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Each year more than 250 top spellers from across Colorado participate in the virtual portion of the Colorado State Spelling Bee to earn a spot on the stage for the live rounds which take place in March at the University of Denver. The top scorers compete for the title of Colorado State Spelling Bee Champion. This 86 year-old tradition, originally sponsored by the Rocky Mountain News, encourages and rewards our young people’s love of learning and competition. The winner of the Colorado State Spelling Bee moves on to represent Colorado in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

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The 86th annual Denver Post Colorado State Spelling Bee is right around the corner! The live portion of the 2026 State Bee will be held on Saturday, March 7th at Sturm Hall on the University of Denver campus. The champion of our State Bee will win an all-expense paid trip to compete in the 101st Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. from May 24-29, 2026.

Important information for the participating schools:

The spelling and vocabulary online test must be taken on Thursday, February 19, 2026. 

  • In order for your student(s) to participate in The Denver Post Colorado State Spelling Bee, your school must first enroll with the Scripps National Spelling Bee and pay their fee by the deadline of Friday, January 30, 2026.
  • Next, you need to register your champion speller(s) at spellingbee.com no later than Friday, February 13, 2026.
  • Finally, once the two steps above are followed, please turn in the State Entry Form, along with a $40 registration fee per speller, no later than Friday, February 13, 2026. Checks can be made payable to Denver Post Community Foundation.

For questions, please email Carol Cline, Spelling Bee Event Director at ccline@denverpost.com.

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The 2025 Colorado State Spelling Bee champion was Vedanth Raju, the 7th grader from Aurora Quest K-8 who spelled FRETUM correctly in the 29th Round. Our 2nd Place winner was Nikhil Ganta, a 5th grader from Traut Core Knowledge in Fort Collins, and we had a tie for 3rd Place: Sai Shreyas Sriyapu Reddy, a 6th grader from World Compass Academy in Castle Rock, and Sriman Reddy, an 8th grader from Stargate School in Broomfield.

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Click here to see the past Colorado State Spelling Bee champions.