The anchor of Denver’s performing arts scene, an important part of this increasingly sophisticated city, is the 4-square-block Denver Performing Arts Complex, located downtown just a few blocks from major hotels. The complex houses nine theaters, a concert hall, and what may be the nation’s first symphony hall in the round. It is home to the Colorado Symphony, Colorado Ballet, Opera Colorado, and Denver Center for the Performing Arts (an umbrella organization for resident and touring theater companies). In all, Denver has some 30 theaters, more than 100 cinemas, and dozens of concert halls, nightclubs, discos, and bars. Clubs offer country-and-western music, jazz, rock, and comedy.
Current entertainment listings appear in special Friday-morning sections of the Denver Post. Westword, a weekly newspaper distributed free throughout the city every Wednesday evening, has perhaps the best listings: It focuses on the arts, entertainment, and local politics. Also pick up the Denver/Boulder edition of The Onion, which also has a nice arts and entertainment section after all the funny and phony news stories.
The first permanent structure on the site of modern Denver was supposedly a saloon, and the city has built on that tradition ever since. Today, there are sports bars, dance bars, lots of brewpubs, outdoor cafe bars, English pubs, Old West saloons, bars with views of the city, Art Deco bars, gay bars.
Appropriately, the newest Denver “in” spot for barhopping is also the oldest part of the city–LoDo–which has been renovated and upgraded, and now attracts all the young partyers and upwardly mobile professionals. Its trendy nightspots are often noisy and crowded, but if you’re looking for action, this is where you’ll find it.
Other popular “strips” are along Broadway (centered on 10th and Ellsworth aves., respectively), and along East Colfax Avenue from about Ogden to Monroe streets. For those who prefer caffeine to alcohol, a number of good coffee bars abound throughout downtown Denver, as well as in the Capitol Hill and Uptown neighborhoods.
