Josh Sampson is a Brooklyn transplant who has been calling Denver home since 2014. His big idea is The Big Wonderful (TBW): a new classic bazaar, beer fest, and con- cert-festival over two days on an awesome site in RiNo, which he founded the same year he moved to the city. After a stint in Los Angeles, Denver “sprang up as a place to kind of try out some new ideas.” Wanting to inject some of the city style he loves, Sampson started TBW in a vacant parking lot in with an urban farm on it. By the third season he was expanding into Littleton and Aurora.![111](https://yellowscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/111-300x300.jpg)
But what is TBW? Samson said, “Bringing that authentic maker and artist and musician and chef, and making them the star;” that’s really what it’s all about. The name comes from a comedy show called The Big Terrific, a #1 rated show at a club in Brooklyn back when Sampson was there.
Regarding the Denver collaborative art scene, Sampson is clear: “Where you can be specific in San Francisco or New York on a food style, Denver’s very much a generalist town. The inspiration was really that catalyst: somebody needed to put them all in a room and see what we got.” It’s a big tent idea, a carnival of creation and music and consumption.
“With all of the inventory of events that are coming into Denver, TBW as a brand name really stands out,” Sampson said. And that makes sense. The madness and harmony of TBW is striking. Zero waste and urban farm- ing alongside shipping containers and graffiti pieces; overturned cable spools adding to the “Mad Max vibe”; bands going H.A.M. as locals sway and swig regional beers; food trucks scenting the air with hints of the goodness prepared by the Front Range’s best chefs; all of this combines to create the TBW idea of an urban carnival for the modern shopper.
A project that has spawned a devoted following, in addition to a dedicated coterie of imitators, TBW is now a full blown Colorado movement. “It’s been so powerful that a lot of people have tried to do something similar. It’s not a chemical formula. You see a lot of the elements borrowed, and sometimes abused. We get so many positive responses.”
The Big Wonderful is open to expand- ing into other states, so let your local crafts-folk know to get in touch. Sampson thinks there are a lot of cool opportunities for TBW as it grows: “We have natural demand from other cities who want a Big Wonderful,” he said. He hopes to continue disrupting the hyper-expensive, placeless, anti-democratic consumer marketplaces with the authentic, small-vendor aggregate model that TBW has perfected here in Denver.
But TBW can only grow as consumers develop “more of a taste for local foods, supporting local businesses and understanding that giving back to a Texas Roadhouse doesn’t give any money back into the local economy.” Denver is a prime example of a city where small vendors are getting priced out of storefront locations,” Sampson said: “They need something like TBW to keep [them] afloat.”
The Big Wonderful recently put on the Fourth Annual Octobergrass event; it’s season finale featuring the best bluegrass bands Colorado has to offer. But if bluegrass isn’t your cup of tea, no biggie: with events throughout the year and throughout Colorado, it’s easy to find a TBW event that’s perfect for you to attend. Show up, have fun, sip some, support local vendors and dance a little bit.
The Big Wonderful wants to see the wonderful in you and give it a place to shine.
All photos courtesy of The Big Wonderful.