Apollo Hall opened quickly after the city's founding in 1859
and staged many plays for eager settlers. In the 1880s Horace Tabor built
Denver's first Opera House. After the start of the 20th century, city leaders
embarked on a city beautification program that created many of the city's
parks, parkways, museums, and the Municipal Auditorium, which was home to the
1908 Democratic National Convention and is now known as the Ellie CaulkinsOpera House. Denver and the metropolitan areas around it continued to support
culture. In 1988, voters in the Denver Metropolitan Area approved the
Scientific and Cultural Facilities Tax (commonly known as SCFD), a 1 cent sales
tax that contributes money to various cultural and scientific facilities and
organizations throughout the Metro area. The tax was renewed by voters in 1994
and 2004 and allows the SCFD to operate until 2018.
Denver is home to many nationally recognized museums,
including a new wing for the Denver Art Museum by world-renowned architect
Daniel Libeskind, the second largest Performing arts center in the nation after
Lincoln Center in New York City and bustling neighborhoods such as LoDo, filled
with art galleries, restaurants, bars and clubs. That is part of the reason why
Denver was recently recognized for the third year in a row as the best city for
singles. Denver's neighborhoods also continue their influx of diverse people
and businesses while the city's cultural institutions grow and prosper. The
city acquired the estate of abstract expressionist painter Clyfford Still in
2004 and plans to build a museum to exhibit his works near the Denver Art
Museum by 2010. The Denver Museum of Nature and Science currently holds an
aquamarine specimen valued at over one million dollars, as well as specimens of
the state mineral, rhodochrosite. Every September the Colorado Convention
Center at 451 E. 58th Avenue hosts a gem and mineral show.
While Denver may not be as recognized for historical musical
prominence as some other American cities, it still manages to have a very
active pop, jazz, jam, folk, and classical music scene, which has nurtured
several artists and genres to regional, national, and even international
attention. Of particular note is Denver's importance in the folk scene of the
1960s and 1970s. Well-known folk artists such as Bob Dylan, Judy Collins and
John Denver lived in Denver at various points during this time, and performed
at local clubs. Also, three members of the widely popular group Earth, Wind,
and Fire are from Denver. More recent Denver-based artists include The Lumineers,
Air Dubai, The Fray, Flobots, Cephalic Carnage, Axe Murder Boyz, Deuce Mob, and
Five Iron Frenzy.
Because of its proximity to the mountains, and generally
sunny weather, Denver has gained a reputation as being a very active, outdoor
oriented city. Many Denver residents spend the weekends in the mountains;
either skiing in the winter or hiking, climbing, kayaking and camping in the
summer.
Additionally, Denver and the surrounding cities of the Front
Range are home to a large number of local and national breweries. Many
restaurants in the region have on-site breweries, and some of the larger
brewers, including Coors and the New Belgium Brewing Company, offer tours. The
city also welcomes visitors from around the world when it hosts the annual
Great American Beer Festival each fall.
Denver used to be a major trading center for beef and
livestock when ranchers would drive (or later transport) cattle to the Denver
Union Stockyards for sale. As a celebration of that history, each year for more
than a century, Denver hosts the National Western Stock Show, attracting as
many as 10,000 animals and 700,000 attendees. The National Western Stock Show
is held every January at the National Western Complex, northeast of downtown.
Denver hosts four large Mexican American celebrations: Cinco
de Mayo (with over 500,000 attendees),in May, El Grito de la Independencia, in
September, the annual Lowrider show, and the Dia De Los Muertos art
shows/events in North Denver's Highland neighborhood, and the Lincoln Park
neighborhood in the original section of West Denver.
Denver is also famous for its dedication to New Mexican
cuisine and the Chile. It's best known for its Green and Red Chile sauce,
Colorado Burrito, Southwest (Denver) Omelette, Breakfast Burrito, Chiles
rellenos, and Tamales most notably. Denver has a very large population of
Mexican Americans (one of the country's largest), and is famous for many other
southwest cuisine dishes as well. Denver is also well known for other types of
food such as, Rocky Mountain oysters, Rainbow trout, and the Denver sandwich.
The Dragon Boat Festival in July, Moon Festival in September
and Chinese New Year are annual events in Denver for the Chinese and Asian
residents. Chinese hot pot (huo guo) and Korean BBQ restaurants have been
growing in popularity. The Denver area has 2 Chinese newspapers, the Chinese
American Post and the Colorado Chinese News.
Denver is also the setting for The Bill Engvall Show, and
the setting for the 18th season of MTV's The Real World. It was also the
setting for the prime time drama Dynasty from 1981 to 1989 (although the show
was mostly filmed in Los Angeles). From 1998 to 2002, the city's Alameda East
Veterinary Hospital was home to the Animal Planet series Emergency Vets, which
spun off three one-off documentary specials and the current Animal Planet
series E-Vet Interns. The city is also the setting for the Disney Channel
Original TV Show, Good Luck Charlie, which is currently in its third season.
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