The Bolder Life: It’s a Dead Man’s Party

There are a ton of strange and unique festivals that happen year-round in Colorado, but the Frozen Dead Guy Days Festival pretty much takes the cake!

For one weekend, every spring, Nederland throws an awesome party to celebrate life, death and the afterlife of one super famous dead guy who spends his days in a really cold Tuff Shed tucked in the hills of Nederland. I mean really, it doesn’t get much cooler than that. (Pun totally intended). This year, the highly anticipated festival is in new hands, but the traditions are  staying the same. Pay tribute to Grandpa Bredo, Nederland’s most popular resident, with a weekend filled with live music, craft beer, coffin races, polar plunges, tours of Grandpa Bredo’s resting place, costume contests, a parade of hearses, a cryogenic workshop, pancake breakfast, icy turkey bowling, brain freeze contest and a one of the shortest pub crawls you’ll ever attend! I mean really, it is a dead man’s party. Who could ask for more?

So here’s the skinny. A breakdown of events by day. And be sure to check out the list of bands performing at Dead Guys Days. They’re all pretty much to-die-for.

Get bundled up, grab your friends and don’t miss this awesomely ridiculous festival going on March 2-4^th!

Friday, March 2^nd

• Beer Tent featuring brews by Avery Brewing and Left Hand Brewing will be open from 3:00-8:00 p.m.
• Live Music starts at 3:00 p.m. with Mekanizm followed by Longest Day of the Year at from 4:45 – 6:00 p.m. and Fried Grease closing out the musical entertainment for the night.
• Take a tour of Tuff Shed where Grandpa Bredo resides between 4:00 – 6:00 p.m.
• Opening Ceremony at 7:00 p.m. will feature the famous Skelton Dancers and the unveiling of a snow sculpture by Cool Hand Carvers.
• Finish the night at Grandpa’s Blue Ball and enter the Ice Queen and Grandpa look-a-like contest. Listen to tunes by Nederland’s own, The Big Blue Ball Band. Doors open at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $10 at the door and $10 to enter the costume contest.

Saturday, March 3^rd

• Pancake Breakfast from 8:00 – 11:00 a.m. at the Community Center
• Tours of Grandpa’s Tuff Shed run at 10:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m. & 4:00 p.m.
• Learn all about Cryogenics at a workshop being held at the Wild Bear Mountain Ecology Center at 10:30 & 2:30 p.m.
• The Brain Freezer tent opens and starts selling Avery and Left Hand beers from 11:00 – 8:00 p.m. Catch tunes by the Acoustic Mining Company, Blackdog and the Psycho Horns, Bread and Circus, Smooth Money Gesture and Bread and Circus between 11:00 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. at Chipeta Park.
• Kort McCumber, the Jeff Brinkman Band, Lesley Kernochan, Jet Edison and Ground up will be playing in the Brain Freezer tent throughout the day. Click here for a complete schedule of music going on around town.
• Charity Polar Plunge happening from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. in Chipeta Park. $20 entry fee.
• Coffin Races. Watch teams race their coffins through an obstacle course full of mud, snow, playground slides and other ridiculousness from 2 – 3:30 p.m.
• Bowling with frozen turkeys from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
• Show off your tough skills at the Brain Freeze Contest from 3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
• And jump in on possibly the shortest Pub Crawl ever from 6:30 p.m. – 1:00 a.m.

Sunday, March 4^th

• If you didn’t get your fill of pancakes on Saturday, then stop by Pancake Breakfast at the Community Center and fuel up for the day.
• The awesome ReAnimate Yourself Beer Tent will be serving up Avery and Left Hand brews along with a stream of live music from 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Click here for a complete list of Sunday live music.
• Test your salmon tossing skills at the Salmon Toss & Sunday Brunch at the Sundance Café from 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
• If you didn’t get hypothermia at the Polar Plunge on Saturday, then sign up for Snowy Beach Volleyball from 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. at Chiptea Park. Eight teams. First come, first serve.
• If you believe in that Big Foot exists, like my darling father, God bless his heart—then don’t miss the Sasquatch Investigations talk at from 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. in the lower level of the Shopping Center.
• And if you’re into yoga, then learn how to do the corpse pose at Tadasana Mountian Yoga. Drop in any time between noon and 1:00 p.m. for $5.00.
• Catch Turkey Bowling again from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. and enter the crazy Brain Freeze Contest from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.
• The Cool Hand Ice Carving Demonstration from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. sounds pretty cool… contestants of the Newly “Dead” Game at 2:00 p.m. can find out just how well they know their partner’s last wishes.
• An Extreme Air Guitar Competition at 2:30 p.m. and a 3:00 p.m. Rocky Mountain Oyster Eating Competition at the First Street Pub put an end to the scheduled festival events for the day.
• The Closing Ceremony at 5:00 p.m. puts the nail in the coffin of this crazy weekend, and planning begins for next year!