Fort Collins

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Population: About 120,000

Nearest airport: Denver International Airport (DEN) is one hour away by car.

Conventions centers/Large event spaces:
Hilton Fort Collins
425 West Prospect Road
Fort Collins, CO 80526

Larimer County Fairgrounds and Events Complex
5280 Arena Circle, Suite 100
Loveland, CO 80538

Overview and hightlights:
The Front Range community has been lauded as "Best Place to Live" (Money, 2006), "Best Place to Reinvent Your Life" (AARP 2003) and "Best Place to Raise a Family" (third-place, Reader's Digest 1997).

With five breweries and ranking as Colorado's second-largest producer of beer, Fort Collins is the "Napa Valley of Craft Beer." Along with that title comes brewery tours, beer tastings and the unbeatable combination of beer and billiards found at CooperSmith's Pub & Brewing downtown. The city is home to an array of brews from the evocative Fat Tire Amber Ale to Chocolate Stout to that enduring standard: Budweiser.

>> The Fort Collins Marriott features 16,000 square feet of meeting space, including a 3,200-square-foot outdoor pavilion.
970.226.5200

>> Across town, Hilton Fort Collins offers room to move with 20,000 square feet of meeting space with room for events up to 1,200 people.
970.482.2626

>> For events that demand a more intimate setting, look to the restored Armstrong Hotel downtown with 37 guest rooms, a ballroom and a boardroom. Just a few miles north is the Tapestry House. Built new to resemble a turn-of-the-century Victorian manor, Tapestry House can accommodate events of up to 225.
970.484.3883

>> Located just off Interstate 25, the Larimer County Fairgrounds and Events Complex, which opened in 2003 and is known as "The Ranch," features more than 374,000 square feet of meeting and event space on 150 acres. The centerpiece is the Budweiser Events Center, a 7,200-seat venue that hosts sports and entertainment events from ice hockey to concerts, family shows to rodeos.
970.619.4000

For more information:

Fort Collins Convention and Visitors Bureau // 970.232.3840 / http://www.ftcollins.com

This article has been re-edited for the Web. Article originally by Sue Lenthe.