Businesses along South Broadway in Denver are gearing up for a surge in customers as the city's Halloween parade returns this weekend.
The event is expected to draw thousands of attendees, following other community gatherings that have already increased foot traffic and sales for local shops, restaurants, and music venues.
According to Caitlin Braun, executive director of the Broadway General Improvement District, about 40,000 people attended last year's parade.
She noted that the parade is traditionally one of the busiest days of the year for bars and restaurants along the corridor.
Braun also highlighted Porchfest as an example of how community events can drive significant business.
She said 404 had its busiest day ever during the festival, underscoring the economic impact of bringing new visitors to the neighborhood.
As the district's executive director, Braun believes the growing calendar of festivals is helping introduce South Broadway to people who might not otherwise visit the area.
"Historically, the parade has been one of the busiest days of the year, if not the busiest for most of the bars and restaurants on the street," Braun said.
"I do know that some people set record days and sales from Porchfest.
I know 404 had their busiest day of all time for Porchfest, so bringing new festivals, new people, new foot traffic to the street is super impactful for these small businesses."
Braun said the neighborhood's atmosphere has changed, with new events contributing to a stronger sense of momentum.
She also mentioned that stadiums are expected to be built on both sides of Broadway within the next few years.
"There was a narrative for a long time that things were not good here, but that's not the narrative that I'm seeing here on the ground.
I live here, and I work here every day, and you can kind of feel the excitement building; new festivals are coming.
We're going to have stadiums on either side of us within a few years, like the time is right for Broadway," Braun said.
At Electric Dream Boutique, owner Adrienne Scott-Trask is preparing to welcome parade visitors of all ages.
The store sells western wear, vintage items, and Halloween-themed merchandise, and Scott-Trask considers the parade one of her favorite local events.
"It just brings in new people and when the right people find us and are excited about us and we know that they're going to come back later, aside from just the event, that's really amazing," Scott-Trask said.
Scott-Trask expects the event to require an especially long day at the store.
She said the parade ranks among the most enjoyable events of the year for her personally.
"Tomorrow will be a 15-hour workday for me. Yeah, it's going to be a long one, but it will be amazing for me," said Scott-Trask.
"I would say probably the top 1 or 2 events of the year for me personally, just from the enjoyment factor."
Hi-Dive owner Matthew Clark is also preparing for the crowds.
This year, the music venue will have its first float in the Halloween parade, adding another opportunity to introduce visitors to the business and the surrounding neighborhood.
"It's very exciting. We love all the festivals.
The festivals bring people down here to see what we're doing all the time, so it's a fun way to get all these people down here for Halloween and they're like, 'Oh, this place is great.
Let's come down here on other weekends and do our shopping and our hanging out and our dining and our drinking and seeing live music and seeing art.'
So we love all this stuff, with more eyes we can get on South Broadway the better," Clark said.
Clark took over Hi-Dive in 2012, and the venue has been part of the South Broadway business community for 23 years.
He said recent events have helped showcase the area's independent businesses, coffee shops, vintage stores, bars, and live music venues.
"There's a real community here and hanging out at the coffee shops, hanging out in the vintage stores, hanging out at the bars, hanging out at the music venues.
There's like a real sense of camaraderie and togetherness that is really special and it's been like that for a long time, so the fact that this summer and this fall, we're getting a lot of eyes on it is really special," Clark said.
