Winner

Pearl Street Mall
www.boulderdowntown.com
Downtown Boulder (from 700 to 2200 Pearl St., between Spruce and Arapahoe)
303.449.3774

Pearl Street Mall

Terri Takata-Smith, director of marketing for Downtown Boulder, can cite endless possibilities for entertaining kids on the Pearl Street Mall. And she’s talking just about the free stuff. “No cost, and hours of enjoyment,” she says. During hot summer days, the pop-jet fountain on the 1300 block is a huge crowd favorite, and kids can’t resist the cooling spray. Not far, on the 1400 block, is the marble play area involving the oh-so-climbable snail and frog. In the 1200 block outside Peppercorn are rock structures and a bridge for the kids to climb and explore. “Those activities are typical of Boulder,” Takata-Smith notes. “People here love to climb and explore.” On the 1100 block is the “slippery rock,” which attracts kids like a magnet. The famous Pearl Street Mall buskers are spellbinding: There’s Bongo, the balloon artist, who twists balloons into every conceivable shape; and contortionist Mitford Ibashi-i Brown, who unbelievably curls his lanky body into a 20-inch Plexiglass box. The people trains run during the summer between the 1200 and 1400 blocks, Mondays through Thursdays, 10 a.m. to noon. Festivals on the Mall – like the Boulder Asian Festival, and the Boulder Jewish Festival – often incorporate kids’ activities. Seasonal events coming up include the Munchkin Masquerade on Thursday, October 29, from 2 to 5 p.m., when little ones trick or treat up and down the Mall. And all ages chime in for the home team at the Pearl Street Stampedes, those let-’em-have-it pep rallies on the Friday nights before Colorado Buffaloes football home games, featuring the Golden Buffalo Marching Band. No wonder kids – and their parents – love hanging out at the Pearl Street Mall.

Runner Up

Gateway Park Fun Center
www.gatewayfunpark.com
4800 N. 28th St., Boulder
303.442.4386