Effects of a music festival at Denver’s Overland golf course

Music festivals: they’re huge, they’re packed, and they’re expensive. Why would a community want to bring that in? Well, it turns out they’re awesome for the community.

As someone who attends a lot of music festivals, I can attest to the fun sense of belonging that comes with them. They also create jobs in security, cleaning and work with local businesses, which see a huge uptick in business. In 2012, the Coachella music festival in Indio, Calif., created 3,000 temporary jobs. Bonnaroo, a festival put on by the same group coming to Denver, sells out its $200-plus tickets every year.

The organizers of the Denver festival have already pledged portions of the ticket sales to the Overland Park Golf Course, the displaced golfers and the community.

The question I have is: why not? Give the festival a chance to prove how good it can be for the community — you may enjoy it, too.

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In 2018, the following will happen: Overland Park Golf Course will be shutting down for five weeks due to a music festival.

City Park Golf Course will be closed for the entire year due to a water retention project.

Fitzsimons Golf Course in Aurora will close after the 2017 golf season for “development of the land.”

Starting in 2018, there will be many old retired guys (like myself ) roaming the streets! Send letters of 150 words or fewer to openforum@denverpost.com or 101 W. Colfax Ave., Suite 800, Denver, CO, 80202. Please include full name, city and phone number. Contact information is for our purposes only; we will not share it with anyone else. You can reach us by telephone at 303-954-1331.