Wheat Ridge Carnation Festival 2025

   August in Colorado can be hot, dry, and dusty, but it's also when a whole bunch of county and community fairs are held. A prime example of such is the Wheat Ridge Carnation Festival, staged at Anderson Park located along West 44th street in the heart of Wheat Ridge. 

 

   Wheat Ridge, though now more a bedroom community of Denver, was once a very agrarian place with quite a few large and small farms, and was home to more than thirty carnation growing operations for most of the last half of the 20th century. 

   Even though the farms are now gone and the last of the carnation greenhouses closed their doors in 2008, the carnation remains a symbol of the city, and the all-volunteer operated celebration has been going on for more than fifty years.

   The festival is fairly typical of small town USA festivals, featuring live music, a community art show, a carnival midway, and plenty of food and drink.

   The musical acts featured were generally cover bands, many of which were actually quite good - heck, the bands alone were more than enough reason to spend at least Friday or Saturday at the three-day event (Sunday is reserved for the classic car show). 

   Added bonus: No admission charge.

 

And finally, some real carnations at the Carnation Festival.