“This festival is a reminder that the world is a magical, fantastical and imaginative place where all things are possible — and we want to create lifetime memories,” explained co-owner and founder of Denver’s Unicorn Festival Dana Cain. And we’re all looking forward to just that — one day of fantasy — an escape, if you will — from reality.

The Unicorn Fest, which began last year, is the brainchild of Dana Cain and Michelle Baldwin — and these two are no strangers to event planning. Cain, best known for the Colorado Chocolate Festival and Denver Modernism Show owns and operates Dana Cain Events while Baldwin is the brains behind local event planning company Frolic and Vamp. And in December 2016, while brainstorming at Cain’s kitchen table, the two came up with an idea that would later become Colorado’s Unicorn Festival.

“Well it happened at my kitchen table,” laughed Cain. “I invited her over and said, ya know, I would love for us to partner up and do something, what can we do? And she said she’d always liked the summer solstice. The summer solstice always makes me think of fairies and little summery creatures coming out. And that’s how it started. We were going to do fairies and then I suggested unicorns and mermaids. And when she left we were calling it something like the fairy festival. I said no… that’s not it. So that night I wrote to her and said unicorn festival and she said yes.”

What began as an organic brainstorming session later transformed into an event that last year, attracted nearly 9,000 people. And this year, the ladies are anticipating an even bigger crowd.

The ticket price will include a multitude of activities. From unicorn petting to a mermaid lagoon, 66-foot obstacle course, princess palace, traditional dragon dance parade hosted by the Colorado Asian Cultural Heritage Center, face painting, fortune tellers, tarot readers, costume contest, a slew of food trucks (though the food prices are not included with admission,) and music by renowned DJ Rockstar Aaron. Last year’s event brought in nearly three times more guests than the team expected. And this year, they plan to accommodate for big numbers with increased parking, more activities to disperse lines and a larger space for those in attendance to wander.

“Last year we were hoping to get 3,000 and we wound up getting 8 or 9,ooo and were just completely overrun, ” explained Cain. “This year, we’ve figured out all of the overcrowding and line issues and we’re ready to go.”

The Unicorn Festival will take place from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday, June 23 at Clement Park in Littleton. All activities are included in the admission price and tickets are available here. This is an alcohol event but we can guarantee you won’t need booze to get a buzz from this ethereal event.

For more information, and a complete list of festival activities visit the site here.