Despite the ghosts and goblins, this year's Broadway Halloween parade won't be a ghost of the past.

For the past seven years, thousands of Denver residents have flocked to the streets to catch a glimpse of the Broadway Halloween Parade's detailed and spooky floats.

This year, the eighth annual parade almost didn't happen. But countless businesses along the South Broadway corridor — along with several charitable donors and sponsors — made sure the spooky show could take place Saturday night.

The parade, which began in 2016 and is presented by the Broadway Merchants Association and District 7 City Council member Flor Alvidrez, has grown from an initial 5,000 participants to approximately 30,000 parade-goers.

On paper, the gathering of people along the nine-block parade route filled with eccentric floats from local businesses is a positive.

“There were no open spaces along the entire route,” Luke Johnson, president of the Broadway Merchants Association and founder of Luke & Company Fine Pet Supply & Outfitter, said of last year’s parade. “We were really lucky. We have a good community on both sides and we really try to make sure the participants and floats are memorable.”

But the significant increase in spectators meant that the parade almost had to be canceled for security reasons.

“Last year, everyone was crowding up and down the parade,” said Will Curtin, co-founder of Banded Oak Brewery — a sponsor of the parade that hosts an afterparty for volunteers each year. “It was a strange year, kind of unruly. You want to be safe and you want the kids to be safe.”

Normally the parade is funded with a budget of around $12,000, all raised by local sponsors. In 2023, Denver police determined that the parade would require barricades if participation continued to increase and estimated the cost at about $8,000.

Johnson said the police department estimated the barricades would cost $26,000 in 2024, following a highly successful effort in 2023.

The parade committee also had to cover the previous year's expenses, putting its financial needs at about $42,000 – which would be nearly impossible with sponsorship alone, Johnson said.

“I would be devastated,” Tony Fleith, owner of the bar and restaurant “Lil' Devils,” which has been on Broadway for 12 years, said of the possible cancellation. Lil' Devils has sponsored and participated in the parade since its inception.

“First of all, it’s fun,” he said. “Secondly, it brings me a lot of income.”

“We were really amazed (that it could be canceled),” Curtin said. “It’s a big tradition and the closure of Broadway is a big deal.”

Johnson addressed the media to tell them that they had at least tried before canceling the fan-favorite parade and announced that public donations were possible but might not result in an actual resumption of the event. The story gained traction in both local news and social media.

A fundraiser almost immediately brought in about $7,000 for residents. Then, with sponsorships and a “significant” anonymous donation, the parade raised a little less than $70,000 in less than a week.

“We received over $35,000 in three phone calls,” Johnson said. “Just like that, it started.”

“People come forward for it, but you never know if people really care or if they're just coming forward because there's something to do,” Johnson added. “People really listened to their word and said, 'We really love this event and we're going to donate to it'.”

The Power of Broadway

The South Broadway area has been known for its small shops and events for decades.

For example, the three-day Underground Music Showcase has been held in the area since 2006, bringing more than 30,000 people to the streets lined with mostly small mom-and-pop shops.

In 2023, Denver produced “¡Viva!” Streets Denver, a collection of free summer events in the area that attract an estimated 40,000 people, according to the Downtown Denver Partnership.

Johnson said the Broadway Halloween parade brings more business to the area in its short time frame than those events.

“We have a lot of companies saying this is the best night of the year from a sales perspective,” Johnson said. “We have people who say their normal Saturday nights cost about $2,500, and last year, during the parade, they made $8,000. For a lot of people, that’s multiple days of sales in one evening.”

“It’s our busiest day of the year,” Fleith said. “When it started, we had no expectations. We are an LGBTQ bar and did better than Pride that night. The Pride Parade has become a little too political, so it's nice to have no religion and no politics. “It's just family fun.”

That influx of traffic to the businesses that make Broadway special was always the point of the parade, Johnson said – it showed the city what makes the area so lovely.

“I call it the adult version of LoDo,” Fleith joked about the neighborhood. “It’s just a community. There are so many restaurants and shops and things to do. I’ve seen a lot of companies come and go, but we’re a staple.”

“It’s really just a community,” Curtin said. “Everyone is very sociable and everyone likes to give us a smile or wave. The city center is somehow young and fast-paced. Broadway is a little more relaxed. Everyone is just there to relax.”

Broadway has faced challenges over the past five to 10 years as many established businesses left the area due to rising rents and crime. For example, Mutiny Information Café, a Broadway festival, recently moved to Englewood, citing rent and security as key reasons.

Fleith pointed out that drugs were the main problem. You often have to drive people out of the parking lot and clean up after drug use.

“Whether it's drug use, feces, or piss on my door, I'm fed up,” Clayton Kelley, owner of the Vape Loft store, where several homeless people passed out outside the store, told the Denver Gazette back in March.

“This happens every day,” Kelley said.

But things seem to be looking up in the area. According to Johnson, there have been more new businesses than closed businesses in the last six months.

“We have been working with the district and neighborhood to address the issue. We have seen a lot of improvement in the last six months,” said Fleith. “It comes in waves. It's one of those things you live with, in a way. As a business owner, there’s only so much I can do.”

But this banding together to keep the area alive — like the exponential fundraising for the parade — makes the area both resilient and a mainstay of the city.

“I’m hopeful,” Curtin said of the continued positivity in the neighborhood. “The Broadway community has been really good and everyone has supported each other. “I'm definitely seeing positive changes.”

“We have good business here. We have good people down here,” Johnson said.

Although this year's parade is saved, the future remains to be determined.

All money raised this year that is not spent on the parade will be saved for 2025, as the next parade faces the same financial challenges. Johnson said the Broadway Merchants Association hopes to establish a business improvement district by 2026, allowing funding to be allocated for events like the parade.