Tennyson Fall Fest 2026 Opens With a Pet Parade and Closes at a Pet Ofrenda

The park at Tennyson and 41st is the center of this year's fall season on Tennyson Street. On October 15, Denver Nook and Mexicultural will set up a community ofrenda there to honor pets that have died. It will stay up through November 4. Two days after it goes up, Tennyson Fall Fest fills the next two blocks north, and the day starts with a costumed pet parade.

That makes three weeks of events built around pets, all on one short stretch of the Tennyson Street Cultural District. The district runs from 38th to 46th Avenue. Its business association lists Historic Elitch Gardens at 37th, César Chávez Park at 41st and Berkeley Lake Park at 46th among the street's green spaces. The street around these events has also changed since last October. Some of the places to eat after the parade opened this year, and one longtime corner restaurant is closed for a rebuild.

The dates, in order

1. Thursday, October 15. The ofrenda for Día de las Almas de las Mascotas goes up at the park at Tennyson and 41st. You can bring a photo, drawing, note or keepsake to place on it.
2. Saturday, October 17. Tennyson Fall Fest runs 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is free. The ninth annual Tennyson Street Pet Parade and Costume Contest starts at 10 a.m.
3. Tuesday, October 27. A community gathering at the ofrenda runs 5 to 7 p.m., with mariachis.
4. Wednesday, November 4. Last day the ofrenda is up.

The Tennyson Berkeley Business Association, founded in 2014, organizes the monthly First Friday Cultural Walks and the annual Fall Fest. The last First Friday on its 2026 schedule was October 2, so Fall Fest is the next big date on the street.

Saturday, hour by hour

The festival runs along Tennyson from West 41st Avenue to West 43rd Avenue. That puts its south end right at the park with the ofrenda, so people who come for the parade will walk past the altar. Here is the posted schedule. The page lists the date as Saturday, October 17 but doesn't print the year, so check it again the week of the event.

Organizers describe the shopping as a farmers-market-style fair with more than 100 businesses. Food comes from food trucks and local restaurants, and the 2026 vendor list is on the festival's food page.

Plan how you'll get there. The festival has no event parking lots. Organizers suggest walking or biking, and say rideshare drop-off will save you a parking hassle. If you take the bus, the festival site links to RTD stop 11187 at West 44th Avenue and Tennyson, which is one block north of the festival. Eastbound Route 44 toward Civic Center Station stops there. Well-behaved dogs on a leash are welcome all day, and the FAQ invites dog owners to enter them in the costume contest.

The parade raises money, and last year it raised a lot

The parade also raises money. Proceeds go to Colorado Pet Pantry, which provides food for at-risk pets so they can stay in their homes instead of going to shelters. The business association says last year's parade raised more than $13,000, and it expects more than 200 costumed pets this year.

Registration goes through a form on Denver Nook's site. It asks for your name, mailing address, email, your pets' names and your favorite thing about each pet. The form says all pets are welcome and doesn't show a fee or a payment step. One rule matters if you're working on a costume. A winner will be chosen, and only registered pets can win. The parade page also says Rocky, the Denver Nuggets mascot, will make an appearance.

The parade page and the registration form don't list a route, a staging spot or contest categories. Watch Denver Nook's page and the festival site in the days before October 17.

The same group behind the parade is also behind the ofrenda. Denver Nook and Mexicultural are building the altar, and Jolly Goods is taking orders for custom pet memorial ornaments to hang on it.

Where to eat this year

The parade ends at 11 a.m. and the music runs until 6 p.m. That leaves a lot of time to eat on a stretch of Tennyson that looks different than it did a year ago.

Cenizas Mexican Restaurant & Cantina at 3900 Tennyson St. is the easiest early stop. Its online ordering page lists Saturday hours of 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., so it's open well before the parade lines up. Owner Nicolas Medina built the menu on family recipes and planned a weekend brunch. Westword listed it among Denver's openings in April.

American Lore at 3965 Tennyson St. is a hat-shaping shop and whiskey bar. Westword reported a January 9 opening date, and Denverite photographed it open in July.

Juniper & Coal at 4720 Tennyson St. is north of the festival, past 46th Avenue. CityDesk listed it among Denver's June openings. It serves cocktail-forward small plates with a full bar, and menu prices run $14 to $24. Two of its owners also own Mijo.

Cordero at 4410 W. 38th Ave. is the evening option. Chef Alejandro Bautista owns it with pastry chef Daniela Ríos, and the Oaxacan menu centers on mole, tlayudas and slow-cooked meats. June reporting listed hours of Tuesday through Saturday, 5 to 11 p.m. Those hours are from June, so call ahead before you plan dinner there after AFB's set.

The closed corner at 4401 Tennyson

Parisi and Parisi Sotto at 4401 Tennyson St. are about a block north of where the festival ends. Both have been closed since a fire on May 12. Owner Christine Parisi posted an update about the rebuilding on the restaurant's site.

The timeline she gave is plain:

"Very early to say but late spring 2027 possibly."

She also laid out what's coming back. The Parisi menu will stay mostly the same, with prices adjusted slightly. She says she still wants it to be an affordable community staple. Sotto will probably become a separate events and private-dining space with its own entrance. The rebuilt restaurant will add online ordering and a waitlist so guests don't have to stand in line. If you have a Parisi gift card in a drawer, keep it. The plastic cards don't expire, and the restaurant says it still has the balance data.

So for this Fall Fest, and probably the next few First Fridays, the north end of the festival stops just short of a corner that is under construction.

After the festival

The ofrenda stays up for more than two weeks after the festival. The gathering on Tuesday, October 27, from 5 to 7 p.m., is the season's second big date. It's planned as an evening of remembering pets, with mariachis.

One more opening is close. Park Pass Coffee has leased 4491 Tennyson St. for its first café. Co-owner Sam Schippel told What Now Denver that the shop is projected to open in mid-to-late November. Plans call for an occupancy of 25 and a menu of specialty coffee, matcha, pastries and the company's packaged coffee. If that holds, the ofrenda comes down November 4 and a new café opens a few weeks later, a block from the Parisi rebuild.

If your pet is in the parade this year, send us a photo of the costume. Our team at Live.Laugh.Denver. Real Estate Group loves seeing how the neighborhood shows up on Tennyson, and we'd be glad to say hi on October 17.