The big event in Denver every Labor Day Weekend is The Taste of Colorado. It attracts half a million people over it's three day run, and I think all of them showed up Saturday afternoon while I was there. The event takes place in Civic Center Park in downtown Denver, and while the crowds were lining up at the food booths, the homeless - who usually inhabit the park - were camped just outside the perimeter, adding a poignant touch to the event. There were other kinds of booths at the festival, too, selling things only a crazy person would buy, and it looked to me like they were doing a brisk business. I used to call this event A Taste of Tattoos, due to so many people walking around covered in ink, but this year, for some reason, most of the people seemed to be tattooless. Is that particular fad dying out, or was this just a flook? Beats me.
The big draw on Saturday were the music groups, which included Grand Funk Railroad, Kool and the Gang, and KC and the Sunshine Band. I was there for the start of Kool and the Gang's show, and took the photograph on the right of the crowd. All I have to say - and I don't mean this as a criticism, mind you - is that there are a lot of strange rangers in Denver. There were so many people in the audience that it was virtually impossible to move through the crowd. It was a tremendous relief when I finally made it to the main walkway and had room to breath. In the past, summer would begin here in Denver with the People's Fair in June and end with the Taste of Colorado in September. However, the Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods Organization (CHUN) sold the rights to the People's Fair to a for profit company to get the money to buy an historic mansion for their headquarters, and when the company did not make money from the People's Fair, canceled it this year. Sadly, so many things these days are all about money. Big surprise, right?
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