COLORADO SPRINGS, CO — The annual Western Street Breakfast is a downtown Colorado Springs event since the late 1930s. Every year, it brings together nearly 10,000 people to celebrate western heritage in our community.
What Happens at the Colorado Springs Western Street Breakfast?
- Breakfast will be served from 5:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. by Army/Air Force volunteers (eggs, pancakes, coffee, juice or milk)
- Pikes Peak Range Riders and Rangerettes depart on horseback at 8 a.m.
- Appearances by Girl of the West and Aide to the Girl of the West
- Kids Corral with fun activities
- Lil’ Cowboys and Cowgirls Round-Up costume contest
- Performances by the Flying W Wranglers, Colorado Springs Conservatory, Exit West, and Sweetwater Native American Hoop Dancers
- Buy tickets at the event (cash only) for $5 or on Eventbrite (a fee of $1.04 will be applied to each ticket).
- Kids 5 and under eat free!
*see bottom of article for road closure impacts
Road closures
With the main event taking place at the corner of Pikes Peak Ave and Tejon St, there are road closures you need to be aware of.
Starting at midnight until noon Wednesday,:
- Pikes Peak Ave. between Cascade Ave. and Nevada Ave. will be closed.
- Tejon St., between Kiowa St. and Colorado Ave. will be closed
Wednesday from 4:30 a.m. until 9 a.m.
- Pikes Peak Ave. between Nevada Ave. and Corona will be closed.
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“You know, Colorado Springs is a western town. For somebody like myself, who is born and raised here, I mean, this is a western community,” said Brett Axton, a Pikes Peak Range Rider and emcee for the Western Street Breakfast.
Axton said, as a Colorado Springs native, he went to the street breakfast every year as a kid.
“Every year, that was a big deal dressing up like a little cowboy,” said Axton.
Kids are encouraged to dust their boots off and dress in their best western gear. Meanwhile, Axton has been helping put on the event for 37 years.
“Some people have never been close enough to touch a horse. They've seen them on TV sand far away, but they didn't even get a chance to touch them. So we want you to come down and say ‘hi’ and we'll introduce you to our horses before we take off on the ride,” said Axton.
1,700 pounds of pancake batter, 1,800 pounds of eggs, and 500 gallons of coffee, and for the first time ever, sausages will be served. Nearly 500 volunteers, help serve breakfast including Fort Carson soldiers and Air Force cadets.
“One of my favorite things is getting down here early, and you hear them spatulas slamming on the metal griddle and making all the pancakes, and then the kid starts showing up,” Kevin Kaveney, co-chair of the event.
At 8 a.m., the Pikes Peak Range riders will also ride out of town on horseback for a five-day journey. For Kaveney, it's his 11th ride as Pikes Peak Range Rider.
“You'll see something that you're just not going to see anywhere else in America, which is 250 horseback riders riding out of town, right through the middle of downtown Colorado Springs,” said Kaveney,
The ride and street breakfast kicks off the 81st Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo season, and it’s also a way to support local military and their families. Money raised from the event will support local nonprofit organizations and charities that work with active-duty military, veterans, and their families.
“It’s a neat way to celebrate and give back to our military families here in this community, and also celebrate our western heritage.”
The event begins at 5:30 a.m. and runs until 9 a.m. Breakfast is $5, and children under 5 years old, eat free.
For more information about the Western Street Breakfast, click here.
There will also be western music and entertainment, a kid corral with a petting zoo, dress-up contest.
Road closures in downtown Colorado Springs begin at midnight tonight, as volunteers will begin setting out 800 bales of hay to be used as benches.
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