A Taste of Colorado: An Eye-Opening, Taste Bud-Tempting, Ear-Pleasing Colorado Experience

A Taste of Colorado is in full swing this weekend, and locals and visitors are enjoying the food, entertainment, rides and more. Around the Denver area the same mall stores, megastores, chain restaurants and familiar commercial sights found around the USA cause many newcomers to despair of finding a unique quality to the area. Metro Denver as well as all of Colorado actually abounds with local cuisine, crafts, innovative businesses and regional specialties. If you haven't found them yet, A Taste of Colorado brings a large number of businesses which make Colorado unique together in a huge, Labor Day Weekend spectacular. It's a lot more than food, but you won't be disappointed by the eatin', either!

Writing this article downtown (using the free downtown WiFi) as the barbeque smoke wafts from the festival grounds down the 16^th Street Mall, happy visitors are wandering around with freshly roasted corn, country music filters through the street noises while in other areas jazz, rock and various forms of traditional music as well as children's entertainment are also being played. The festival includes carnival rides for the kids, food booths where you can sample local cuisine by purchasing tickets, local business exhibits, nationally known vendors such as Dodge, Gillette and Dell, local crafts, gifts and services and more. It continues through Labor Day, and if you don't make it this year, you can come for the 25^th annual celebration which will also honor the 150^th birthday of the city as it hosts the Democratic National Convention.

Colorado is home to native barbeque joints as well as outstanding chains such as Famous Dave's, and both are well represented at the festival. In addition, everything from seafood to Middle Eastern falafel, Indian food to Italian will have visitors making plans for fall visits to enjoy full meals after sampling at A Taste of Colorado. Walking past the food booths, attendees were sampling everything, and local ranchers would be proud of the steak and other delicious beef treats on offer. Special food products are also being sampled, including a delicious Bing cherry energy drink which is becoming popular locally in this young, energetic city, called Bing Energy.

Colorado's many celebrations are great places to discover new interests, and the crafts section was no exception. Spinning and weaving of high quality goods, local craftspeople provide a living link to history, which is often illustrated on the fine quilts also on display. From arts and crafts of the West to those brought from far away by immigrants, there's so much to see and exhibitors are glad to tell you more.

In addition to local exhibits, national sponsors are adding some high-tech excitement to A Taste of Colorado. Examples are the Gillette display where you can get a fresh barber-shave on the spot, the bright red Dodge facility which is bound to get your blood pumping, and a Dell pavilion with the latest gaming computers ready to try in a high-tech, energy-intense counterpoint to other laid-back aspects of A Taste of Colorado.

The State Capitol area of downtown Denver is shut down to host A Taste of Colorado, and it takes quite a while to cover the whole thing. Careful attention has been paid to disabled access, with ramps on the curbs and many patrons in motorized and manual wheelchairs exploring and enjoying. Don't bring coolers and the like, but if you are wearing a backpack it may simply be searched at the entrance. Special bike parking is provided outside the grounds, and pets, chairs, Frisbees and picnics are also not allowed, with items needed by seniors and the disabled excepted in some cases, of course.

This year's Taste of Colorado is continuing through 10pm tonight, and 10:30am to 8pm on Labor Day. To make plans for next year, visit www.atasteofcolorado.com.