Things to Do in Denver in September 2026

September in Denver is the month locals low-key beg out-of-towners not to find out about. The heat breaks, the sky goes that deep blue you only get once the humidity (what little there was) clears out, and you get warm 75-80 degree days with actual cool nights, the kind where you want a flannel by 9pm. Mornings can dip into the 50s, especially toward the end of the month when the aspens up in the mountains start turning and everyone's suddenly talking about leaf-peeping day trips.

It's also the last real stretch of patio season before Denver flips the switch to sweater weather, so restaurants and rooftop bars are busy basically every night of the week, not just weekends. And Red Rocks goes absolutely feral in September. Check the calendar below and you'll see there's a show almost every single night from the 1st through the 30th. That's not an exaggeration, that's just how the amphitheater closes out its outdoor season.

Labor Day weekend kicks things off loud (literally, with three nights of shows at Red Rocks and a giant food festival downtown), and the month closes with a run of shows that'll wreck your sleep schedule in the best way. If you're the type who buys tickets the week of, you'll be fine for most of this. If you want a specific artist or the food festival's better vendor lines, book now.

The Big Ones

A Taste of Colorado 2026
Sep 5, Civic Center Park
This is Denver's biggest Labor Day weekend tradition, over 50 Colorado restaurants set up in the park, plus multiple stages of live music running all day. It's free to walk in but you buy tickets for food and drinks, so bring cash or a card and expect lines at the popular stalls by early afternoon.

Gregory Alan Isakov with the Colorado Symphony
Sep 6-7, Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Isakov is a Colorado guy through and through, and pairing his songs with a full symphony at Red Rocks is the kind of show that sells out both nights well ahead of time. If you've been putting off seeing him live, this is the version to see.

Brandi Carlile
Sep 11-13, Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Three straight nights at Red Rocks tells you everything about how big this run is. Carlile's shows there have a reputation for turning into full-on singalongs, and with three dates to choose from you've got better odds of snagging a ticket than most of this list.

Global Dance Festival
Sep 11-12, Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Denver's biggest EDM weekend takes over Red Rocks for two nights. Expect a young, loud, glowstick-heavy crowd and a lineup built for people who like their bass heavy and their nights long.

Andrea Bocelli
Sep 20-21, Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Bocelli at Red Rocks is one of those bucket list combos, a world class tenor in a natural rock amphitheater. Both nights tend to sell out, and this is the kind of show where people fly in just for the weekend.

Atmosphere & FRIENDS: COLORADO
Sep 19, Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Atmosphere headlines, but the supporting lineup is stacked: 3OH!3, Slick Rick, Z-Trip, RA the Rugged Man. It's a hip hop and turntablism night that spans three decades in one show.

Coheed and Cambria: Neverender Rocks
Sep 29, Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Neverender shows are Coheed's deep dive format where they play through specific albums start to finish, so this isn't your standard greatest hits set. Turnover and The Home Team open.

CEDIA Expo 2026
Sep 1-4, Colorado Convention Center (exhibit hall open Sep 2-4)
This is the big annual smart home and AV tech expo, mostly industry folks and installers, but if you're into home theater or automation gear it's worth a day pass just to see what's coming.

Week by Week

Early September

An Evening With Goose
Sep 1, 7pm, Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Goose kicks off the month's Red Rocks run with an "evening with" format, meaning no opener, just a long, jam-heavy set from the band themselves.

GRiZ
Sep 2-3, 5:30pm, Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Two nights of GRiZ's funk-soaked electronic sets right after Goose. If you're doing a Labor Day weekend Red Rocks run, this back to back stretch is the move.

MANÁ
Sep 4-5, 8:30pm, Red Rocks Amphitheatre
The Mexican rock legends play two nights right as Taste of Colorado wraps up downtown, so it's an easy double header weekend if you time your Saturday right.

Five Finger Death Punch
Sep 8, 6:45pm, Red Rocks Amphitheatre
With Cody Jinks and Eva Under Fire opening. Heavier than most of what's on the calendar this month, good pick if you want your Red Rocks night with a little more distortion.

Cole Swindell
Sep 9, 6:30pm, Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Country night with BlackHawk and Zach John King opening. This one leans younger and rowdier than a typical country show, expect a lot of singing along.

Mid-September

SOFI TUKKER
Sep 10, 7pm, Red Rocks Amphitheatre
High energy dance-pop that turns Red Rocks into one giant party. Wear shoes you don't mind dancing in for two hours straight.

NEEDTOBREATHE
Sep 14, 7pm, Red Rocks Amphitheatre
With Drew and Ellie Holcomb opening, this is a Sunday night show built for people who want good harmonies and an early enough end time to still function Monday.

Role Model Presents: Chuck On Tour
Sep 16, 7:30pm, Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Samia opens. Role Model's been building a serious following the last couple years, and this tour's been selling well in other cities, so don't wait on this one.

Get The Led Out
Sep 17, 7:30pm, Red Rocks Amphitheatre
The Led Zeppelin tribute act that actually sounds like a full band recreating the records, not a cover band. Good pick if you missed your window to see the real thing.

Lily Allen Performs West End Girl
Sep 18, 8pm, Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Lily Allen doing a full performance of her album West End Girl, front to back. Not a greatest hits night, more of a proper listening show.

Late September

Foster The People: Good Mourning Sunshine Tour
Sep 22, 8pm, Red Rocks Amphitheatre
With The Beaches opening. Foster The People's catalog goes way deeper than "Pumped Up Kicks" at this point, and Red Rocks is the right room for it.

Bleachers
Sep 23, 7:30pm, Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Jack Antonoff's band with American Football opening, an unexpectedly great pairing of arena-size hooks and quieter emo revival stuff.

Hasan Minhaj & Ronny Chieng
Sep 24, 7:30pm, Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Comedy at Red Rocks is always a different vibe, less concert energy, more crowd control. Both comedians are sharp on current events, so expect a lot of stuff you'll want to text your group chat about.

Big Gigantic
Sep 26, 6pm, Red Rocks Amphitheatre
With The Funk Hunters, Motifv, and Drew Birch opening, this is a full night of live electronic sets, the kind of lineup that starts early and keeps going.

JUNGLE
Sep 27-28, 7:30pm, Red Rocks Amphitheatre
JUNGLE's live shows lean heavy on choreography and horns, way more of a full production than most bands touring right now. Two nights, so if one sells out try the other.

The Backseat Lovers
Sep 30, 7pm, Red Rocks Amphitheatre
With Friko opening, this closes out the month on an indie rock note before things get quieter into October.

Any Day That Works

Red Rocks is basically running a show every night this month, so if you're the type who decides same-week, you've got options constantly. But for the nights you want something smaller, lower stakes, and easier to grab tickets for last minute, these club shows are the move.

HorsegiirL
Sep 18, Reelworks Denver
A smaller room, DJ set, good one for a Friday when you don't want to commit to a full Red Rocks night.

Ninajirachi
Sep 19-20, Ogden Theatre
Two nights at the Ogden, which is one of the better mid-size rooms in the city for a dance-leaning show.

Channel Tres
Sep 22, Ogden Theatre
Bass-heavy, groove-driven set, good for a weeknight if you want live music without the Red Rocks parking situation.

Prospa
Sep 25, Mission Ballroom
Mission Ballroom's sound system is legitimately one of the best in the city, worth checking whatever's on the calendar there most weekends.

Ivy Lab
Sep 25, Ogden Theatre
Same night as Prospa across town, so pick your genre and go. Ivy Lab leans darker and more bass-forward.

Gareth Emery
Sep 5, Mission Ballroom
Falls right on Taste of Colorado weekend, so it's an easy add if you want to turn one Saturday into an all-day, all-night thing downtown.

The always-current calendar lives at /events.