Pudding with a Fork!

Denver is no stranger to niche happenings, though few events fit that category as completely as Danielle Ford’s “Pudding with a Fork” held October 12th, in the lush southwest corner of City Park.  

Pudding with a Fork, or Pudding Mit Gabel, is a trending community event currently taking Germany and Austria by storm. The spirit of the gathering is exactly what it sounds like; people in the local community are encouraged to arm themselves with pudding, a fork, perhaps a friend, and meet at a pre-determined location to feast with strangers and neighbors alike.  

Danielle Ford (@bangflashbam on TikTok), who lived in Germany as an exchange student and is part German, recently found herself on “German TikTok” where she came across trending videos of Pudding with a Fork. TikTok has become a primary social for the planning of themed neighborhood events this past year, such as celebrity look alike contests, such as Timothee Chalamet’s lookalike competition in Washington Square Park or Jeremy Allen White doppelgangers converging in Chicago’s Humbolt Park.  

Inspired by the act of community, and fanciful fun, Ford made her own post on the social media platform inviting any and all to Denver’s very own Pudding with a Fork. Ford provided commentary on the event, as well as remarkably helpful information such as the best places one might purchase pudding should they have an allergy restriction, price limit, or flavor preferences; she also provided a marked map of City Park for the gathering on her TikTok page. 

Two-year Denver transplant Patrick shared that he, as well as the majority of those at the event, learned about Pudding with a Fork Denver from TikTok, and that he had come alone. “I did come by myself. I tried to text a few of my friends, but texting them ‘I’m going to pudding with a fork, are you going?’ It doesn’t get people to go.”  

Another solo attendee, Kendrick, expressed that the community aspect of Pudding with a Fork was what piqued his interest. “Denver needs more stuff like this,” Kendrick said, “good third spaces. This was pretty much a free event. Just show up with or without pudding…and meet some new people in the neighborhood.”  

The majority of attendees of Pudding with a Fork expressed they were surprised at the turnout. Roughly 100 people attended overall, far surpassing organizer Ford’s initial estimation. A variety of genders, ages, and personal styles sat in an attentive circle upon City Park’s damp grass. Electric blue hair next to sensible brown, painted goths in leather boots knocking knees with blue jeans and graphic tee shirts. Before digging into pudding cups held aloft, the circle fell into a hush at the arrival of an honored attendee—the birthday girl, Deanna. The pudding circle chanted a happy birthday for Deanna, counted down from 3, then the feast commenced.  

Deanna, attending Pudding with a Fork for her 49th birthday, shared her interest in the event, “It’s my birthday, and it’s nice outside. I don’t get out of the house much because of my illnesses, so it just seemed like a nice perfect fit. Stuff like this is needed in today’s society, we need to get back to the roots of being part of life, together, as a community.”  

Community was the pull, above all, that drove 100 Denverites to brave an obscure social gathering promising little more than pudding, and forks. Community was what drove close to 10,000 New Yorkers to style themselves after a French American film star; hundreds of Chicagoans to don the blue apron attire of a hit cooking-based television show. A group of Pudding with a Fork attendees discussed Denver’s Museum of Nature and Science; the museum was hosting free admission that afternoon for Indigenous People’s Day. 

Danielle Ford revealed her main intention behind organizing the event originated from a place of whimsy, “It’s a fun little low-pressure community event. For me, it was kind of a community act of silliness. I was like ‘this is goofy, I’m in’ and other people who see this and think ‘I’m in’ are exactly the kind of people I’d love to randomly meet up with and do something silly with.” 

Within an hour, most of the Pudding with a Fork attendees had dispersed, groups breaking off in every direction, all leaving with a smile and a wave—Ford thanking them for their attendance. A larger group, Patrick at the forefront, ambled leisurely north, the Museum of Nature and Science glinting like a beige beacon in the afternoon sun.