Fifty Pounds of Gum Removed From Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Thousands of people visit Colorado's Red Rocks Amphitheatre each year. Whether it's concert-goers, people working out, sightseers, or movie-goers, those 543 steps see a lot of action on an annual basis.
Last year's events and the plethora of visitors left the popular outdoor venue with a very sticky situation to deal with.
Although gum is not allowed inside the amphitheater, countless chewed-up pieces still manage to find a final resting spot underneath the rows of seats.
Like 50 pounds worth!
According to USA Today, volunteers recently spent a day scraping up 50 pounds of gum from under the benches at Red Rocks. That large amount of gum had accumulated over the 2023 season, including during the wintertime when concerts weren't even taking place.
The local non-profit Friends of Red Rocks has been taking on this cringe-worthy task for the last three years with the mission of preserving the "magic of Red Rocks." Volunteers from the non-profit spend three hours on the last Saturday of every month helping rangers clean up the trails, pick up trash, and remove wads of gum.
Red Rocks is a geological phenomenon that should be treated with respect by guests. Inevitably, visitors will accidentally bring gum into the venue in their purses or pockets, but chewed pieces should always be properly discarded in the trash.
A Rare Look at How a Concert is Setup at Colorado’s Red Rocks
Gallery Credit: Nate Wilde
More From 99.9 The Point
