As someone who has gone to the Carnation Festival every year since 2012, I was very pleased with how this year went. In my opinion, it was one of the most successful years of the Carnation Festival with the rides, food, and games!

Despite seeing no fireworks, due to fire restrictions in this area, I still observed  everyone having an amazing time and enjoying themselves as seen in this photo. This photo shows the festival being packed with people as if it were a concert. 

The Carnation Festival had over 1,000 people walking around, riding rides, and waiting in line over the 3 day period. On August 10th during night the lines were crazy packed with people wanting to enjoy the rides.

The carnation festival included various rides including but not limited to, the Zipper, the Kamikaze, the ferris wheel, and the Star Dancer. 

If you like crazy and exotic rides you would have love the Zipper! The Zipper takes riders 56 feet in the air and flips them around and around while the boom rotates 360°. The Zipper is a high-capacity, easy loading thrill ride for the bravest of patrons and thrill seekers. It was a long ride compared to other rides at the carnation festival, about 2 Minutes of enjoying your time in a small cart with your friend.

When asking the people who went to The Carnation festival about the Zipper carnival ride, Kaydence Hostert said, “That ride was really scary at first, kinda gave the butterfly feelings effect, but once you get on and start going, it’s the best time.”

 Cirenity Aragon said, “When I first went on it, I was really scared and worried, but once I went on it, it was so fun. Being able to smile and it was really exotic but it was a scary fun experience.” 

The history of the festival, however, is way more interesting and complex. The Wheat Ridge Carnation Festival just passed its half-century mark and it is one of the longest running festivals in Colorado. Back in the post WWII period Wheat Ridge was home to a thriving carnation industry. 

The carnation festival had changed so much throughout the years. In 2023, there were around 50,000 attendees at Anderson Park throughout the weekend. Now a three day festival, it attracts residents and visitors from around the state. The festival is and has been a long-time supporter of many local Wheat Ridge focused nonprofits, service clubs, as well as student and senior organizations. 

Though the carnation festival has changed their ways from 1969 to 2024 and still continues to thrive and improve in so many ways. The city of Wheat Ridge was incorporated and officially became a city on August 15, 1969. In honor of the city’s birthday, the area’s agricultural history (the Wheat Ridge High School sports teams are the Farmers) and carnation production, a festival was born. 

In the 1960s, the city had 32 different carnation growers and sent flowers to the White House every Monday morning. The bouquet was displayed in the front foyer with a card stating: “With compliments to our nation’s capital, Wheat Ridge Colorado, Carnation City,” per the Wheat Ridge Historical Society. The city’s moniker as being the “Carnation City,” prompted a group of people to organize an official agricultural and floricultural weekend celebration. As a result, the Carnation Festival and Parade became an annual tradition, first held on 38th Avenue. 

The parade remains on 38th Avenue, with a brief hiatus to 44th Avenue at one point. The parade over the years has featured floats with mounds of carnations from the local growers. The greenhouses are gone, but the connections to the past remain. The world now receives its carnations primarily from South America. The festival itself has had a few sites since the beginning, until finding its present home at Anderson Park. Like so many traditions, occasions and festivals, finding the exact origins of the festival and historical specifics are as steeped in unknowns as the carnation flower itself. So many of the city’s founders and festival originators have passed, but their legacy continues with smiles and fond memories.