Downtown Denver unveils revamped 16th Street with block party and alley art activation

DENVER (KDVR) — After years of construction, the city of Denver is celebrating a major milestone downtown: the grand reopening of the newly redesigned 16th Street.

A massive block party is planned for this weekend to mark the occasion, with live music, vendors and new public art on display, including large-scale murals in nearby alleyways, meant to make the area more inviting and reflect what organizers call the “Colorado spirit of curiosity.”

“It is finally here! We are kicking off summer in downtown Denver,” said Kate Barton, Chief of External Affairs for the Downtown Denver Partnership.

The long-awaited $175 million project includes widened walkways, new landscaping, and modernized features designed to bring both locals and tourists back to the historic corridor.

“We are just so thrilled to welcome people back—to visit our local restaurants and retailers, to see the beautiful pieces of art that we’ve partnered with local artists to put up,” Barton said. “We have over 60 musicians and artists coming down to do performances this weekend, as well as over 100 different vendors.”

Beyond the main drag, Denver-based artists are also helping transform side alleys into what curator Deanne Gertner of Hey Hue Art calls “urban canyons.”

“We wanted to make them more of this space where people could explore,” Gertner said. “Just to make it a little bit more unique and interesting — a place you want to go into rather than walk away from.”

Gertner added that public art can also improve safety.

“We’ve actually seen that any alley that we have artwork in actually becomes safer. The police are called fewer times to that alley because there’s more pedestrian traffic, more people checking out the artwork,” she said.

The city plans to keep the momentum going all summer long, with more than 90 days of live activations, art installations, and events scheduled downtown.

The free festival runs Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and is both kid-friendly and dog-friendly. Organizers said there will also be a beer garden for adults to enjoy.