The 33rd annual outdoor street festival over Memorial Day weekend will be May 24-26 this year.
Featuring historical attractions, children's rides, bands in Bancroft Park or on the street and more than 200 street vendors/crafters, Territory Days typically attracts 100,000 or more people. Some crowd estimates have been as high as 140,000 attendees in years when the weather has cooperated.
Colorado Avenue between 23rd and 27th streets will be closed off all three days. Festival hours will be 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, May 24-25 and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, May 26.
The festival is sponsored by the Old Colorado City Associates (OCCA) merchants group to promote the area and raise funds for continued marketing efforts. There is no admission fee.
Visitors from outside Old Colorado City are asked to park at Coronado High School, 1590 W. Fillmore St. Free round-trip shuttle-bus rides will be provided approximately every 15 minutes between the high school and the intersection of 27th Street and West Colorado.
Popular returning events/ activities will be the Indian dancing, mechanical bull ride, Hawkquest, Rock Ledge blacksmiths, gunfighting reenactors, gold prospecting, fast draw competition (Sunday), Gaming Parlor, street musicians (including Brule, Darren Curtis Skanson and, after one year away, Ancient Winds) and Cowboy Church (Sunday morning with the Colorado Cowboys for Jesus).
Continuing efforts from recent years, extra police will be on hand to monitor neighborhood parking violations; also, Keep Colorado Springs Beautiful (KCSB) crews will be picking up trash at the event, as well as in the nearby neighborhoods, according to Lynda Dunne, who coordinates Territory Days for the OCCA.
Dogs are not allowed at the festival for safety reasons (even those on a leash).
For more information, call the OCCA at 577-4112 or go to territorydays.com.
Westside Pioneer/press release