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A daily look at the most significant and interesting stories affecting Denver.

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Get smarter, faster about what’s happening in your backyard with local reporters John Frank, Alayna Alvarez and Esteban L. Hernandez.

Axios Denver Thought Bubble

Thought Bubble

A guide to fun things to do in Denver this weekend.

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Denver's most streamed songs on Spotify in 2023

We trended with the U.S. as a whole, picking the same top artist and song.

Culture

Migrants arriving in Denver are struggling to find work

The application fee for federal work permits is $545 — too high for many migrants in Denver to afford.

News

11 of the best holiday pop-up bars around Denver

'Tis the season for festive cocktails full of cheer.

Food and Drink

Here's how you can give back around Denver this holiday season

We rounded up some of the best opportunities to volunteer in the metro.

Things to Do

2023 marked the <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="second consecutive year" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/denver/2022/12/05/denver-most-streamed-artists-spotify-wrapped" data-vars-content-id="c0fef5e5-9d06-4b6a-9995-71f3fe03612a" data-vars-headline="Denver&#x27;s most streamed songs on Spotify in 2023" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/denver/2022/12/05/denver-most-streamed-artists-spotify-wrapped" target="_self">second consecutive year</a> <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Taylor Swift" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/denver/2023/07/13/taylor-swift-denver-eras-tour-economy" data-vars-content-id="c0fef5e5-9d06-4b6a-9995-71f3fe03612a" data-vars-headline="Denver&#x27;s most streamed songs on Spotify in 2023" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/denver/2023/07/13/taylor-swift-denver-eras-tour-economy" target="_self">Taylor Swift</a> landed as Denver&#x27;s most listened-to artist on <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Spotify" data-vars-click-url="https://www.spotify.com/us/wrapped/" data-vars-content-id="c0fef5e5-9d06-4b6a-9995-71f3fe03612a" data-vars-headline="Denver&#x27;s most streamed songs on Spotify in 2023" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.spotify.com/us/wrapped/" target="_blank">Spotify</a>.What to know: The other artists in Denver&#x27;s top 5 were mega-star <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Drake" data-vars-click-url="https://open.spotify.com/artist/3TVXtAsR1Inumwj472S9r4?si=I5ldKwaMSrqwd5WlFIlVlQ" data-vars-content-id="c0fef5e5-9d06-4b6a-9995-71f3fe03612a" data-vars-headline="Denver&#x27;s most streamed songs on Spotify in 2023" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://open.spotify.com/artist/3TVXtAsR1Inumwj472S9r4?si=I5ldKwaMSrqwd5WlFIlVlQ" target="_blank">Drake</a>, country artist <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Morgan Wallen" data-vars-click-url="https://open.spotify.com/artist/4oUHIQIBe0LHzYfvXNW4QM?si=pUaSJ2mWQUK05r_IiwwMIA" data-vars-content-id="c0fef5e5-9d06-4b6a-9995-71f3fe03612a" data-vars-headline="Denver&#x27;s most streamed songs on Spotify in 2023" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://open.spotify.com/artist/4oUHIQIBe0LHzYfvXNW4QM?si=pUaSJ2mWQUK05r_IiwwMIA" target="_blank">Morgan Wallen</a>, country-rock&#x27;s <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Zach Bryan" data-vars-click-url="https://open.spotify.com/artist/40ZNYROS4zLfyyBSs2PGe2?si=bbBSnOFlRP2i24cY8ujJRg" data-vars-content-id="c0fef5e5-9d06-4b6a-9995-71f3fe03612a" data-vars-headline="Denver&#x27;s most streamed songs on Spotify in 2023" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://open.spotify.com/artist/40ZNYROS4zLfyyBSs2PGe2?si=bbBSnOFlRP2i24cY8ujJRg" target="_blank">Zach Bryan</a> and hip-hop&#x27;s <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="$uicideboy$" data-vars-click-url="https://open.spotify.com/artist/1VPmR4DJC1PlOtd0IADAO0?si=zFVV6lMQTKm9D4DGtReaBA" data-vars-content-id="c0fef5e5-9d06-4b6a-9995-71f3fe03612a" data-vars-headline="Denver&#x27;s most streamed songs on Spotify in 2023" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://open.spotify.com/artist/1VPmR4DJC1PlOtd0IADAO0?si=zFVV6lMQTKm9D4DGtReaBA" target="_blank">$uicideboy$</a>.

Taylor Swift performs July 14 at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver. Photo: Grace Smith/Denver Post via Getty Images

MCA Denver wants you to explore the history of an enduring American icon

Few figures in the American West are as mythologized as the cowboy.

Few figures in the American West are as mythologized as the cowboy.Details: It&#x27;s a figure intertwined deeply with the origins of the West, something <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="MCA Denver&#x27;s latest exhibit" data-vars-click-url="https://mcadenver.org/exhibitions/cowboy" data-vars-content-id="a08f46bb-700d-4816-bc27-9395c5daee38" data-vars-headline="MCA Denver wants you to explore the history of an enduring American icon" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://mcadenver.org/exhibitions/cowboy" target="_blank">MCA Denver&#x27;s latest exhibit</a> intends to explore.

There With Care helps families with severely sick children

Since launching in 2005 in Boulder, it's helped more than 11,500 families.

Paula DuPré Pesmen tells people her nonprofit <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="There With Care" data-vars-click-url="https://therewithcare.org/our-locations/colorado-there-with-care" data-vars-content-id="4fd8aee3-4912-4426-8203-aa90bf733493" data-vars-headline="There With Care helps families with severely sick children" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://therewithcare.org/our-locations/colorado-there-with-care" target="_blank">There With Care</a> started on the set of the &quot;Harry Potter&quot; films, but the magic it spreads now is very real.Details: There With Care helps people in metro Denver who have critically ill children. Since launching in 2005 in Boulder, it&#x27;s helped more than 11,500 families.

Inaugural Psychedelic Cup fuels curiosity over magic mushrooms

Nearly 200 growers submitted 511 mushrooms for sampling.

Denver&#x27;s first-ever Psychedelic Cup was a rousing success — for fungi and the public.Why it matters: The event&#x27;s popularity shows curiosity about psychedelic mushrooms is growing, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="bolstered by their Colorado decriminalization" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/denver/2023/06/22/colorado-far-from-commercializing-psychedelics-new-law" data-vars-content-id="ef880f7c-6520-45a6-af10-72d4d5dcf5ff" data-vars-headline="Inaugural Psychedelic Cup fuels curiosity over magic mushrooms" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/denver/2023/06/22/colorado-far-from-commercializing-psychedelics-new-law" target="_self">bolstered by their Colorado decriminalization</a> and an <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="increasingly mainstream appeal" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/denver/2023/05/31/magic-mushrooms-go-mainstream-in-colorado" data-vars-content-id="ef880f7c-6520-45a6-af10-72d4d5dcf5ff" data-vars-headline="Inaugural Psychedelic Cup fuels curiosity over magic mushrooms" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/denver/2023/05/31/magic-mushrooms-go-mainstream-in-colorado" target="_self">increasingly mainstream appeal</a>, which elevates their potential for medicinal and recreational use.

"The Great Divide" explores Colorado's place in the history of violence

The political battle at the Colorado statehouse over a red flag law in 2019 is a throughline of the 90-minute documentary.

A documentary that traces America&#x27;s history of violence <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="makes Colorado the backdrop" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/denver/2023/11/03/denver-film-festival-local-movies" data-vars-content-id="15d7539a-dea8-4f37-901b-8aa0d7086c5e" data-vars-headline="&quot;The Great Divide&quot; explores Colorado&#x27;s place in the history of violence" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/denver/2023/11/03/denver-film-festival-local-movies" target="_self">makes Colorado the backdrop</a>.What to know: &quot;<a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="The Great Divide" data-vars-click-url="https://denverfilmfestival.eventive.org/films/6511e15aa9097900a1a3a09d" data-vars-content-id="15d7539a-dea8-4f37-901b-8aa0d7086c5e" data-vars-headline="&quot;The Great Divide&quot; explores Colorado&#x27;s place in the history of violence" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://denverfilmfestival.eventive.org/films/6511e15aa9097900a1a3a09d" target="_blank">The Great Divide</a>,&quot; which is showing Tuesday and Wednesday at the <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Denver Film Festival" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/denver/2023/10/05/denver-film-fest-lineup-tickets" data-vars-content-id="15d7539a-dea8-4f37-901b-8aa0d7086c5e" data-vars-headline="&quot;The Great Divide&quot; explores Colorado&#x27;s place in the history of violence" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/denver/2023/10/05/denver-film-fest-lineup-tickets" target="_self">Denver Film Festival</a>, highlights the state&#x27;s <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="dark history" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/denver/2021/03/26/boulder-mass-shooting-colorado-history-trauma" data-vars-content-id="15d7539a-dea8-4f37-901b-8aa0d7086c5e" data-vars-headline="&quot;The Great Divide&quot; explores Colorado&#x27;s place in the history of violence" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/denver/2021/03/26/boulder-mass-shooting-colorado-history-trauma" target="_self">dark history</a> of mass shootings and connects it to the Sand Creek Massacre and other historical events.

An image from the documentary Great Divide

Maria Tallchief, America's first prima ballerina, now featured on U.S. quarters

Tallchief's dancing career kicked off in Colorado.

A prima ballerina with a Colorado connection is now featured on the face of a U.S. quarter.Driving the news: The late <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Maria Tallchief " data-vars-click-url="https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2019/11/maria-tallchief-osage-prima-ballerina/" data-vars-content-id="6e795945-4003-4127-bb70-c2e010f8c0fe" data-vars-headline="Maria Tallchief, America&#x27;s first prima ballerina, now featured on U.S. quarters" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2019/11/maria-tallchief-osage-prima-ballerina/" target="_blank">Maria Tallchief </a>— considered the country&#x27;s first prima ballerina and one of the most notable Native American figures of the 20th century — was selected as one of two dozen people to be included in the U.S. Mint&#x27;s <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="American Women Quarters Program" data-vars-click-url="https://www.usmint.gov/learn/coin-and-medal-programs/american-women-quarters" data-vars-content-id="6e795945-4003-4127-bb70-c2e010f8c0fe" data-vars-headline="Maria Tallchief, America&#x27;s first prima ballerina, now featured on U.S. quarters" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.usmint.gov/learn/coin-and-medal-programs/american-women-quarters" target="_blank">American Women Quarters Program</a>.

How Denver celebrates Día de los Muertos

The first Day of the Dead festival and parade are taking place Saturday.

As Día de los Muertos approaches, Renee Fajardo can&#x27;t help but recall when the holiday didn&#x27;t quite get the attention it does now.State of play: Fajardo, a staff member at the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies at Metropolitan State University of Denver, tells us Chicano activists made an effort during the late 1970s to mid-1980s to encourage local celebrations.

A glimpse of Denver's forthcoming upscale cannabis club

Cirrus Social Club wants to provide a luxurious place for adults to consume marijuana.

Arend Richard&#x27;s vision to turn marijuana consumption into a sophisticated experience is taking shape.Zoom in: Across the street from a sex shop, a few doors down from a tattoo studio and just a block away from a dispensary, the <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Cirrus Social Club " data-vars-click-url="https://cirrussocialclub.com/" data-vars-content-id="36fa0460-c8e3-4cf7-9121-3191733e8b38" data-vars-headline="A glimpse of Denver&#x27;s forthcoming upscale cannabis club" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://cirrussocialclub.com/" target="_blank">Cirrus Social Club </a>promises something new.

Cult from small Colorado town the focus of new HBO docuseries

Amy Carlson's story is chronicled by the docuseries "Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God."

They called her Mother God.Zoom in: That was the moniker for Amy Carlson, who led a religious group in Crestone — about three hours southwest of Colorado Springs — called Love Has Won.

Aurora native Caleb Hahne Quintana's paintings on exhibit at Art Basel

The Brooklyn-based artist has quickly become one of the most-buzzed-about emerging talents at the fair.

Aurora native <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Caleb Hahne Quintana" data-vars-click-url="https://www.instagram.com/c.hahnequintana/" data-vars-content-id="85b0b0c7-e191-4426-8e07-3e3be6ed743a" data-vars-headline="Aurora native Caleb Hahne Quintana&#x27;s paintings on exhibit at Art Basel" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.instagram.com/c.hahnequintana/" target="_blank">Caleb Hahne Quintana</a> is showing his Southwestern-inspired paintings at <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Art Basel" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/miami/2023/12/04/art-week-fairs-art-basel-2023-guide-planner" data-vars-content-id="85b0b0c7-e191-4426-8e07-3e3be6ed743a" data-vars-headline="Aurora native Caleb Hahne Quintana&#x27;s paintings on exhibit at Art Basel" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/miami/2023/12/04/art-week-fairs-art-basel-2023-guide-planner" target="_self">Art Basel</a> this year.Why it matters: The art fair, which marks 21 years in Miami and <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="opens to the public Friday" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/miami/2023/12/08/art-basel-things-to-do-guide-parking-south-beach" data-vars-content-id="85b0b0c7-e191-4426-8e07-3e3be6ed743a" data-vars-headline="Aurora native Caleb Hahne Quintana&#x27;s paintings on exhibit at Art Basel" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/miami/2023/12/08/art-basel-things-to-do-guide-parking-south-beach" target="_self">opens to the public Friday</a>, is the largest and one of the most influential in the world. It <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="features 277 galleries" data-vars-click-url="https://www.artbasel.com/miami-beach/exhibitors#138284" data-vars-content-id="85b0b0c7-e191-4426-8e07-3e3be6ed743a" data-vars-headline="Aurora native Caleb Hahne Quintana&#x27;s paintings on exhibit at Art Basel" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.artbasel.com/miami-beach/exhibitors#138284" target="_blank">features 277 galleries</a> from dozens of countries.

DIA's legacy of conspiracy theories

The airport has been the subject of conspiracies since its construction began in the late 1980s.

As far as we can tell, DIA is not the Illuminati&#x27;s headquarters.Details: The rumors that something &quot;nefarious&quot; was underway in northeast Denver when the airport&#x27;s construction began in the late 1980s are likely the start of a long, weird legacy of conspiracy theories linked to DIA, according to the <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Denver Public Library" data-vars-click-url="https://history.denverlibrary.org/news/denver/locals-guide-dia-conspiracy-theories" data-vars-content-id="91a35a71-a768-4feb-9dde-1d1c36512762" data-vars-headline="DIA&#x27;s legacy of conspiracy theories" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://history.denverlibrary.org/news/denver/locals-guide-dia-conspiracy-theories" target="_blank">Denver Public Library</a>.

Illustration of the Blucifer statue dressed as an outdoorsman.

Denver Walls takes local street art international

Denver is now an international destination for street art and fans of it.

Denver is now an international destination for street art and fans of it.What&#x27;s happening: The international <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="World Wide Walls" data-vars-click-url="https://www.instagram.com/worldwidewalls/" data-vars-content-id="92af7ab4-c00a-499f-9691-e58f9baa9baf" data-vars-headline="Denver Walls takes local street art international" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.instagram.com/worldwidewalls/" target="_blank">World Wide Walls</a> mural festival lands in Denver this week with top-tier local and global artists coloring their imaginations onto iconic buildings in the River North Arts District.

Denver Walls organizer Ally Grimes in front of a mural she's painting in RiNo with Sofia Ramirez of Loveland, right. Photo: John Frank/Axios