Boulder Creek Festival — Music & Street Fair

Boulder’s Boulder Creek Festival is underway through Monday, May 25, with four days of music, food, shopping and family programming stretched along Boulder Creek from 9th to 14th streets. The festival’s official site lists May 22-25 dates and says the event includes more than 30 bands on three stages, 200-plus artisans and more than 30 restaurants. Downtown Boulder’s event calendar says general admission is free and lists hours from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday. ### Where is the festival actually set up? Westword’s weekend events listing places the festival along Boulder Creek between 9th and 14th streets in Boulder. Downtown Boulder’s calendar lists Central Park as the location, which places the event around the creek corridor and bandshell area used for major city festivals. The official Boulder Creek Festival site identifies the event as a Memorial Day weekend festival in Boulder, and radio station KBCO’s calendar uses the same footprint, describing the site as 9th Street to 14th Street between Canyon Boulevard and Arapahoe Avenue. (bouldercreekfest.com) ### What can people expect once they get there? The festival website says the 2026 edition includes 30-plus bands, three stages, 200-plus artisans and more than 30 restaurants. (westword.com) Downtown Boulder describes it as a free public event with multiple activity areas, hundreds of vendors and performance stages featuring music and dance. Westword said the weekend lineup includes a Friday kickoff concert at the bandshell, live music through the weekend, family activities and hundreds of artisans and other vendors. (bouldercreekfest.com) Its listing also said movies tied to the Sundance Film Festival were scheduled for Saturday and Sunday. KBCO’s event calendar adds several named attractions, including Creekside Beer Fest, StreetWise Art Battle, Skate Jam and Creekside for Kids. (bouldercreekfest.com) Those items match the official site’s event tabs for beer, kids, artists, food and shopping. ### Is it free, and are there any catches? Downtown Boulder says the festival is free to the public. (westword.com) Westword also included the event in its roundup of free things to do over Memorial Day weekend. The official site separates general festival access from specialty programming by listing individual event categories such as Beer Fest. That suggests some add-on activities may have separate ticketing even though the main street fair is open to the public. (kbco.iheart.com) ### How long has this festival been around? Downtown Boulder says Boulder Creek Festival has been running for more than 30 years. (boulderdowntown.com) Boulder’s tourism site calls it a weekend tradition for over 35 years and describes it as the city’s unofficial kickoff to summer. The event is produced by Team Player Productions, according to the copyright line on the official festival site. (bouldercreekfest.com) Colorado.com says the festival is presented by the City of Boulder. ### When should people go? Downtown Boulder lists the clearest day-by-day schedule: Friday, May 22, from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday, May 23, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday, May 24, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; and Monday, May 25, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (boulderdowntown.com) Westword’s listing gives the same Saturday-through-Monday hours and starts Friday at 4 p.m. Monday, May 25, is the final day of the 2026 festival. (bouldercreekfest.com) Organizers’ schedules, maps and event details are posted on the Boulder Creek Festival website, while Downtown Boulder and local event listings carry the public hours and location details. (boulderdowntown.com)