Arvada Press: Rocky Mountain Archtop Guitar Festival returning to Olde Town in September
Arvada Press | Rylee Dunn | August 10, 2026
For one weekend in September, Olde Town Arvada will play host to some of the preeminent builders and players of archtop guitars for the Rocky Mountain Archtop Guitar Festival, which will be held from Sept. 18-20.
The festival is a weekend-long celebration of archtop guitars — a specialized instrument that is typically hollow and violin-shaped, frequently used by jazz and blues players — organized by Henriksen Amplifiers founder and Arvada local Peter Henriksen.
The festival got its start back in 2019, and is now held on a biennial basis.
Henriksen explained the importance of a festival specific for archtop guitar makers and their admirers, which mainly centers around the uniqueness of the instrument.
“It's the hardest type of guitar to make,” Henriksen said. “And some of these (guitars) take three to five years to finish. It takes a lifetime for people to perfect this craft. They're hand-carved, most of them, and they're a very special instrument that has a very unique playability to it.