Glow at the Gardens

Glow at the Gardens returns to the Denver Botanic Gardens this October, running from Oct. 15-18 and Oct. 21-24. It's an illuminated autumnal walk that mixes the spooky, the silly, and the spirited into one evening. You follow an immersive, lit path past hand-carved pumpkin displays and larger-than-life sculptures, all carved from real, locally grown pumpkins.

That last part is a point of pride for the gardens. Most nighttime Halloween events rely on foam "funkins"—those lightweight, factory-made shells that hold their shape forever. Here, they're working with actual pumpkins, so the scale and the detail come from real produce grown nearby. The path winds through the gardens after dark, and the sculptures are the main draw, with the hand-carved pumpkins leading the way.

It's a night walk, so you'll be out in the crisp October air. The gardens describe it as Denver's most luminous fall celebration, and the immersive path is designed to be walked through rather than just looked at. If you're into the seasonal side of Halloween—the carved pumpkins and the autumn atmosphere—this is exactly that, brought to a garden setting.

Tickets sell out weeks in advance every year, so if you're planning to go, it's worth getting yours early. The event runs Oct. 15-18 and Oct. 21-24, from 5:30 to 9 PM.