Last November 29, the brass band Guerrilla Fanfare started its march through Olde Town at 5 p.m. in front of The Bluegrass. It wound through the streets and back to the square, and the tree went up at 6 p.m. That spot at 7415 Grandview Avenue started the evening that kicks off Olde Town's holiday season.
This year The Bluegrass set October 31 as its last day at that address. Up the street, at 7509 Grandview, Silver Vines Winery is heading into its final December. At 5715 Upham Street, the business built to fill exactly this kind of gap starts selling books from a heated tent on November 19 while its building gets finished.
So this season is a handoff in Olde Town's gathering places, the spots where people show up without a reason. The dates worth circling between now and Christmas Eve mostly belong to a business that is wrapping up or one that is just getting started.
The Place That Set Out to Be Olde Town's "Cheers"
Drew and Sheena Gordon founded The Bluegrass in 2015. They built it around their Kentucky roots: American bourbon, a full coffee bar and live music. It ran as a coffee shop by day and a bourbon bar by night, and the pizza drew its own following. In its closure coverage, the Arvada Press quoted longtime general manager Josh Schwartz on the goal.
"We always want to be the 'Cheers.' We want people to be known by name, and their drink. They sit down and it's ready for them."
The Arvada Press reported that Schwartz described The Bluegrass as a "third space," somewhere outside home and work where people could find community.
The Arvada Press laid out the reasons it closed. Costs were rising across the industry. The Bluegrass occupies the oldest freestanding building in Olde Town, which Schwartz said needs repairs. And the lease came up for renewal while the costs were mounting. The Candelas location at 18068 W. 92nd Lane set October 30 as its last day.
The holidays were a big part of what The Bluegrass meant here. Each season it ran a Christmas pop-up bar called Noel, and Schwartz told the Arvada Press that former employees came back to work it. Noel's 2025 season ended December 30.
The name may come back. After the Gordons announced the closure, Schwartz said, several investors offered to buy The Bluegrass brand. He called a revival a possible "phoenix" situation, maybe at a different location.
Silver Vines Has One December Left
Silver Vines Winery opened at 7509 Grandview Avenue in December 2011. Its owners announced on Facebook on June 29 that it would close at the end of 2026. According to the Arvada Press report, the Arvada tasting room plans to stay open through December.
Owner Kristin Chayer told the Arvada Press how the winery changed over 15 years: "What started as a winery became a gathering place."
The Bluegrass and Silver Vines both describe themselves as places to gather, and both have Grandview Avenue addresses. Silver Vines also took part in the district's shared traditions: the Eggnog and Cider Competition, A Chocolate Affair and the Rocky Mountain Archtop Festival.
Here is the winery's final December as its own events calendar and the Arvada Press report list it:
- Friday, Dec. 4: Howard Dlugasch, 7 to 10 p.m.
- Sunday, Dec. 6: 15th Anniversary Party, 2 to 6 p.m.
- Monday, Dec. 7: Gypsy Jazz Jam, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.
- Friday, Dec. 11: Gregg Green, 7 to 10 p.m.
- Mondays, Dec. 14, 21 and 28: Gypsy Jazz Jam, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.
The anniversary party is a Sunday afternoon, which makes it the easiest of these to plan around. If you've meant to bring friends by for years, the Monday jazz jams are the last chances that repeat.
The Newcomer Started Because of That Same Gap
My Book Cellar exists because its founders thought Olde Town was short on places to gather. Best friends Kim Beaumund and Kate Otto put down roots and started their families in Olde Town Arvada. The Arvada Press reported that the lack of third spaces in the historic district is what pushed them to act.
They are restoring the historic Smith-Houston House at 5715 Upham Street as a bookstore, café, bar and community space. The Arvada Press profile describes the plans: more than 3,000 new books, a kids' section with its own decor, a full coffee bar, and local wines, liquors and beers. There will also be pastries, charcuterie boards, nonalcoholic drinks, and seating inside and on a patio. The owners chose to sell only new books so the shop complements Book Cranny, the nearby new-and-used bookstore, and the Olde Town branch of the Jeffco Public Library.
My Book Cellar's website says the store is "Coming Winter 2026." The posted hours for the full shop are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Until the building opens, the shop is coming to people outside. Its Winter Book Nook is a heated event tent on the property, with new books, bookish gifts, drinks for all ages, local artists and author pop-ups. Per the Winter Book Nook event page, the tent is open:
- Nov. 19 to 22, Nov. 27 to 29 and Dec. 3 to 6: Thursdays and Fridays 3 to 6 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Dec. 21 to 23: noon to 6 p.m.
- Dec. 24: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The first weekend of December lines up neatly. The Book Nook is open Thursday, December 3, through Sunday, December 6, and Silver Vines holds its anniversary party that Sunday afternoon. One loop through Olde Town that day covers both the winery that's leaving and the bookstore that's arriving.
How the Weekends Stack Up From Here
The rest of the season fills in around those gathering places. Olde Town's Designated Drinking Zone runs all year, so you can carry a holiday drink while you walk between stops. In date order, from publication through Christmas:
- Through Dec. 25: Community Table's food drive puts its giant "can of peas" collection barrels at participating locations in Arvada, Westminster and Wheat Ridge.
- Thursday, Nov. 19: The Winter Book Nook opens at 5715 Upham Street.
- Friday, Nov. 20, through Jan. 3: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat comes back to the Arvada Center Main Stage during the Center's 50th-anniversary year. Visit Arvada notes ASL and audio-described performances, with dates on the Center's site.
- Friday, Nov. 27: Method & Muse Spirits starts its Holiday Apothecary, which it calls a limited-time botanical winter cocktail experience. The same day, the Arvada Center opens its 40th Annual Fine Art Market, free and featuring more than 100 Colorado artists, and its 50th Annual Holiday Pottery Sale, with work by the Center's ceramics instructors and students. Both run through Dec. 13.
- Saturday, Nov. 28: Method & Muse hosts Acoustic Gap from 2 to 5 p.m. for Small Business Saturday, and its calendar lists a "cup of cheer" during the Olde Town tree lighting festivities. That evening, Sage Spade holds its Yule Night Holiday Market from 5 to 8 p.m. with local vendors, Santa visits, a tree lighting and festive drinks.
- Friday, Dec. 4: Method & Muse holds a Holiday Apothecary evening with DJ Depth, and Silver Vines has Howard Dlugasch. The Arvada Center's Winter Dance Concert: Renaissance in Motion runs Dec. 4 and 5, with a Friday evening show and a Saturday matinee that will also be livestreamed.
- Sunday, Dec. 6: Silver Vines' 15th Anniversary Party, 2 to 6 p.m., on the last day of the Book Nook's early-December run.
- Dec. 21 to 24: The Book Nook's extended last-minute gift hours.
For a sense of scale, last year's Olde Town tree lighting ran from 2 to 8 p.m. It had a pop-up makers' market, skating in the square, a 5 p.m. march and the 6 p.m. lighting, with music from BFlatirons afterward. The Historic Olde Town Arvada events page is where the district posts its own schedule.
At Kathryn's team, we like keeping track of who is opening and who is saying goodbye on Grandview, because those changes shape how a neighborhood feels from one season to the next. If you're wondering how changes like these affect what your Olde Town home is worth, or what a move nearby might look like, Sold With Kathryn is glad to help. Get your home valuation or schedule a consultation whenever you're ready.
