Impact at our Venues

The Arts Complex hosted 2,220 events with 1,320,999 in attendance. 

The Colorado Ballet commissioned choreographer Yoshihisa Arai to create a powerful & moving new ballet set to Rachmaninoff's "Piano Concerto No. 2." 

Cynthia Erivo delivered a breathtaking performance to a sold-out crowd at the Colorado Symphony's Frontier Gala. 

The Denver Center for the Performing Arts Theatre Company produced a wildly successful six-week run of “Little Shop of Horrors.” 

Opera Colorado’s fall production of “La traviata” was a resounding success. 

Dazzle sold over 44,000 tickets to over 800 shows 

Olive & Finch opened in May and has quickly become a culinary favorite and gathering space at the Arts Complex.  

The Catrinas en mi Ciudad immersive cultural art exhibit transformed the Galleria this fall in celebration of Día de Muertos. 

Thousands flocked to Sculpture Park this April for some fun in the sun at a pop-up show from OPIUO and Detox Unit in advance of their Red Rocks appearance. 

In the early 2000s, a major renovation project transformed the Ellie Caulkins Opera House into a world-class theatre. Twenty years later, in 2025, DAV celebrated the rebirth of the opera house with a new stage that makes the venue even more accessible and state-of-the-art for our partners. Read the full story here!  

Red Rocks ranked as Billboard Magazine’s second-most attended venue in the United States – the only venue in the top 10 that’s outdoors, operates seasonally and has a capacity under 15,000 seats. 

There were 1.75 million ticketed guests and over one million leisure visitors (raccoons not included in this number). 

Bono stopped by to catch the final night of Martin Garrix’s three-night debut run in October – just shy of 42 years after Red Rocks history was made with the release of “U2 Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky" 

There were 236 events (204 concerts, 9 graduation ceremonies, 15 fitness events including Yoga on the Rocks and SnowShape, 5 Film on the Rocks and 3 others) 

Red Rocks hosted 559 individual performers in 2025 

• 50 debut headline performances 

• 19 shows from Red Rocks Hall of Fame inductees (10 performers) 

• 9 Trail Mix Sessions  

Widespread Panic shattered their own record for most shows, hitting 75 performances with their three-night run in 2025. 

Our waste diversion rate was 55%, eliminating 675.64 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent from the atmosphere (equivalent to conserving 76,026 gallons of gasoline, according to the EPA’s waste reduction model tool).  

DAV completed the first phase of enhancements to the Visitor Center, with plans for more in 2026.  

The Theatre at Loretto Heights renovation continues to advance through final pre-construction phase, with design, engineering and permitting work largely complete. With these foundational elements in place, the project is now preparing to move into construction.

Three community meetings were held in 2025 where we unveiled design renderings, shared project timelines and more.  

The theatre project celebrated a major milestone with the passage of the 2025 Vibrant Denver Bond measure. Combined with an additional $15 million investment from Denver Arts & Venues, the $4 million in bond funding ensures theatregoers will have access to a brand-new parking structure from day one!

The venue hosted 71 events with 382,164 total attendance. The Coliseum also celebrated the 119th National Western Stock Show and the 49th Denver March Powwow and Disney on Ice stole the hearts of many.   

Our promoting partner AEG booked two shows in unique spaces at the Coliseum, including Project 70, Turnstile and Chase & Status.  

Arena football returned to Denver with the Colorado Spartans taking up residency at the Denver Coliseum. Though they were knocked out of the playoffs by the Omaha Beef, the Spartans still took home the National Arena League’s Defensive Player of the Year and Special Teams Player of the Year awards. 

The venue held 45 events with 14,279 in total attendance 

We hosted three art exhibitions: 

• “Fiber Art Today,” featuring a variety of contemporary Colorado artists 

• “Fashion Photography in Denver” in partnership with Denver Fashion Week 

• “Colorado Perspectives: Visions in Photography” in partnership with Colorado Photographic Arts Center (CPAC) Month of Photography 

In alignment with Mayor Mike Johnston’s goal to create a vibrant Downtown Denver and the Civic Center Master Plan, DAV will be transitioning the McNichols Civic Center Building throughout 2026. It’s been used primarily as an event-based venue and exhibit space, but will transition to a more actively programmed public space. Planned activations will include a museum on the second floor (the Boettcher Cultural Pavilion), a restaurant and outdoor patio, an arts marketplace and a potential artist in-residence pilot program on the first floor with the third floor continuing to serve as an event space.  

In 2025 the Convention Center held 181 events with over 740,000 attendees.

• The International and National Association and Tradeshow Convention booked events delivered standout results with $677,518,247 in economic impact and more than 531,000 hotel night stays.
• In 2025, the Center welcomed 181 events and 740,277 attendees—generating $35,698,101 in revenue. High-profile gatherings like Trade Desk Palooza, the AAP National Conference & Exhibition, and the IACP Annual Conference (among many others) helped fuel continued revenue growth. 
• The Bluebird Ballroom has been a powerful driver of new business, enabling 30 bookings that otherwise could not have met in Denver and generating $453 million in economic impact. 

Recognized in: Pollstar Magazine’s Top 200 Theatre Venues award, a Stella Award, Best of Colorado and the VISIT Denver Mile High Energy Award in 2025. 

The Center partnered with Colorado Music Hall of Fame to define an exhibit space at the Center, to allow attendees, visitors and all who come through the Center to have an engaging experience with Colorado Music Hall of Fame history and exhibits.