Old Colorado City Territory Days - Memorial Day Weekend

The Territory of Colorado was an organized as an incorporated territory of the U.S. which existed from February 28, 1861- August 1, 1876, when it was admitted to Union, as the State of Colorado. Territory Days is an event, a three-day street festival held to commemorate Old Colorado City as the first territorial capital of Colorado.

It starts on Saturday and ends on Monday-Memorial Day. The last couple of years, it has had to contend with perfectly timed, bad weather, which held the crowds to a minimum. Not the case this year. According to the Gazette, this year brought record numbers out to the festival. It is estimated there were approximately 140,000 attending throughout the weekend. Not even a hint of nasty weather this year. The Colorado sun was giving it's best show for the kick off to summer.

If you have never been to Territory Days, it is situated in a one street area, in a small part of Colorado Springs, Westside. Traffic is a mess in this area, on a regular weekend. Putting 140,000 people in there, is a feat in itself. The Colorado Springs Police Dept did an excellent job controlling the traffic situation. As usual, people parked on any side street within walking distance, but this year shuttles were set up all over Colorado Springs. You could park and ride down to the event without dealing with the traffic at the site. They came up with a great idea this year for that. It seemed to make a lot of difference.

From about 20th St. to 29th St, it was vendors, from end to end. Everything from leather belts to Turkey Legs were being sold. Clothes, purses, pictures and more were available for the eager tourists and hometown souls to purchase. The local shops and restaurants were packed and were putting their best foot forward to accommodate all of the people coming through the doors. I am sure anyone, selling anything, throughout the weekend, did pretty good.

I think this is the best Territory Days I have been to, in several years. It seemed much more festive. The beer gardens were open with live entertainment. They had games for great prizes and train & pony rides for the kids. The radio stations of Colorado Springs were well represented and kept the party going in their sections of the event.

My favorite booth is the Funnel Cakes of course. Funnellicious is the vendor that does this event. They had several booths from one end of the street to the other and still you had to be willing to brave the long,long lines to get to that wonderful treat, that is only really good at some festivity such as this.

Territory Days organizers gave visitors a wonderful glimpse into the past with the Old West Gunfights and Cowboys who really did look authentic. Against the backdrop of the mountain and the Old West look of Colorado City, it was a wonderful added entertainment value.

The highlight for the whole weekend was Memorial Day. Assisted by volunteers and fire department ladder trucks, a 30 X 50 ft. American Flag was raised up above the activities during a Memorial Day Ceremony. Colorado Springs is home to thousands of military families. Including this in a celebration of the building of the territory of Colorado, was definitely a moving gesture and something everyone who lives in Colorado Springs will remember, if they attended Territory Days this year.

Territory Days is a wonderful event that kicks off the summer in Colorado Springs. It was fun this year and was blessed with great weather and an amazing turn out. Check out my slide show of the events too.