Colorado Springs signature events, explained
The annual events that define the Pikes Peak calendar — what each one actually is, how the logistics work, and the local tricks that make the difference. Live listings appear on each guide when this year's dates hit the calendar.
Cripple Creek Ice Festival 2027
Every February, Cripple Creek — the historic gold-mining town an hour's mountain drive west of Colorado Springs — lines its main street with massive carved-ice sculptures, many of them interactive, all of them free to wander.
Territory Days 2027
Territory Days is Colorado Springs' unofficial start of summer: three days over Memorial Day weekend when Old Colorado City closes Colorado Avenue to traffic and fills it with hundreds of vendors, multiple music stages, street food, and Old West flavor — gunfight reenactments included.
Pikes Peak International Hill Climb 2027
The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb — the "Race to the Clouds" — is the second-oldest motor race in America, run since 1916. Cars launch one at a time up the Pikes Peak Highway: 12.42 miles, 156 turns, finishing at the 14,115-foot summit.
Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo 2027
The Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo has been a Colorado Springs institution for more than eight decades — a July run of professional rodeo performances with strong military ties and a downtown parade that kicks off rodeo week.
Fourth of July in Colorado Springs 2027
Colorado Springs does the Fourth of July as a region-wide, multi-show event: displays across the city and surrounding towns, daytime community celebrations, and — this being Colorado — an evening thunderstorm wildcard.
Pikes Peak Ascent & Marathon 2026
Every August, Manitou Springs becomes the center of the mountain-running world. The Pikes Peak Ascent climbs from town to the 14,115-foot summit — roughly half-marathon distance with nearly 8,000 feet of gain — and the Pikes Peak Marathon does it and then runs back down.
Labor Day Lift Off 2026
Labor Day Lift Off is Colorado Springs' most photogenic event: dozens of hot-air balloons launching at dawn over Memorial Park and Prospect Lake across Labor Day weekend, many of them dipping to skim the water on their way out.
Emma Crawford Coffin Races 2026
Once a year, Manitou Springs closes its main street so costumed teams can sprint decorated coffins down it. The Emma Crawford Coffin Races honor a local legend — Emma Crawford, buried on Red Mountain in the 1890s, whose coffin famously washed down the mountainside decades later.
Festival of Lights Parade 2026
The Festival of Lights Parade is downtown Colorado Springs' holiday season opener — an evening parade of illuminated floats, marching bands, and dance groups moving down Tejon Street in front of one of the city's biggest sidewalk crowds of the year.
Electric Safari 2026
Electric Safari is Cheyenne Mountain Zoo's December signature: the mountainside zoo strung with more than a million lights and animated light sculptures, with select animal exhibits open into the evening and the city's lights spread out below.