Let the party begin … Colorado celebrates 150th in 2026

Colorado is throwing itself a lengthy and lively birthday bash and people in this country are welcome to participate.

This year marks the 150th anniversary of Colorado becoming a state and ongoing festivities await those planning to visit the jurisdiction, according to Andrea Blankenship, deputy director, international tourism, of the Colorado Tourism Office.

“We’re going to have celebrations throughout the year,” she said during a Tuesday tourism office event in Toronto..

Those festivities include drone shows.

Celebrations culminate on Aug. 1, which Blankenship labeled the “official birthday” of the 150th anniversary. That day will, among other things, see people simultaneously climb the state’s 58 mountains that top 4,200 meters.

Tourism office director Tim Wolfe told the Toronto gathering that his state’s attributes include over 30 ski resorts in a part of the world that he described as a “four-season destination,” adding fall is “just spectacular” in the state.

Colorado is also home for 4 national parks and its Western heritage is very visible, with tourists able to have an “authentic Western experience” on a ranch, he continued.

Colorado sees 300 days of sunshine, he added.

The evening also saw a video address by Colorado Gov. Jared Polis who praised ties between this country and his state, adding March 15 has been declared Colorado-Canada Friendship Day in Colorado.

The Colorado delegation also included Katy Schneider of Visit Fort Collins,  who told those on hand that downtown Fort Collins was the inspiration for Disney’s Main Street U.S.A., while Jessica Russel of Visit Estes Park — found 90 minutes from Denver — is home to different wildlife, including a large elk population, with the elk sometimes gathering in roads.. “We call it an elk jam,” she said.

Estes Park is also home to the Stanley Hotel, which inspired horror novelist Stephen King’s The Shining. “If you’re looking for something less haunted we have everything from rustic cabins to upscale resorts,” she added.

Air Canada now links Denver from Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.

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Tim Wolfe, Julie Dufault, and Andrea Blankenship of the Colorado Tourism Office stand with a cake commemorating Colorado’s 150th anniversary during their Toronto visit.