When the Longhorn cattle begin to mosey through downtown Denver on Jan. 8 for the National Western Stock Show Kick-Off Parade, this year’s Grand Marshal Pete Coors will ride at the center of a community to which he has devoted much of his life.

Coors, director emeritus of Molson Coors Beverage Company, will guide the time-honored procession for the 2026 show, including a spectacular array of more than 30 Longhorn cattle as well as horses and Western wagons.

Beginning at noon, the parade starts outside Denver Union Station and will traverse 12 blocks down 17th Street to Glenarm Place.

“The Stock Show parade is an iconic event that brings the agricultural and Western heritage into the urban core of one of the West’s great cities,” said Wes Allison, president and CEO of the National Western Stock Show, in a press statement. “We couldn’t be more excited to have Pete Coors, whose contributions to the West and the National Western have been immeasurable, leading this year’s parade.”

To many, the annual kick-off parade marks the “Best 16 Days in January,” which this year will include official openings of the 30-acre Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Livestock Center and The Legacy, the National Western’s new world headquarters.

Since 2016, Coors has served as chairman of the NWSS’s Honoring the Legacy capital campaign, which raised $150 million to build the National Western Center’s core facilities.

A longtime Western Stock Show Association board member, Coors serves as president and chairman of the Adolph Coors Foundation, which supports youth development, vocational training, integrative medicine and public policy. 

In 2011, the NWSS named Coors its “Citizen of the West,” an award that recognizes individuals who “embody the spirit and ideals of the American West through leadership, integrity and a commitment to the region’s heritage.”

Established in 1978, the award highlights the significant contributions of influential figures in agriculture, business, or civic life.

“This parade, and the Stock Show it celebrates, showcases our state’s rich agricultural heritage and its ongoing economic and cultural importance to Colorado and the West,” Coors said in the release. “I’m thrilled to have the chance to serve as Grand Marshal and can’t wait to welcome everybody to the new Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Livestock Center and The Legacy during the Stock Show.”

Coors was born in Golden, and formerly served as the president and chairman of Coors Brewing Co. and chairman of the Molson Coors Brewing Co. and MillerCoors. 

He is the great-grandson of Adolph Coors, who founded the brewery in 1873. 

Coors played a key role in bringing the Colorado Rockies ballclub to Denver. 

He is also a trustee and member of the Denver Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and a trustee, former national president, and former chairman of Ducks Unlimited.

The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum awarded Coors with the Western Visionary Award in April of 2023.

Following the parade, there will be a Stock Show Fair at McGregor Square with miniature therapy horses, Western royalty, a food market, and more.

Dates for the 2026 National Western Stock Show are set for Jan. 10-25.
While specific economic impact projections for 2026 are not yet available, based on recent studies, The Common Sense Institute, a non-partisan fiscal and economic research organization, reports that the NWSS has recently been estimated to generate between $170 million-$180 million in economic activity each year in Colorado, and similar figures are expected this year.

For tickets and schedules, visit nationalwestern.com.