As the city of Denver continues to ride out the mandatory “stay at home” order put in place to reduce the spread of COVID-19, Visit Denver has come up with a way for locals to enjoy the city from a distance. The “Love This City” campaign was inspired by local artist Pat Milbery of So-Gnar Creative Division who painted a series of six murals around Denver in 2016 as a way to celebrate his love for this city. During that time he teamed up with Visit Denver to promote the murals during the 10th anniversary of Denver Arts Week. Four years later the murals are still there and Visit Denver has come up with a new way for locals to express their love for this city: through a daily trivia challenge that will last seven weeks and award locals some awesome Denver-themed prizes.
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A mural by So-Gnar Creative Division, funded by Visit Denver. Photo by Danielle Webster
Denver locals can enter the daily giveaway by visiting Love This City’s website and answering the daily trivia question. Each weekday drawing will offer a variety of individual experiences such as a family membership to the Denver Zoo while every Friday a bigger prize package will be awarded. The Friday prizes will be neighborhood giveaway packages valued at nearly $600 that will feature full weekend experiences in one of Denver’s distinct neighborhoods. This Friday one winner will be awarded the LoDo package which includes a one-night stay at The Maven Hotel, a Larimer Square shopping certificate and a Milk Market gift certificate among other items for future use. In the final week of the contest residents can enter to win one of two Love This City grand prize staycation packages that can be redeemed when COVID-19 closures are lifted. These grand prize packages are valued at $2,000 and will be full weekend experiences that include performing arts tickets, restaurant gift certificates, sports and attraction tickets, two-night weekend downtown hotel stays and more.
The Love This City campaign aims to excite locals about all of Denver’s attractions and inspire residents to get back out as soon as it’s safe. “Although it’s challenging to think about a vacation in the midst of this crisis, we wanted to create an opportunity that rewards locals for expressing their love of our community while supporting our struggling businesses through the COVID-19 recovery,” said Richard W. Scharf – President and CEO of Visit Denver. “When this shutdown is behind us, locals will need to look no further than our own city for great food, culture, entertainment and other amazing experiences.”
Photo by Danielle Webster.
While you can’t leave your home quite yet, you can enter the daily giveaway here and – once it’s safe – view all six of Milbery’s murals in Denver’s Art District on Santa Fe, Golden Triangle Creative District and River North Art District.