Are you ready for the weekend? There are new art shows (see Art Attack for details), as well as free festivals and concerts all along the Front Range.
But there are also plenty of events worth the price of admission, including the Denver Fringe Festival and an Indigenous comic and art festival. Keep reading for twelve things worth the price of admission:
Denver Fringe Festival
Through Sunday, June 11
Twelve venues in the RiNo Art District and Five Points
In only three years, the Denver Fringe Festival has shown itself to be a contender, bringing diversity and a mashup of genres for adults and kids into its fourth year. The hardest part of fringe-ing is deciding what to see (Westword has some suggestions to help you on your way); the DFF’s website lists the schedule and all the hot spots, meeting places, free performances and hubs to help you find your way. A full festival pass is a deal at $75 here, or just see a few shows for $15 each; all in all, there are 55 productions to choose from, with multiple performances.
Colorado Medieval Festival
Sunday, June 11, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The Savage Woods, 1750 Savage Road, Loveland
Get ready to LARP your heart out at the Colorado Medieval Festival, an all-ages celebration of armored
combat on horseback, and mead, monsters and mermaids in the anachronistic Savage Woods of Loveland. Explore the artisan bazaar, wandering cosplayers, belly dancers and live musicians at the three-day fest, but please stay in character. Purchase tickets, $20 for adults, $8 for kids ages six to twelve and free for littles five and under at Eventbrite.
áyA Con: Denver’s Indigenous Comic and Art Festival
Sunday, June 11, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
McNichols Civic Center and Denver Art Museum, Civic Center Park
A family festival, áyA Con is a celebration of North American Indigenous creators that puts the spotlight on comic creators, bead artists, musicians, digital illustrators, designers, dancers and more. There will be panels, demonstrations and community booths with interactive activities; the weekend will close with a Futurism Fashion Showcase featuring drag performances, fashion, cosplay and a Black Light Powwow at the Denver Art Museum. A weekend pass is $30 and up; a single-day pass is $15 and up; and ages eighteen and under get in free. Get tickets (sold online only) and find out more here.
(e)revolution: National E-Bike B2C Consumer Show
Sunday, June 11, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Exhibit Hall A and B1, Colorado Convention Center, 700 14th Street
What’s the hottest thing on wheels in 2023? If you guessed e-bikes, you'd be right. As more people turn to transportation by bike, many are choosing electric bikes for a smoother commute. For anyone leaning that way, the (e)revolution Consumer Show is a good introduction, with commuter, cargo and mountain e-bike displays, and even test rides, all at the Colorado Convention Center. Your ticket, $12.50 in advance at axs.com or $15 on show day, will also get you into the concurrent Big Gear Show in halls B2 and C.
La Carpa Aztlan presents: I Don’t Speak English Only
Sunday, June 11, 2 p.m.; run continues through June 25
Su Teatro Cultural and Performing Arts Center, 721 Santa Fe Drive
Touchstones circle around often at Denver’s Chicano theater, Su Teatro: old favorites, holiday shows and major accomplishments from over the last fifty-plus years. But I Don’t Speak English Only is really the most fitting way to top off the troupe’s silver-anniversary festivities of 2022 and 2023, as it recalls Su Teatro’s early days of performing in the streets and upholds the company’s reason to be. Based on vaudevillian Mexican tent shows performed in small towns on both sides of the border in the ’20s and ’30s, the show takes audiences back to a different time and place. Tickets are $17 to $20 here.
Colorado Shakespeare Festival
Sunday, June 11, through August 13
Mary Rippon Outdoor Theatre, Hellems Arts & Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder
Roe Green Theatre, University Theatre Building, 261 University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder
CU Boulder’s Colorado Shakespeare Festival has been going for six decades, and could continue sparking imaginations under the stars for decades to come. Much Ado About Nothing opens the fest on June 11 in the charming outdoor Mary Rippon Theatre, with a run through August 13. Rounding out the season are The Winter’s Tale, opening June 24; King Lear, July 8; and One Man, Two Guvnors (Richard Bean’s adaptation of Carlo Goldoni’s commedia The Servant of Two Masters) on July 22. Tickets, varying by show, range from $10 to $90 here.
Do you know of a great event in Denver? Send information to [email protected].