First Friday Festivals at RiNo ArtPark

An event series celebrating RiNo’s artists, spaces & community

First Friday in RiNo Art District always has a special vibe to it. The sidewalks crowd with people. Music fills the air. Vendors set up on the street. Galleries display dynamic new work, while artist studios open their doors to offer a peek into their creative process.

This summer, that familiar rhythm gathers in a new way at the ArtPark at Arkins Park, where the district’s long-running art walk expands into a series of festivals designed to celebrate and amplify that energy.

The First Friday Festival series at ArtPark creates a central place to begin (or return to), while still encouraging the kind of wandering that defines a First Friday. It’s a chance to experience the district both as a whole and in its smaller, more personal moments: a conversation with an artist, a song that pulls you in, something unexpected you didn’t plan to find.

At the center of it all is the ArtPark itself: a space shaped by adaptive reuse and ongoing collaboration, where studios, exhibitions, and public life intersect. Over the course of the season, each festival will bring a different mix of musicians, artists, vendors, food and drink, and hands-on experiences that reflect the many ways creativity shows up across the district.

The series officially kicked off on May 1 with an opening celebration featuring live music from Denver trio Chouette, interactive storytelling and immersive theater workshops led by Courtney Ozaki-Durgin, local art and food vendors, and In the Studio, an exhibition highlighting artists connected to RiNo Art District’s subsidized studio programs.

Each festival moving forward builds on that foundation while introducing new collaborators, performances, and experiences throughout the year, including partnerships with organizations like the Denver Fringe Festival and a continually evolving mix of artists and vendors.

Beyond the ArtPark, the wider district continues to come alive every First Friday with open studios, exhibitions, murals, galleries, and creative businesses all contributing to the atmosphere that has defined RiNo for decades.

“The RiNo Art District exists to support the artists, makers, and creative businesses that shape this community, by amplifying their work and advocating for their place here,” says Executive Director Daisy Fodness-McGowan. "With our First Friday Festival series, we’re inviting people to gather at RiNo’s ArtPark, a truly special space, and experience the depth of creativity that lives here, side by side with the artists who make it.”

Upcoming festival dates include June 5 (Denver Fringe Festival), August 7, September 4, October 2, and December 4.

Learn more about the First Friday Festival series