Gold Rush Days: The 126th Annual Celebration Of Mining, Americana And The Wild West Comes to Colorado

The sleepy mountain mining town of Victor, Colorado is celebrating its 126th year of Gold Rush Days! Starting on the third Friday of each July, the main street of Victor comes alight with live music, food, beer, a tractor pull, sideshow performances, a parade, and even mining games!

"Victor has done this for 125 years," says Adam Zimmerli, owner of Victor's Black Monarch Hotel. Zimmerli was newly appointed as the festival's promotions and marketing director by Victor's Business Alliance. He brings years of marketing and promotion experience from Denver's award-winning Bender's Tavern and the Oriental Theater to spearhead this event. "The beauty of this festival is its authenticity, thanks to the extremely well-preserved Victorian-era main street of Victor. We want all ages of festival-goers to feel as though they're stepping into the past."

Victor has the long term goal of growing Gold Rush Days into a modern camping festival capable of accommodating up to 10,000 attendants over the next decade while preserving its roots by integrating county fair and old-timey carnival features. All of the event's heritage components will be preserved for 2020 and into the future; this year, a silent disco with DJs, food trucks, plus a new marketing program will all be added.

The festival is calling all performers around Colorado to submit their applications to goldrushdaysbooking@gmail.com by June 1st, 2020.

Zimmerli says, "This is an opportunity for local artists to get in on the ground level of this newly-retooled festival. We're looking for artists and vendors to get involved for the next ten years, and grow with us."

Submission guidelines include:

• BANDS/MUSICIANS/SINGERS: Americana, bluegrass, rock, western, outlaw country, Denver sound, folk, blues, cabaret, eclectic, unique, anything vintage or with a fiddle...
• DJs: Vintage/retro, hip hop, house/disco, eclectic/other
• PERFORMERS: circus, variety, cabaret, sideshow, burlesque, aerial, dance troupes, carnival acts
• VENDORS: food trucks, craftspeople, taxidermy, gem and mineral, oddities and curiosities, antiques and vintage

Along with food and beer vendors, the festival will boast some particularly Gold Rush-era attractions such as mining games--mucking and rock breaking--plus a vintage-styled baseball game, historic home and building tours, and an old-timey parade where all are welcome to participate. Having a float or walking the parade will be free for anyone to participate. To participate in the parade, email taylorcwa@gmail.com by June 1st, 2020.

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