Venues such as Ball Arena, Coors Field, and Red Rocks have decided to open up to fans this year for concerts and sporting events. A lot of venues have been closed this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and many venues have shown their support by turning their venues red. As more people continue to get the vaccine, more states are starting to drop their restrictions, therefore more places are opening back up. 

Red Rocks: 

Red Rocks is a historic outdoor amphitheatre located ten miles west from Denver, and is set to reopen this month at limited capacity. Iconic bands have played there such as Stevie Nicks, Radiohead, The Beatles, The Grateful dead, U2, and Carlos Santana. Red Rocks will be reopening on April 23, just in time for its 80th anniversary. 

The state is allowing the venue to open under the 5 Star Certification Program, which basically requires businesses that want to operate outside of local guidelines to take extra steps to stop the spread of COVID-19. Red Rocks advises future concert attendees to keep their masks on except when eating or drinking and to practice social distancing. The venue will implement a new seating arrangement. A spokesperson for Red Rocks stated “There will be a designated quadrant system in the venue, at least for the beginning of the season. It will require and maintain social distance. Within that quadrant, though, there isn’t assigned seating as long as the necessary distance is between ticket holder groups. As always, designated seating does apply to accessible seating.” Red Rocks is also known for their tailgating events prior to a performance, which will be very hard to make sure people are following the procedures. “Fans are expected to maintain the same group in the parking lot as they would in-venue – so, not gathering in larger groups than who they came with or who they’ll be with in the venue.”  As of now each event will only have 2,500 guests, with its usual 9,525 capacity. A spokesperson from redrocks is hopeful that the capacity numbers will increase throughout the summer but as of now there’s just no way of knowing. 

The first two shows back at Red Rocks will occur on April 22-25 with a two night stay from the electronic jam band Lotus. The following week Trevor Hall will perform on April 29-30. Other people performing this year include Diplo, Goo Goo Dolls, Hippie Sabotage, and Louis The Child. Some big names such as Halsey and Marren Morris have decided to cancel their stop in Denver due to Covid -19. 

Ball Arena: 

As for other venues, the Ball Arena has also opened back up with limited capacity. Kroenke Sports & Entertainment announced that the teams will be able to host up to 4,050 fans for Avalanche and Nuggets games as of April 2. All arenas that are currently open are only allowed to let people in a 22% capacity. As of now only 18 arenas are open across the nation. Before the general population could go to games, the teams allowed health-care workers and first responders to go to the games first. 

“We are thrilled to welcome Avalanche and Nuggets fans to the newly-named Ball Arena for the first time,” said KSE Chairman and Owner Stan Kroenke. “We are grateful to local, state and national health authorities who collaborated with us to get to this point. We also would like to thank our partners at the NHL and NBA, who have worked tirelessly to ensure a safe return for our fans. This is a major first step in our quest to have a fully packed arena again with some of the greatest fans in sports.”

As of now there are only 10 homes games left the general public can go to…

•  April 9th — San Antonio Spurs
• April 11th — Boston Celtics
• April 14th — Miami Heat
• April 19th — Memphis Grizzlies
• April 24th — Houston Rockets
• April 26th — Memphis Grizzlies
• April 28th — New Orleans Pelicans
• April 29th — Toronto Raptors
• May 5th — New York Knicks
• May 8th — Brooklyn NetsCoors Field:

The Rockies had opening day last week against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Rockies welcomed 21,000 fans back to the ballpark for Opening Day and throughout the first seven games of their season-opening home stand. The Rockies won the first game of the series against the Dodgers.  Also at the opening game several people were protesting.. A lot of people on Thursday wore Arenado Cardinals Jerseys in protest of the Rockies for tradeding him. The Rockies are following current CDC protocols and have worked with state and local government officials and Major League Baseball (MLB) to make Coors Field a safe environment. Fans and all staff must wear masks with an expectation of the players. Face coverings such as bandanas are not considered approved. Hand sanitizer stations are also located throughout the park. Frequent cleaning of the handrails have also been put into place. They have also put into place the 6 foot stickers, but when I was there they were hardly used. 

It was also announced a couple of days ago that Coors Field will be hosting the 2021 All Star Game this year. We don’t know much about this yet and how coors field plans to deal with all the fans from all over the country, but it will be very exciting for baseball fans. 

Due to the CoronaVirus a lot of venues have had to close down. But thankfully since a lot of people are getting their vaccines these venues are opening back up. How long do you think it will take for the venues to open up at full capacity?