If you are scrambling for the perfect, last-minute gift, you’re in luck. This week KUNC’s Colorado Edition is sharing recommendations for gifts from Colorado.
Music
We spoke with Benji McPhail from KUNC’s sister station The Colorado Sound to get recommendations for music from local artists and bands.
Benji’s music picks:
“I can’t think of a better gift. It’s the kind of thing where everybody likes music in one form or another," Benji told Colorado Edition. “Everybody’s got a different style and a different sense of taste and things like that, and really you can’t go wrong, and if you’re excited about music then it’s good music.”
Books
Renee Becher, the events coordinator at Old Firehouse Books in Fort Collins, gave us some recommendations for books for all ages by Colorado-based authors.
Renee’s recommendations:
- Mystery: The Tracking Game by Margaret Mizushima
- Picture Book: The One and Only Wolfgang by Steve Greig
- Short Stories: We Love Anderson Cooper by R.L. Maizes
- Teen: There's Something About Sweetie by Sandhya Menon
- Thriller: The Dead Girl in 2A by Carter Wilson
We asked Renee why she thinks books make a good gift: “There's just so many different kinds of books, so there's so much to choose from and there’s so many things you can learn from books and there’s so many experiences you can have with books, whether you’re reading a fiction to try to escape and avoid real life for a while, or you want to learn something, or you want to educate yourself on something that you don’t know enough about. There’s just so much that you can give someone by giving them a book."
"And there’s also something very intimate about, especially if you’re buying a fiction book, there’s something very intimate knowing and picking a book that someone will enjoy because that shows that you really know them, you know their taste and understand the kinds of things that they enjoy.”
You can find more book recommendations from Old Firehouse Books here.
Food
And Denise Mickelsen, food editor for 5280 Magazine, gave us recommendations for tasty treats for any budget.
Denise’s favorites:
- Budget: Fortuna White Chocolate or Safta's Rose Glasses
- Mid-Range: Mythology Botanical Gin or Danconia's Brownies
- Top Tier: So Damn Gouda Cheese Subscription or Unrooted Natural Wine Subscription
Denise explained why she thinks food is the perfect gift: “There’s all sorts of reasons to buy food for the holidays, especially locally produced foods and drinks. Because it gives you this sense of home, this taste of place. Everybody has to eat and drink, if I’m not mistaken, and Colorado is a bounty. We have such wonderful, delicious things being made right here at home that I can’t think of a better gift personally.”
You can find 5280’s full food gift guide here.
Editor's Note: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of R.L. Maizes' name.