Veterans Day 2020: What's Open, Closed In Denver

DENVER, CO — Many services, agencies and government offices in Denver will be closed on Veterans Day to honor those who've served in our nation's armed forces.

The mayor's office, city council offices, clerk and recorder's office, auditor's office and most city agencies will be closed Wednesday.

Veterans Day openings, closings in Denver:

• Denver Health - open
• Trash, recycling and compost - will be collected on Wednesday.
• City-owned golf courses - open, weather permitting, but check these policies before you go.
• State courts - closed
• Libraries - closed, and all live remote services will be unavailable.
• Denver arts and venues: Outdoor spaces at Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre will be open. The Red Rocks Trading Post and McNichols Civic Center Building will also be open. You can make a reservation at the McNichols Building here. A guide to arts and venues in the city can be found here.
• Parking meters - free on Sundays and holidays, including Veterans Day.
• Denver recreation centers - all centers and pools are closed until further notice due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Walmart, Target, Safeway and King Soopers stores in metro Denver will be open on Veterans Day, but check individual stores for hours as they may be closing early.

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Originally called Armistice Day, the holiday was created at the end of World War I to recognize those who fought in “the war to end all wars,” according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Its origin is tied to the armistice, a temporary end of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany signed in France on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

It became Veterans Day in 1954, shortly after the end of the Korean War and less than a decade after World War II, after various veterans service organizations urged Congress to encompass veterans of all wars in their honor.

Veterans Day is somewhat related to, and sometimes mistaken for, Memorial Day, the federal holiday on the final Monday of May that is dedicated to those who have died while serving the United States in war.