Neighborhood prepares for 3-day Grandoozy music festival

By Emily Allen

DENVER — Residents living near Overland Golf Course got free tickets and parking passes on Monday in preparation for Grandoozy, a three-day music and arts festival with headliners including Stevie Wonder and Florence and the Machine.

Residents living near the golf course spent months fighting against the festival, even signing a petition hoping to get it moved.

Some neighbors are still bitter about its location.

“We just didn’t want it in our location. This is an old neighborhood. We would like to be left alone,” said Scott Millers.

Other neighbors said at this point, they’re embracing the festival and hope it becomes a positive experience for the neighborhood.

“It’s like OK, let me look at this in a different frame of mind and let’s see how this is going to go over and how the neighborhood is going to react to it,” said Emily Garcia.

“It’s exciting because of the headliners and the bands. It’s also exciting to see how this is going to play out,” said Hina Chowdhry.

The city and county of Denver rented out the course to Grandoozy organizers for $200,000 and could pick up an additional $420,000 in ticket sales depending on attendance.

Only residents with parking passes will be allowed to park on neighborhood streets around the course.

Concertgoers must use public transit, ride-sharing apps such as Uber or be dropped off by friends and family in specified areas.

There will be no parking for concertgoers at the venue. Neighbors hope this will help mitigate traffic in the area.

Grandoozy’s organizers agreed to pay $90,000 to repair landscaping after the event.