CPW denies permit for elephant performances at 2025 Colorado Renaissance Festival
LARKSPUR, Colo. (KRDO) – Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) has denied a permit request for elephant performances at the Colorado Renaissance Festival, according to a group of Denver animal rights attorneys that previously threatened to sue the state agency over the elephants.
The Animal Activist Legal Defense Project (AALDP), a legal group based out of the University of Denver, announced that the permit had been denied on June 6.
The decision came just weeks after the group sent a letter to CPW, threatening legal action if a permit for elephant performances was granted for this year's festival season.
READ MORE: Animal rights attorneys threaten to sue CPW over elephants at Colorado Renaissance Festival
For years, elephant performances have been a popular feature of the Colorado Renaissance Festival, which draws thousands of visitors to Larkspur each season.
However, in a letter sent to state wildlife officials in May, AALDP argued that the act violates Colorado law – specifically a 2021 statute banning the use of elephants in traveling animal acts.
In the letter, the group of attorneys claimed CPW had repeatedly violated this statute by issuing permits to elephant exhibitor Trunks and Humps for the Renaissance Festival from 2022-2024.
"'Trunks and Humps’ exhibition clearly meets this definition, as the elephants are being transported specifically for performances at the Colorado Renaissance Festival," the letter read in part.
Elephants fall under CPW's Commercial Wildlife Program, which requires special licensing for the use of certain captive wildlife for educational, commercial or promotional purposes – meaning exhibitors like Trunks and Humps must obtain state approval before including elephants in performances.
KRDO13 reached out to CPW, who confirmed the permit had been denied. When asked the reasoning behind the denial, CPW simply said that Trunks and Humps' application "did not meet the requirements."
Despite the denial, Jim Paradise, vice president of the Colorado Renaissance Festival, says organizers have not made a final decision on whether elephants will return to this year's festival – and says they're now working with the state in the 2025 permitting process.
"We will be reaching out to the State to follow up on why the permit was not issued and what is necessary to bring the Elephants back this season," Paradise said in a statement following the permit's denial.
Paradise stressed that the festival has not offered elephant rides since the 2021 statute passed, and said the festival "has worked and continues to work with Trumps and Humps in its ongoing and successful efforts in educating people on the history, research, and care of elephants."
He added that the permits issued by CPW from 2022 to 2024 for the event are “proof positive that both the Renaissance Festival and Trunks and Humps are fulfilling that mission."
"We look forward to having the elephants back to the Renaissance Festival this season," Paradise said in a statement.
As of June 10, the festival's website has removed the once-active page on the "Elephant Experience."
The Colorado Renaissance Festival is slated to kick off on June 14 and run until August 3.
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