St Patrick's Day in Denver

Denver will be celebrating St Patrick's Day with a Western twist on March 11, 2006.

While Boston and New York celebrate the festival in a more traditional style, Denver adds some good ol' Western flair to the proceedings, with horses and stagecoaches joining in alongside the floats and marching bands.

Widely recognized as one of the best St Patrick's Day celebrations in the country, the Denver parade can also claim to be the biggest west of the Mississippi. With 44 years' experience, the parade organizers certainly know how to put on a party.

Themed as an "Irish Mardi Gras", the parade kicks off in downtown at 10am and is expected to finish by 2pm. Those hoping to party the night away can also apply for tickets to the coronation ball of the carnival queen.

Visitors to the Colorado city will be offered more than just a parade, however, with a host of sporting, cultural and artistic attractions entertaining visitors all year round. Denver is always true to its Western heritage and can lay claim to some of the best rodeos and frontier-themed celebrations in the country. Visitors with a penchant for cowboy boots will have to hurry to catch the city's annual stock show, but those returning in the summer will be treated to the Cheyenne Frontier Days event, the largest rodeo in the world.

Denver is also perfect for those who want to combine a love of the outdoors with the buzz of a big city. Featuring the largest park system in the country, 90 golf courses and 650 of bike trails, Denver has much to offer the more energetic traveler. The city's real attraction remains its idyllic location; nestled among the Rocky Mountains, the city's streets offer an impressive panorama of the mountains

Visitors flock to its bustling downtown district, filled with street cafes, shops and hanging baskets. Denver can also lay some claim to being a party town; as the city brews more than 80 different beers, sold in an impressive number of bars and restaurants.

The appeal of a trip to Denver couldn't be more obvious at present, as Denver International Airport was recently rated the best in the country by Business Traveler Magazine. As the fifth-busiest airport in the world, travelers won't be surprised to hear that a large number of airlines serve the airport. United Airways could be the bargain-lover's first choice at the moment, as its You Mean the World To Us promotion awards travelers with free airline tickets if they rack up enough flights to and from the Colorado airport.

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