With Labor Day fast approaching on Monday, September 2nd, it’s time to start finalizing your end-of-summer plans or even making new ones.
Here are five ideas for the days before and after the holiday, including free, inexpensive and family-friendly options. (For more things to do, visit denverpost.com/things-to-do.)
Denver Food + Wine Festival
Labor Day week marks the return of the Denver Food + Wine Festivalone of the city’s largest and most popular food and drink events. The Sept. 4-7 gathering showcases hundreds of restaurants and spirits brands. Stay for educational seminars and the Grand Wine Tasting. It all takes place at the Tivoli Quad, Auraria Campus, 1000 Larimer St. in Denver. Tickets for the Grand Wine Tasting are $150-$225, with varying prices for other programs. denverfoodandwine.com
Large and small music festivals
While Phish is in Denver for Labor Day music with its traditional August 29-September 1 performance at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City (there are still plenty of general admission tickets available in GA at ticketmaster.com), the festival has a lot more on the agenda. Monument Lake in Weston Host of the Caveman Music FestivalAugust 30-September 1, with camping on-site and a well-booked mix of 20 indie and ’90s alt-rock, folk, Americana and other artists. This includes sets by Kurt Vile and the Violators, the Wallflowers, Toadies, Jamestown Revival, Band of Heathens and Red Clay Strays. Tickets: $120 per day or $220 for all three days. cavemanmusicfestival.com
Also check out The Levitt Pavilion free festivals for all ages on Labor Day weekend, including the Rocky Mountain Tentacle Festival on August 30th featuring bands from punk legend Jello Biafra’s Alternative Tentacles label: Tsunami Bomb, Kulture Shock, Wheelchair Sports Camp and Dead Pioneers. Biafra, a part-time Boulderite, will host.
The next day, August 31, Dashiki Festival from the Colorado African Cultural Center features live music, arts and crafts, vendors, fashion, dance and more. Both shows are free and family friendly. 1380 W. Florida Ave. in Denver. For more free shows for all ages, visit levittdenver.org.
Outdoor films that fade quickly
Movies under the stars won’t be running for much longer, as series like Denver Film’s popular Film on the Rocks already wrapped on August 19. Avanti Food and Beverages Denver’s free series will screen “Legally Blonde” on its patio on August 29 (avantifandb.com), while Aurora’s Stanley Marketplace will host Film on the Field with “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” on August 31 (stanleymarketplace.com). Evergreen Park and Recreation has “Barbie” in Buchanan Park Field on August 30th for its newest family movie night (evergreenrecreation.com).
Parfet Park in Golden also shows “Barbie” on Sept. 6, and the 88 Drive-In’s Retro Week features “Grease” and “Dirty Dancing” through Sept. 29 ($10 per person, children under 12 free; facebook.com/88drivein).
The crack of the racket
Colorado Rockies Die-hard fans and fans of the visiting team are usually the same size Coors Field on most days. But whether you like the Blake Street Bombers or their rivals, you still have a few chances to see a late-summer game before the Rox head into the offseason. That includes their home series against the Miami Marlins from Aug. 26-29, followed by more games against the Baltimore Orioles from Aug. 30-Sept. 1. Prices vary (a lot). (mlb.com/rockies/schedule)
Last call for theme parks
As theme parks reopen on lucrative holiday weekends to attract Halloween and Christmas visitors, their peak seasons are quickly coming to an end. Just as swimming pools empty on Labor Day weekend, so too do Water world at Federal Heights, the 50-attraction water park that ends its regular season hours on September 2 (waterworldcolorado.com).
Elitch Gardens in downtown Denver also ends its regular season on September 2, with limited weekend hours through the fall (elitchgardens.com). Denver’s historic (if often half-open) theme park Lakeside Amusement Park will be open until September 16 (lakesideamusementpark.com).
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