Revolutionizing · Modernizing · Simplifying
Revolutionizing · Modernizing · Simplifying
Picture a grand entry at 7 p.m. The drum starts. Regalia that took months of beadwork to finish lights up neon under black light, every color screaming off the floor. And here is the thing. There is no other powwow like this anywhere on the planet.
That is the centerpiece of áyA Con, Colorado's Indigenous Comic and Art Festival, and it runs Oct. 8 through 11, 2026. Fourth year now. Most people do not realize this started small and quietly became one of the most genuinely original things happening in this city.
The festival moved to the LVC CoBank Arena in the Livestock Center at the National Western Center. That is 4850 National Western Dr, up in the 80216. If you have been watching the National Western redevelopment the way we have, this is a big deal. áyA Con ran at McNichols Civic Center in 2024 and an Arkins Court spot in RiNo in 2025, and now it lands at a venue that is being reshaped block by block. The real story on that area is that it is becoming a year-round destination, not just a two-week stock show in January. A festival like this anchoring October is exactly the kind of thing that tells you where the neighborhood is heading.
Inside, you get over one hundred artisans, nonprofits, creatives, and Native-owned businesses. Artwork, comics, fashion, beadwork, sculpture, digital media. All of it in one marketplace. (Side note, this is a danger zone for my wallet, and Hayley knows it.)
The second annual Black Light Powwow happens Oct. 9, and organizers call it the only powwow in the world held entirely under black light. Grand entry at 7 p.m.
The roles matter here, so let me name them. MC is Steve LaPointe. Arena director is Sid Whiting. Host drum is Red Hawk Express. Head man is Robert Hawk, head woman is Ebony Arevalo. If you have ever stood at a powwow and felt that drum in your chest, now imagine it with the whole arena glowing. A powwow ticket is five bucks plus fee. That is it.
This is where it goes from a cool event to a four-day thing you build a weekend around.
Wednesday, Oct. 8, it kicks off with a Futurism Fashion Showcase at Meow Wolf's Convergence Station, in the Perplexiplex. Doors at 6 p.m. The lineup is the Two-Spirit drag collective Indigenous Haus of Barbie, a performance by Lobatomy, MC Melissa Ivey, and DJ Mag Esai. Indigenous futurism as runway. That is not a phrase you get to write often.
Saturday, Oct. 10, there is "Beat Break," an on-floor concert at CoBank Arena. Hip-hop group 2MX2 plays a 30-minute set starting at 1:15 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 11, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., it closes with a Meow Wolf-sponsored cosplay contest. Cash prizes, Meow Wolf tickets, and special awards for the kids. And look, any fandom is welcome. You do not have to show up in anything Indigenous-specific. Bring your Jedi, bring your anime, bring whatever you have been building in the garage all year.
Speaking of Jedi, there is a Star Wars activation that digs into Indigenous influences, plus drop-in art activities and kids activities throughout.
Here is the part I want people to actually read. A full weekend pass is $30 plus fee. The Black Light Powwow by itself is $5 plus fee. And youth 12 and under plus elders 70 and over are free.
That is remarkable. A mostly-free, four-day celebration of this scale, in this city, in 2026. You cannot get four days of almost anything downtown for thirty dollars anymore.
áyA Con is organized by the nonprofit Create áyA, which exists to empower marginalized artists and help people reconnect with culture. The founder is Kristina Maldonado Bad Hand, a Sicangu Lakota and Cherokee artist originally from Taos, New Mexico.
And here is a detail that gives the whole thing more weight. Bad Hand is running for Denver City Council. A body that has never, not once, had a Native American member. Sit with that for a second. You can build the only black light powwow on Earth right here in Denver, and the city government that oversees the land it happens on has never had someone from that community at the table.
That is the context most people miss about áyA Con. It is a comic con, sure. It is a fashion show and a cosplay contest and a marketplace. But it is also a community claiming space in a city that has historically not made much room for it, and doing it with neon and beadwork and a drum that fills an arena.
So mark the dates. Oct. 8 through 11. National Western Center. Thirty dollars for the weekend, five for the powwow, free for the kids and the elders. Go see the one thing in the world you cannot see anywhere else.