AURORA | For the 11th year, the 7/20 Memorial Foundation will hold its annual Day of Resilience July 25, bringing survivors, victims’ families, first responders and community members together to honor those killed, injured and affected by the 2012 Aurora theater shooting while celebrating healing and resilience.

The free public event is slated from 8 a.m. to noon at the Aurora Water-Wise Garden, 15151 E. Alameda Parkway.

It follows this month’s 14th anniversary of the July 20, 2012, mass shooting at the Century 16 theater, where 12 people were killed and 70 others were wounded during a midnight movie screening.

The day’s activities begin at 7:30 a.m. with the fifth annual Hero’s Journey 5K and Kids Run, preceded by music from DJ Sinna-G and a warm-up led by Stride Fitness Southlands. The walk and run, led by survivor and firefighter Zack Golditch, raises money for the Zack Golditch Opportunity Scholarship through a partnership with the Aurora Public Schools Foundation. Registration costs $12 to $40.

The festival will feature nearly 50 professional chalk artists creating murals centered on remembrance, resilience and hope, along with a wellness fair offering trauma-informed resources, therapy dogs, mindfulness activities, art therapy and community organizations.

The event also includes live music, family activities, local food vendors and a craft beverage experience featuring participating breweries. Unlimited tastings will be available for a suggested donation benefiting the foundation. Organizers said the event will also include a designated sober gathering space.

“The Day of Resilience is about making space for people to show up exactly as they are,” Heather Dearman, chief executive officer of the 7/20 Memorial Foundation, said in a statement. “From the Hero’s Journey 5K and Chalk Art Festival to the Wellness Fair and opportunities for connection — it is intentionally designed to remind people that healing looks different for everyone, and that no one has to walk that journey alone.”

Beyond the 2012 carnage and suffering, the massacre stripped Aurora of its anonymity. Like Virginia Tech before it and Newtown after, Aurora post-July 20 is “one of those places,” forever bound to the American gun violence that shocks the world with increasing frequency.

Despite the association with the mass shooting, however, the city’s former mayor said the city has grown to accept and build on the tragedy of the shooting. The city has incorporated its fate into a new role as a leader in healing and moving past such disasters, local memorial foundation volunteers say.

Former Mayor Steve Hogan said the theater shooting absolutely enveloped Aurora, but it’s never defined it.

While Aurora will for at least generations be harnessed to the tragedy, it’s absorbed the distinction but moved on in what some say is a healing process for communities struck by such tragedies.

Each year, as July 20 rolls around, the memories are stirred.

“My thoughts are with the families of those killed in this massacre, and with the survivors who will carry their pain and trauma for life,” former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who heads the Giffords foundation, said last year. “Even more than a decade later, my heart aches for those who were taken from us too soon.” She regularly calls out anti-gun-violence activists Sandy and Lonnie Phillips, whose daughter Jessi Redfield Ghawi was killed during the theater shooting, and also state Democratic state Sen. Tom Sullivan, whose son Alex was also killed in the shooting. Sullivan has become the chief sponsor of a handful of gun-control and anti-gun violence measures at the state Capitol.

“Because of their courage, Colorado has seen remarkable wins for gun safety and lives have undoubtedly been saved,” Giffords said, referring to changes in state gun reform laws linked to both those families’ efforts.

Founded in 2013 after the Aurora theater shooting, the 7/20 Memorial Foundation group initially led fundraising, planning and construction of the permanent 7/20 memorial, which was completed in 2018. The organization has since expanded its mission to support survivors and communities affected by mass violence through advocacy, remembrance and healing programs.

The annual Day of Resilience has become one of the foundation’s signature events, bringing together survivors, families and supporters to commemorate those lost while emphasizing recovery and community connection.

Details and 5K registration are available  at 7-20memorial.org/upcoming-events/day-of-resilience-2026.  

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