Fort Collins Transforms Willow Street Into Giant Puppet Parade

Fort Collins is about to turn Willow Street into a circus, and honestly, that is the most logical thing to happen here all week.

We usually expect our Western Slope neighbors to be serious about their agriculture or their skiing. But this weekend, the narrative shifts to the River District, where the goal isn’t efficiency or economic output — it’s whimsy. The event is called WonderCrawl, and it’s a neighborhood party that drags artists, musicians, and giant puppets into the streets for a full afternoon of strange celebrations.

It’s not exactly a hidden gem. It’s right there, under the open sky, between Linden and Willow.

The Colorado Sun reports that the event kicks off with a browse through artists and farmers markets before moving to the courtyard at Wolverine Farm Publick House for live music. Local brewer Hello Brew Company is pushing a special WonderCrawl West Coast IPA, because you can’t have a block party in Colorado without a branded beer. Perelandra Bookshop is hosting a used book sale, and if you’re into the tactile weirdness of printing, there will be risograph demonstrations.

But the part everyone skips past is the puppets.

They are giant. They are coming. The parade starts at 6:45 p.m. and wanders down Willow all the way over to Smokestack Pottery. The invitation is simple: everyone is welcome to join. Costumes are encouraged. No puppet is required, though you’ll likely see plenty of people trying to fit into them.

This isn’t just Fort Collins being quirky. It’s a specific, curated kind of quirky. Joe Deany Braun, who rearranges word magnets on Perelandra’s outdoor patio, is part of the ecosystem that makes these events work. The bookshop and Wolverine Farm host a variety of events throughout the year, from concerts and poetry readings to a lumber jack-and-jill log-sawing contest. WonderCrawl is just the latest iteration of that community-driven chaos.

While Fort Collins is busy with scrap metal sculpture competitions and circus performers, the rest of the state is catching up.

Global Climbing Day is happening on Saturday. Movement gyms around the Front Range are offering free climbing passes, equipment rentals, and fitness classes. That includes free introduction to climbing classes. Professional climbers Andres Marin and Cedar Wright are visiting Movement RiNo to celebrate. It’s free. It’s on July 18. It’s in Boulder, Golden, Englewood, Centennial, Baker, and RiNo.

If you’re driving west, Telluride is hosting an artsy building takeover called Ah Haa Haha. The Ah Haa School for the Arts is turning every space into an immersive installation featuring work from 14 international artists from three countries. You’ll need timed-entry passes, but the visual payoff is steep. For those with young ones, there’s a discounted Little Giggles pass on Sunday.

Green Mountain Falls is also getting its moment. The Green Box Arts Festival is wrapping up, and you can still catch one of five remaining performances by the Oklahoma City Ballet for just $15. There’s an Ikebana workshop if you want to arrange flowers with mathematical precision, or a guided art walk if you just want to look at things.

The point isn’t that these events are life-changing. The point is that they exist.

In a region where we often measure success by snowfall or ski lift tickets, WonderCrawl measures it by how many people show up to watch a giant puppet walk down Willow Street. It’s free. It’s local. It’s happening July 18 from 3 to 9 p.m. at the intersection of Linden and Willow.

Stand there long enough and you’ll see the word magnets on the patio. You’ll smell the IPA. You’ll hear the music. And you’ll realize that sometimes, the best thing to do in Colorado is just stand still and watch the weirdness unfold.