Monday, May 20, 2013
August events
2-5 Lindy on the Rocks
Various venues, Denver, lindyontherocks.com
Here's your chance to take beginner-to-expert workshops with some of the world's finest swing instructors — or to just sit back and watch others compete. It's run by Community-Minded Dance, the same folks who brought you the Denver International Airport Swing Dance Flash Mob. (Watch here: tinyurl.com/dia-flash.)
2-26 Love's Labor's Lost
Rock Ledge Ranch, 3202 Chambers Way, theatreworkscs.org/love-s-labor-s-lost.html
TheatreWorks' description: "A young king and his pals get serious, vowing to diet, study and see no women. When a princess and her ladies show up ... well, you can guess. Tons of love, a Russian dance, and a boy Hercules strangling a snake on a summer night. You can't beat that." Agreed.
3 Ruff! Life Wine Tasting
Norris-Penrose Event Center, 1045 W. Rio Grande St., milldogrescue.org
Along with the doggie meet-and-greet, pooch parade and silent auction there will be a wide variety of vino for sampling and hors d'oeuvres for nibbling, all against a backdrop of live music. Best of all, proceeds will be used to care for survivors saved by National Mill Dog Rescue.
4 The 74th Annual Bronc Day Festival
Gazebo Lake Park, 10530 Ute Pass Ave., Green Mountain Falls, broncdayco.org
This has all the ingredients of the perfect Colorado summer celebration: a pancake breakfast, a princess, cowboys, clowns, fire engines, horses and the all-important Rubber Duckie Race.
4 Colorado Springs Fire Festival
America the Beautiful Park, 126 Cimino Drive, csfirefestival.webs.com
This afternoon and nighttime festival celebrates the 50th anniversary of our sister-city relationship with Fujiyoshida, Japan. It's a free family event with performers, activities, artisans and food, and dramatic expressions of Japanese culture — the Fujiyoshida Taiko Drummers, the lighting of the Taimatsu pyres and more.
4 Craft Lager and Small Batch Festival
Memorial Park, 500 block of Manitou Avenue, Manitou Springs, craftlagerfestival.com
Bring your unquenchable thirst and sample the wares of some 40 brewers and distillers. Come for morning, afternoon or both sessions.
4 Vino & Notes Wine, Food & Jazz Festival
Memorial Park, corner of Lake Avenue and North Park Street, Woodland Park, vinoandnotes.com
One afternoon, the wares of about 20 wineries, a broad array of edibles and a lot of jazz.
4-5 Colorado Scottish Festival & Rocky Mountain Highland Games
Highland Heritage Park, Highlands Ranch, scottishgames.org
Join the lads and lassies at the 49th annual Scottish Festival, and enjoy two days of kilts, piping, drumming, haggis (don't ask, just eat) and highland sport.
4-5 Mountain Arts Festival
Ute Pass Cultural Center, 210 E. Midland Ave., Woodland Park, themountainartists.com
The creative work of about 80 artists will be on offer at the 27th annual festival, sponsored by the Mountain Artists of Teller County. There will be glorious works and sumptuous vittles, but organizers ask that you leave Fido at home (long story).
10 World Music Series: Aurelio Martinez
Armstrong Quad, 14 E. Cache la Poudre St., tinyurl.com/aurelio-martinez
This final performance in the series brings a musician acclaimed for nurturing the Parranda musical tradition of Caribbean Central America. Martinez began playing the guitar as soon as he was big enough to hold one, and brought his own style to his Honduran musical roots.
11 Pasta in the Park
Myron Stratton Home Campus, 435 Gold Pass Heights, vprue@tessacs.org, tessacs.org
TESSA's annual fundraiser is built around a pasta sauce cookoff, but that's only part of the package. The evening also brings heavy hors d'oeuvres, a wine tasting and wine pull, silent and live auctions, dancing, and the bodacious TESSAtini for your sipping pleasure.
18-19 Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon
Manitou Springs, 473-2625, pikespeakmarathon.org
Run up Pikes Peak the first day, then run up and down the next day. Piece of cake.
19 World Kugel Day Festival
400 S. Kearney St., Denver, mizelmuseum.org/2012-special-events
"Jews have been seeking comfort for thousands of years. Many stopped seeking when they found kugel." So says the Mizel Museum website in its description of their first-ever event dedicated to a casserole. There will be a kugel cookoff and tasting, noodle art fun for the kids, and bumptious sound from Rocky Mountain Jewgrass. Everybody's welcome.
19-25 Blanca Peak Volunteer Vacation
Rocky Mountain Field Institute, 3310 W. Colorado Ave., 471-7736, rmfi@rmfi.org, rmfi.org
Gather at the Field Institute then head off for a week of glorious toil, building a summit trail that will help keep humans off of this fragile alpine land. You will climb the peak, and while you're working you'll camp at treeline in Lake Como Basin. Minimum age: 18.
20-26 USA Pro Cycling Challenge
Various locations including Colorado Springs (Aug. 24); usaprocyclingchallenge.com
The Challenge website: "[Last year's race] brought the high speeds, danger and adrenaline of professional cycling to elevations more than two miles high in some of the most picturesque terrain in the world — the Colorado Rocky Mountains." And they're going to do it again.
24-26 Mountain Music Festival
Soda Springs Park, 1016 Manitou Ave., Manitou Springs, dulcimer.net
A mellow festival with lots of good music, good food and good family fun. It's early yet and the music lineup is still TBA, so check the website later.
24-Sept. 3 Colorado State Fair
State Fairgrounds, Pueblo, coloradostatefair.com
Folded in with the duck quacking contest and steer daubing (involves cattle, people, tennis balls and mustard) are performances by Merle Haggard, the Steve Miller Band, the Temptations, the Four Tops and more.
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