing the future. This event was the worst. I'm only giving it that second star b/c I feel like it'll get better. I was planning on going to this anyway, actually, I've been excited about it for months. Waiting with baited breath since first hearing about this in the spring. Now I'm really happy my GF ended up winning tickets to this b/c I would have really been upset paying for this event. OK, OK, so it's the first year and all, but really, you couldn't do better on the food?!?!?!?! It was HIGH-PRICED crappy BBQ. Come on, Denver has so many awesome food trucks, more than you can count, why didn't any of them get an invite to this event? I usually love fair food, but there was nothing exciting here. I went to the Renaissance Fair the next day and was blown-away by all the awesome food you could get. Maybe I'll check back in after a few years. In the meantime, WOAH! Renaissance Fair! How is this the first year I've visited you? You are my hero! read more

Going to the county fair is a tradition in our family, with the grandchildren entering the art contests (they've won many ribbons) and the adults enjoying all the crazy entertainment. Of course the carnival rides are a big hit with the kids as are the bouncing castles. The restaurant inside served a great meal for "fair food" and our waitress Becky made our day! My biggest complaint is the heat inside the facility. It's bad (come on people it's triple digits outside) and the builder/architect of the NW Complex should have installed a huge swamp cooler system or at least bigger better exhaust fans. Many people and children looked as if they were melting --and frankly it's not kind or caring to the community...especially when water has a cost attached. Please do something fair officials!! How about installing "misters" throughout the complex? Thanks read more

I don't know if anybody's visited this year, but we spent a very healthy portion of our late afternoon/evening at the fair, and our families had a great time. Admittedly, we were skewed to the kid-friendly areas, but it was fun stuff. Specifically, the Kid's Area was great (bouncy houses galore), the Geek Area was pretty exceptional according to the geeks in our group, and the Food Trucks were fantastic. Although, I wish they'd had something indicating when they'd be opening and closing throughout the day. I was bummed by the lack of presence in the Holistic Area. Maybe I was just in the wrong spot to find local aromatherapy products. Just kinda meh. I may win free lasik, though, so there's that. Non-food truck food was stupid expensive, but surprisingly, the activities for the kids weren't bad. I bought a skewer of strawberries and watermelon for $6 and, more insultingly, a very small bottle of water for $4. The quilts and locally grown foods looks fantastic, and so did a lot of the art that was hung. I listened to Ignite Theater sing some great songs from RENT. I'd suggest parking elsewhere, because it was $8 and an unnecessary expense. Otherwise, though, it was pretty fun way to spend some family time. I mean, the fair, not merely the parking. read more

Oof. The entrance fee was $10 and got you a pass for the whole weekend, if for whatever reason you wanted to go back. Parking is $5 for the day. 99% of the fair was inside, including the animals. There were chickens, bunnies, pigs, a cow, a few sheep, a llama, and a few baby tigers. They were all inside, in tiny cages. You could pet a baby tiger, and they were some of the cutest animals I've ever seen. I went in the morning and there weren't food trucks until later in the afternoon (4p maybe?) so I didn't get to see that. The food that was there was popcorn, hot dogs, beer, one corn dog vendor, carmel corn, and a pancake breakfast (which was a cesspool of germs). The highlights were equestrian vaulting - high-school aged kids in spandex suits doing tricks on horses, dog shows - by no means Best in Show, and an adult trike race. I'm biased since I go to the MN State Fair every year, and that makes this look like a t-ball team going up against the Yankees, but I won't be going back. This fair was just really, really small and did everything on a small scale. It sounds like they're growing and looking for ways to improve, and I hope they do! read more

I think we need to give the organizers of the fair a break. The first year is always difficult. It's a test-run essentially. (Remember the first year of the Dragon Boat Races?! Their big fail was not enough bathrooms.) I thought the fair was a decent outing. Now, I admit, I mainly went to see DEVO, but hubby and I thought it was good enough to plan on bringing the kids next year. Yep, I agree with many of the comments on the space being a bit too large for the crowd, but I think the vendors, attractions and fairgoers will fill it up next year. The arts and crafts were amazing and if it wasn't a recession, I'm sure sales would have been more brisk. Where else can you meet Kenny Be, hear some great local music - and DEVO!, and giggle at the ridiculousness of it all? The carnival was great - wasn't it everything you remember as a kid? Rickety rids, freaky carneys, rigged games and crappy food! And the rooster poster/tshirt - totally killer. You wait until next year. Then, let's talk. read more

2012 - good attempt #2 (rumor has it yelp was not invited to have booth this year cause we all gave bad reviews last year - booo - do a better job and i wont have to tell you what i think - with constructive criticism!) There were a significant bigger number of vendors - yeah! But there was a significant less amount of marketing - as in i bought tickets ahead of time but didn't realize till sunday afternoon that is was the middle of august as opposed to labor day weekend. Yikes! I almost missed it. The midway was moved into the down stairs "concert" venue. Creepier than last year and mostly just blow up toys, unless i missed the other rides. Food - now supported by food trucks - which is cool, but if i show up at 12:30, 1pm - i expect to find some grub. Food trucks were not on site yet... or maybe not at all on sunday... not sure. Alas - there were a couple stands in side, corn dogs and funnels cakes, brisqet and the sausage cart. Not bad, better than last year. But we just stopped at Billy's on the way home instead. Having the zoo give lectures - way cool - but hidden away behind and above the entrance made it hard to find. Additional arrows on the floor and up above made for a much easier traversal, but still confusing. (i am not a regular of the stock show, so others might have an easier time than me) 4H area always cool. Dog shows/obstacle course thingy - yeah! Kudos for a designated bike parking area - woot! Definitely a better event! Again an extra star for having a fair in denver! Keep up the good work and don't hold it against yelp if people have opinions! read more

I always think I'll be super happy at fairs and get super excited and feel like I'll spend like 10 hours there. The truth is at by hour 2 I've really done everything I've set out to do: gone to the kiddie haunted house, seen the awesome freak show (the only reason this has 2 stars), and eaten my fill from the food trucks and had a fried candy bar. This fair was geared 100% toward the little ones, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but when you don't have the little ones to take it's kinda boring. There were only a couple midway games and a couple kids rides. I realize they're an inside fair, but it would still be nice to have more options. read more

It's the Denver COUNTY Fair, not country. But, anyway... I was so excited to go to this fair. It sounded so cool and unique. I was really disappointed. First of all, the getting in process really irritated me. We bought a deal through one of the deal o' the day sights. When we got there, we had to exchange the coupon for regular tickets. In order to do this, we had to wait at one window with an obscenely long and slow line. Why? A) There were like 5 other windows, but we could only exchange at 1. B) Why did we have to exchange the voucher? To get a tiny stupid paper ticket to carry 5 feet to get in? Ridiculous. So, I was grumpy from that wait. Then we had bought tickets for the Pancake Breakfast, thinking our kiddo would love that. Well, there we met another long ass, slow line, even though I had bought tickets ahead of time. Not to mention, I found out we paid MORE by purchasing ahead of time online than we would have if we had paid in person when we got there. $6 online (plus a bunch of fees, which made it over $7 per ticket); $7 cash in person, no fees. BULLSHIT. They had one lady checking tickets, very slowly. Then the line to get pancakes ran right in to the coffee line at a right angle, making for a total clusterfuck. Anyway, all of that made me too grumpy to care about much else, plus it killed the short amount of time we could haul a toddler about. She did love the animals, though (minus the tigers, which we did not see due to that being a shitty thing to bring to a fair). Maybe I'll go back in a few years if they get the kinks worked out. read more

Definitely not anything fancy but I thought this fair was fun. We came here on Sunday and were able to snag an on-street parking spot-- score! The admission was $10 to get in and the line moved quickly. Once we were inside, we first decided to check out the "Pot Pavilion" upstairs because, come on, how many fairs have you been to with a Pot Pavilion? There were a good amount of vendors up there and there were competitions for the fastest joint roller. Pretty funny and worth checking out for the experience. When we got back downstairs we sort of meandered around checking out the various areas. There was some BEAUTIFUL art and I loved the animal section as well (I could've happily spent the entire day petting rescued pugs and watching dog agility competitions), but some of the other areas could've used improvement. For example, the Holistic area was very lacking which sort of surprised me. They could've used more local food options too though I liked that they had food trucks outside. And the beer selection-- I know the "Pot Pavilion" was intended to replace a "Beer Garden" but really-- it's the Denver County fair and you can't offer anything more local than Coor's? They did have some wine tastings though. For $10, it was an entertaining way to spend a weekend afternoon! read more

This is an exciting event,I appreciate the people that put this on in the city.lots of cool booths, and a lot of DIY stuff.The only thing that would add to the experience would be more food trucks. read more

Denver County Fair - First time to enter and she won for the apple cake she made. - Festivals Near Me - Denver, Colorado

We love the fair and go just about every year. My family is super into the live competitions and we have seven blue ribbons now for bug eating, cake decorating, hot dog eating, and smelly sneaker contest (which also came with 200 dollars and a trip to NYC). We bought a new chicken, did some goat yoga, drank some beer, and looked at all the cool art. If you get the schedule ahead of time and try to map out your day, you are sure to have a blast! read more

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Sorry guys. Nice try, but you really missed the mark here. Big ole fat waste of money is what this was. First, my wife entered several digital photos into the art competition. We arrived on wednesday to drop off the actual photos(she pre-registered online). Well, it took 2 hours standing in line to check her pictures in.....and there were only about 15 people in front of us. It was just highly inefficient. The rest of the fair just wasn't worth it. We had to pay 10 for parking because apparently we got into some kind of VIP parking lot. It was NOT marked as such. Generally, there is just a lot of disorganization and people that don't know what they are doing. Anyways, mostly it's people trying to sell you stuff. "Hey guys, hows that kitchen looking?" as we walk through the vendors. PASS. It looks fine, we just remodeled A-hole. If I want to talk to you I will come to you! The "freak show" was super lame, and mostly...again.....there were people in there trying to sell you stuff. A guy blowing glass while covered in red paint is still just a guy trying to sell you glass. The midway rides area was SO small. 20 bucks for an armband??? Really? I couldn't find any fun food items, either. We decided to not eat here. Hopefully they will learn from these negative reviews, and make changes for next year. I probably won't go back unless it is greatly improved. read more

I'm not one to totally slam an event it's first year out... there were good and bad parts of the Fair, but sadly, the bad parts have a tendency to stick in your brain longer. First off = KEEP DOING IT! We need a Fair! KEEP IMPROVING IT! And definitely listen to everyone's comments good and bad.In my humble opinion... The Good = The cov...ered parking area, DEVO, the art selection, the funky chicken theme, the drag queens, alternative competitions and contests, your logo and website. Okay stuff/needs improvement = food selections (so many funky fair foods out there to choose from... see what the trends are!), sound checks on music = Hey Lady! really sucked because of the bad sound, and the excellent DEVO sounded like it was playing in a really loud tin can! Tighten up the flow on the booths, work on consistancy in quality, cultivate more local and unique booths; we were there mid-day Saturday "peak time", and a lot of stuff was picked over, or people were "on break". Terrible = The ventilation system (we all felt like we were in human hamster balls!)...Maybe you should look at a less hot and humid time of year to hold the fair... say early September? Outside at 94 degrees actually felt better than walking around inside!!! The ticket taking and line organization could be better, ditch the ala' carte pricing for everything i.e. parking, fair admission, concert, midway rides... people love "pay one price and GO!" Special footnote: Remove the Freak Show, or find someone who knows how to run one to do it for you. It was just lame... I've seen proper Fair Side-shows/Freak Shows, and even know people who have run them.... and buddy, that attraction was SAD!!! read more

That's was pretty awful. It was listed as something fun to do in Denver but just one wristband for about 10 rides in a parking lot costs $33. Two of the rides were shut down and not working. The booths inside were ok but I wouldn't consider this work the money. read more

What a let down. The only redeeming factor were the animals. No carnival games and hardly any food vendors. I've been to county fairs all over the country and this was by far the biggest let down. Inside was mostly booths set up selling mostly flea market items. Not many rides and some weren't even in commission. Save your money! We will absolutely not ever go back. Lots of other things to do for less. read more

We have attended that fair the last 3 years. Last year we saw a great display of tiny houses, an informative aquaponics display and some fun steampunk entertainment. In the past I remember learning about urban beekeeping. This year (2017), the fair had few "draws." Unfortunately, the roller girls didn't perform on Sunday (when we attended). We were going to see the dancers (Folkorio) at 1 p.m. By 1:15, no one had even approached the stage to begin, no announcement that there would be a delay. We had been at the fair for about 2 hours and were pretty bored, so we left. Not sure if the dancers ever performed according to the schedule. We saw "The Enigma" again. It was hard to understand him for much of the show because he spoke so fast and his voice would go low on the last few words. . My husband and I had trouble understanding a bit of what he said, maybe younger people (we are in our 50s - no hearing loss) could catch the lines. We both wanted to leave, but we would disturb others so we stayed. The burlesque show a few years ago was the best "Freak Show" but they no longer offer that one. The variety of performers consists of body piercers and sword swallowing. One of the most enjoyable parts of the fair is looking at the entrants' handiwork and realizing there are some talented bakers, gardeners, quilters, etc. in our city. This year, many of the vendors stayed away. The vendor area was sparse. read more

Love the past couple years! Looking forward to this year. I think it's really cool that it's so different than most fairs. I would like to see some cheese curds for sale though. Last year I even bought some art! read more

Weve gone for the past 2 years or since the inception and are looking forward to this years fair. Its an Awesome experience, Granted, not Perfect but for only 2 years in existence a certain must.... I think its better than Arapahoe, Adams and Jefferson.. Lots of contests to enter.. I take my 3 kids and being indoors at 1 location makes it compact, out of the sun and we really do enjoy ourselves.. I wish the moved the Midway back outside and got some real rides again.... The Extreme Pancake Breakfast lived up to its name.. I learned not to put spam on my pancakes and cotton candy flavored butter is amazing.... Take your kids or a group of friends... im sure you will enjoy it and its gonna keep getting better and better read more

This fair is pretty lame. First most areas have less than 10 entries in every section. Then the food truck section on saturday at noon didn't have any food trucks. I went last year(2015) and this seems to be par for the course. Also the freak show was pretty lame and made up of mostly sex jokes. They were also performing mostly swallowing tricks and stepping on scissors, while in their underwear. Not really a show where I'd want to take my kids so you've been warned. This year i also entered a contest. And that process was not convenient. First they send you a confirmation email that's basically a receipt. It has no information about the fair on that receipt, all the information is only listed once on their website. At least for me that doesn't work. I expect to be informed deeper than just what was already listed on the website. Then i found that my entry was the only one of its kind in the whole fair and i was stuck in with another competition that i don't think it was very similar to. Also for pick up you could only pick up for two hours in the evening on sunday. If you don't pick up then they throw everything away! I can understand that for pies maybe but for quite a few items putting them in a box in the front office or the lost and found makes it easier for people to pick stuff up. I'm sorry but if you have multiple days for drop off and only two hours on sunday in the evening for pick up seems difficult. And because of the lack of information being circulated it wasn't obvious for me to know when pick up was. In fact they gave us a paper on pick up but no where on the paper did it say when pick up was. Anyways sorry for the rant but losing my stuff due to lack of information transfer is annoying especially when it was such a small fair. You'd think they would be slightly better to the people entering since they have almost no one entering. But oh well read more

Not sure if I am missing something- we paid a lot for a weekend pass...what a huge mistake! Should have just gone outside and thrown my money out a window- would have been more fun. The only reason I'm giving it 2 stars is for the cat pavilion, although most of the cats were never there, and the derby girls. There was 1 food truck that we found on Friday, nothing on Sat when we got there at 3 pm. Had to pay for everything -bouncy houses in the kids pavilion, better pay up. I feel like I just paid someone to enter a building to be inundated with advertisers. No games, no decent food, no rides (This is NOT a normal fair), such a huge waste of money. Never again. read more

Incredibly disappointing....I guess if you want to see a "real" fair, don't go in the city...complete waste of time & money. Also very handicap UNfriendly...needed a wheelchair for my husband and all of them were broken AND elevators hidden in remote corners. Plus no air conditioning and 1 fan, miserably hot. Shows were not on time or pathetic.....really wanted to see cats and at least on Friday only saw 5 cats! read more

DO NOT WASTE your money on this!! They make you pay $10 per adult, plus $8 per car for parking, all for the pleasure of basically being let into a giant indoor trade show (but a really low class, low rent one) with vendors trying to sell you something. My kids were bored out of their minds and so was I. It was by far the worst fair I've ever been to. There's no way they should charge for entry to this. In addition, the Devo concert tonight was like attending a concert in a cave the sound quality was so horrible. Plus, after you bought the ticket, you got a helpful email alerting you that you ALSO had to buy admission to the fair to go to the concert, making that concert one pricey night out. Total waste of time and money!!! read more