A long weekend? Yes please. In between backyard patio get togethers and cold brews find some time to honor the fallen, maybe check out an arts festival and enjoy a jazz brunch. Read, set, go…
Colorado Music & Arts Festival
May 29 and May 30. Centennial Park 13050 E. Peakview Ave., Centennial, CO 80111. Tickets at $12, kids free. Learn more at https://www.denver.org/event
Music. Classic cars. Contests. Cuisine. Beer. And if it’s not snowing — you never know around these here parts — it’ll probably be gorgeous weather. Flock, Aurorans, to the southern side of Cherry Creek State Park. The typical dwelling of geese, Centennial Park will convert overnight to a tent city of various entertainments and delights. Oh, and kids get in free. If you’re languishing in the post-pandemic ether, wondering what the hell to do with yourself, this is an easy way to get back out there.
Jazz Brunch at the Peoples Building
1 p.m. to 3 p.m. May 30, The People’s Building, 9995 E. Colfax. Free. Visit the People’s Building Facebook page for more information.
Well folks, it looks like nature really is healing. Free musical stylings are returning to Aurora’s People’s Building next weekend compliments of the Daryl Gott Trio. The two-hour jam session is free to attend, and local purveyors Third Culture Bakery and Baba and Pop’s will be dishing out food for purchase just up the way. As the event is billed as a brunch, it of course wouldn’t be complete without at least a dash of some form of naughty water. As such, the in-house bar will be open, serving wine, canned cocktails and suds from nearby Lady Justice Brewing. Be sure to say hi to the building’s reigning czar, Aaron Vega, who is often the man found behind the bar pouring beverages for residents to enjoy. Be sure not to miss this signalling toward a return to some sort of normal on East Colfax this weekend.
FINAL WEEKEND: 1 Night, 6 Plays with 5280 Artist Coop
Running Weekends through May 29, with doors at 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays at the ACAD studio building at 1400 Dallas St. Tickets are $26 at the door, $25 online at 5280artistcoop.ticketspice.com.
Now that’s what we call bang for your buck. For $25, attendees of 5280 Artist Co-op’s latest performance will get half a dozen 15-minute vignettes from an array of local creatives, including Mario Farewell, Lou Johnson, Joseph Arnone, Cris Eli Blak, Kenya Fashaw and Clinnesha Sibley. Talk about an effective way to snap up a whole lot of theater in one fell swoop. Tickets to a preview performance on April 30 will be offered at discounted rates, the proceeds of which will benefit the Denver Actors Fund. Act fast, as tickets are promised to be snapped up post haste. Visit the 5280 Artist Coop Facebook page for additional information.
FINAL WEEKEND: Small Mouth Sounds at the Arvada Center
Running through May 30 at The Arvada Center, 6901 Wadsworth Blvd., Arvada. Ticket information can be found at arvadacenter.org.
Live theater finally returned to the Arvada Center this spring with a run of Bess Wohl’s “Small Mouth Sounds,” a one-act play that centers on the interactions between six strangers at a silent yoga retreat. The show was on the cusp of running in spring 2020, but, like so much of life last year, was ultimately sidelined by the pandemic. Now, the cast of Jake Mendes, Jessica Austgen, Kate Gleason, Annie Barbour, Geoffrey Kent, Kevin Rich and Josh Robinson are reprising their roles in this bespoke, off-Broadway production. Lynne Collins directs. The show closes this weekend, so be sure to snag your tickets before this bespoke one-act bids adieu to the northwest corner of the metroplex.
Live music at Stanley Marketplace all weekend
4 p.m. to 7 p.m. May 29 on the West Patio; 1- 4 p.m. May 30 on the lawn; Free at Stanley Marketplace, 2501 Dallas St. Vist the Stanley Facebook page for more information.
It’s no secret that much of the world is still yearning for a dose of live music, er, really any reminder that people outside of Zoom windows do, in fact, exist. Thankfully, Stanley Marketplace is here to help. On Saturday, crooner Robby Peoples will be filling the air around the former airplane hangar’s west patio with melodies. On Sunday, Denver-based La Pompe, hawkers of so-called gypsy folk and jazz will be staging a free show on the Stanley lawn. Some five dozen Aurora businesses are open and hungry for your business after a tumultuous year, so swing by the city’s de facto bazaar and fill your gut with grub or tickle your mind — and your liver — with drops of giggle water. Bottoms up, Aurora.
“The Rise of the Aurora Suburb During the Cold War” at the Aurora History Museum
Open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends. The exhibit is expected to be up until early next year. The Aurora History Museum 15051 E. Alameda Pkwy. Free. Visit auroragov.org or call 303-739-6660 for more information.
Most Aurora residents of 2021 likely don’t know the name Sam Hoffman, but they’ve undoubtedly seen his work. A Russian immigrant and plasterer by trade, Hoffman and his sons were the masterminds behind one of the first meticulously planned out subdivisions that sprung up in the area in the late 1940s and early 1950s, as thousands of military officials and their families were descending on the city with GI Bill funds in hand. The hand Hoffman played in shaping Aurora from the late 1940s to the early 1960s is the focus of the newest exhibit at the Aurora History Museum. The display centers on Aurora’s growth at a time when duck-and-cover drills and nuclear explosion simulations at the nearby Rocky Mountain Arsenal were quotidian affairs. The exhibit is even adorned with a replica 1950s kitchen and mock fallout shelter that residents can peruse as they learn about how Aurora (née Fletcher) became the bustling burg it is today.
Swim at Aurora’s outdoor pools and spraygrounds
Daily beginning May 29 through August. Hours of operation and locations vary. Visit Auroragov.org/Aquatics for more information.
Grab your goggles and your beach towel because it’s time to hit the pool, Aurora. It’s Memorial Day this weekend, so the city’s various outdoor pools and spraygrounds — from Del Mar to Red-tailed Hawk Park — will open for aquatic hootenanny. And better yet, the city is dropping its reservation system, so eager swimmers merely have to show up ready to take a dip. (Although, entry will be capped when capacity limits are reached.) It’s $5 for adults to drop-in to most city pools, and $4 for children. Swim lessons are also available. Visit the city website for more detailed information on specific pools and programs.
Farmers Market at Southlands
May 29, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Southlands Shopping Center, on East State Street between the Eddie Bauer and Kay Jewelers. Visit the Southlands Facebook page for more information.
Ah, yes: We’ve once again returned to those halcyon days of meandering through rows of bespoke vendors, groping a fruit or two and preparing for the inevitable hail storm that will roll onto the plains just as everyone is packing up. That’s right: It’s farmers market season, people. The Southlands Farmers Market returned for the summer earlier this month, providing an answer to your fresh produce hankerings, according to its Facebook page. This weekend and every dang Saturday through October, the bazaar will be operational from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. But please, even if you’ve received your pair of jabs already, wear a gosh darn mask, will you, Karen? It’s almost June and we’re tired of having those debates … actually, we’re just tired. Period. To order produce ahead for curbside pickup, visit thelocalcolorado.localfoodmarketplace.com.
Colorado Freedom Memorial
May 29-May 30, all day, 756 Telluride St. Aurora, Colorado 80011, visit www.coloradofreedommemorial.com for more information.
While, yes, Memorial Day, marks the unofficial start of summer, the holiday is a tribute to the country’s military men and women who have died. Take a moment this weekend to remember the fallen at the Colorado Freedom Memorial, located right here at home. The idea behind the site was established 21 years ago by radio host Rick Crandall and officially unveiled in 2013. Each Memorial Day weekend the site puts on an impressive flag display in the shadow of Buckley Air Force Base.