Treasure hunting took on a new meaning in Denver this weekend.

Thrift Con, a convention dedicated to vintage and second-hand clothing, was held Saturday and Sunday at the National Western Center’s Livestock Center. The convention brought in thousands of people and filled the Livestock Center with racks upon racks of vintage clothing.

Attendees picked through the wide variety of clothes on display at dozens of booths, while also taking time to enjoy live music performances. Prices ranged from as low as $5 per item to items upwards of $200 to $300, presenting a wide range of choices for prospective thrifters.

There were racks filled with sports jerseys, booths separated by certain styles; outerwear, jackets, pants and more. There were $10 T-shirt racks, $20 T-shirt racks, even $50 racks for the best curated vintage tees. Some booths even sold vintage media, with tables adorned with VHS tapes and DVDs, records and CDs.

The convention floor even provided entertainment for guests, complete with a retro arcade and small skating space for those seeking thrills in addition to good thrifts.

Mario Conte and Ken Meade started Thrift Con in Denver in 2018. The first event was held in a parking lot in RiNo and had about 40 vendors. Conte said he and Meade, who previously owned the clothing store Station in Five Points, were surprised when the event drew in over 1,300 people with little marketing beyond a Facebook post.

Since then, the event has grown and grown, with roughly 15,000 people expected to come through the convention during the weekend and over 100 vendors. The event even brings in big-name companies like eBay, who held raffle giveaways and sold vintage hats at their booth, to Tide, who allowed true treasure hunters to sift through unsorted bins and fill bags with finds for $10 a pound.

Thrift Con has even spread across the U.S. and the world, with events held in Los Angeles, London and Tokyo, Conte said.

“It’s crazy,” Conte said. “It’ll never get old, and it never ceases to amaze me where it’s gone.”

Conte said Thrift Con started as a way to bring together a large number of vintage sellers under one roof. He said Denver had a thriving vintage clothing market, but they had no place to get together and were all restricted to their respective stores.

“L.A. has got Melrose and Silver Lake and Rose Bowl once a month,” Conte said. “New York has Brooklyn Flea, but Denver had nothing of that sort. But it had the vintage community. So all we were trying to do initially was create a space for that community in Denver and a hub.”

Thrift Con is held in Denver every year and is always in the Western Center, though this year is the first in the newly-build Livestock Center. A bonus for this year, Conte said, is the new building has air conditioning, something lacking in previous years.

While the show may have gone international, Conte said he hasn’t forgotten his and the show’s Denver roots.

“We love Denver,” he said. “We’re from here. Our offices are here. This is our best city of the tour every single year. It’s the biggest one we do, and we hope to continue making it that way.”