The ninth annual Denver Days celebration is set to begin Saturday, kicking off a week of block parties, social events and community service projects through Aug. 8.—

Saturday’s festivities include block parties at the Virginia Village Library, Ross-University Hills Library, outside of a home at 4872 Odessa St. and on the corner of East 33rd Avenue and Dahlia Street. The Valdez-Perry Library will also be hosting a game of Mexican Lotería.

On Sunday, another block party will be held at East Ellsworth Avenue and Broadway, followed by the presentation of new fence art around the Central Denver Public Library.

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Next weekend’s events begin Friday with bird watching at City Park, a community picnic at Bear Valley Library, an ice cream social at Westwood Library, a community singalong at Rodolfo Gonzales Library and the First Friday Art Walk at Santa Fe Drive and Sixth Avenue.

Aug. 7 will feature a school supply giveaway at Sloan’s Lake Park, book bag decorating at Decker Library and storytelling at West Bar Val Wood Park.

Several block parties will also be held Aug. 7 at Eugene Field Library, Smiley Library, Curtis Park, Garfield Lake Park, Denver Inner City Parish, the corner of East Colfax Avenue and Adams Street and the corner of South Grant Street and East Cedar Avenue.

The festivities will conclude on Aug. 8 with two community picnics at Hutson Lake Park and Central Park.

“After the past year of a pandemic and social distancing, the spirit of Denver Days is more important than ever,” Mayor Michael Hancock said in a release.

“Providing our residents that opportunity to help re-build community spirit following a period of not being able to gather together is another step in our recovery, and I encourage everyone to get out and celebrate their neighborhood, community and city.”

Denver Days was started by Hancock in 2013 to promote neighborhood engagement by giving residents a designated week to host block parties, picnics and service projects.

Last year, Denver Days was recognized with walking celebrations and community parades to make the celebrations more pandemic-friendly. This year’s events are returning to the roots of direct neighbor interactions. 

Residents who want to host a Denver Days event can go to denvergov.org/denverdays for additional information and permit processing.

The full Denver Days event calendar is available online here.