A very specific sense of nostalgia arises with eating nachos, laughing with friends, and spending the day out in the sun to inevitably earn a sunburn…of walking down Midway full of bustling excited people who come together to celebrate something bigger.
For the Broomfield residents reading this, Broomfield Days probably comes to mind; with the parade, food, and friends to match the description. But there’s another day that might be smaller than a town-funded event (at least for now), yet makes up for its size with a much bigger message. This day is called Daniel the Lion Day.
So, what is Daniel the Lion Day?
In simple terms, Daniel the Lion Day is a celebration held at Midway Park on the last Sunday of August.
For people who attend the event, everything from the food to the bouncy castles is free: no entrance fee and no extra costs at the event.
In the words of Daniel Jaramillo, co-founder and father of the Lion, Daniel the Lion Day is meant to “serve the community without an agenda.”
If you were to ever attend the event, you’d notice there are never any corporate ads. “Every year,” Mr. Jaramillo says, “we turn away thousands of dollars because of the cause.”
Instead, they raise their own money through community donations, corporate sponsors without ads, and money from their own pockets.
To them, the day wasn’t ever meant to raise money, but to give back to the community that helped them as a “thank you,” and to inspire others to serve their own community without expecting anything in return.
Today, the event holds bouncy castles, cotton candy, face painting, and even a petting zoo. But it didn’t begin that way. For Jax and Daniel Jaramillo, founders of the event, the day was born by tragedy.
“Daniel” or “The Lion ” was their son who was born prematurely and later passed away at 14 months. Despite such a traumatizing event, they decided they didn’t want to choose negativity.
The day began with just them celebrating the memory of their son, their Lion, with a birthday. But it grew into a movement much bigger than they expected.
It became more than a representation of loss but “an example of a positive future after a devastating life event,” says Jax Jaramillo, second co-founder and mother of Daniel.
“Daniel the Lion Day is healing,” Daniel Jaramillo says, “When it gets tough you have two choices. The negative and the positive. I didn’t want my son’s memory to be draped in negativity.”
Sunday, August 27th of 2023 was their 9th year holding and organizing the event, which they spent all year planning and collecting sponsors.
The event has grown since its first “picnic” into a community-wide event holding its own organized fund with mascots (Sonny & Friends), and bigger plans in the near future.
Daniel the Lion Day might be smaller than Broomfield Days (at the moment), but the Jaramillo’s plan is to change that.
“You wait, Broomfield Days,” Daniel Jaramillo stated, “we are coming for you.”
