Theater, Music and Hispanic Heritage Celebrations!
September 16, 2021
Denver and Aurora offer a little bit of everything this weekend—including the Denver Arts Festival and numerous last-chance outdoor concerts.There’s a Wine Walk at Southlands and a Beer Garden in the Stapleton neighborhood, and even a stage version of Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein!
TODAY/TONIGHT, September 16
SUMMER SESSIONS FINAL SHOW
Don’t miss this final late-summer evening of live local music down at the historic 19th Street Bridge on the north end of Commons Park. With artisan vendors, tasty bites from local food trucks, and a stacked bar of craft brews and boozy libations, this is summer in the city as it’s meant to be! Tonight’s bands are Iamgruv, Venus Cruz, and Los Mocochetes!
Riverfront Park, 15th St. & Little Raven St., Denver
4:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Information: FREE
Phone: 720-314-1572
KIDS NIGHT OUT
Coinciding with the Southlands Wine Walk, tonight’s Kids Night Out is a fun night for the little ones to enjoy the company of friends, snacks, crafts, games, and a movie! Meanwhile, you have the peace of mind to enjoy your own night out, knowing the kids will be well-supervised and entertained.
YMCA Southlands, 6295 S. Main St., Unit 200, Aurora
5:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Cost: $15 per child
SOUTHLANDS WINE WALK
Enjoy an evening of strolling and sipping through various wine and beer tasting stations on Main Street, Town Square, and at participating Southlands restaurants! Admission includes a commemorative wine glass, ten 1-ounce wine samples from wine booths plus beer samples from Bent Barley Brewery, live music, and exclusive offers from Southlands retailers. Don’t miss this local opportunity to sample a great selection of many types of wines!
Southlands,6155 S. Main St., Aurora
5:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Tickets: $15-$25
Phone: 303-627-5000
HEALTHY BRAIN AGING
Take a look through the lens of neuroscience to see what brain aging looks like and how to stave off cognitive decline! You’ll learn firsthand from Dr. Brianne Bettcher, a clinical neuropsychologist and director of the Colorado Aging Brain Laboratory at the University of Colorado Alzheimer’s and Cognition Center.
The emphasis of this webinar is on understanding what puts people at risk for Alzheimer’s disease and what protects aging adults from developing Alzheimer’s disease. Bettcher’s research is built on the foundation that there is as much to learn from individuals who are healthy as there is from individuals who are experiencing cognitive decline.
Online webinar
6:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Register: FREE
OUTDOOR MOVIE – RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON
A stellar cast of actors, including Awkwafina, Sandra Oh, and Kelly Marie Tran, voice this modern legend of a lone warrior who sets out to find the last dragon. Raya is Disney’s first Southeast Asian princess and it’s up to her to save the dragon and her kingdom.
City Park, 9701 E. 16th Ave., Aurora
6:00 – 9:30 p.m.
Tickets: $2
Thursday-Saturday, September 16-18
LAUGH WITH SEAN PATTON
Enjoy an evening of comedy, forgetting about day-to-day stress! Sean Patton is a stand-up comedian who has appeared on Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and Conan. Patton’s Comedy Central Half Hour and album was released in 2013. On screen, he’s appeared on IFC’s Maron, Comedy Central’s Inside Amy Schumer and TruTV’s Those Who Can’t.
Comedy Works Downtown, 1226 15th St., Denver
Thurs., 8:00 p.m.; Fri./Sat., 7:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m.
Tickets: $17-$25
Phone: 303-595-3637
Friday, September 17
CONCERT AND BEER GARDEN
Fit one more concert into the end of summer with Soul X playing outdoors at Founders Green in the Stapleton neighborhood! There’s also a big beer garden with local breweries like Cheluna Brewing, Copper Kettle Brewing Company, Haykin Family Cider, Odell Brewing Company, Blanchard Family Wines, and Westfax Brewing Company!
Food trucks include Dos Gringos, Em’s Ice Cream, and Mister Lemonade. You can buy beer coupons for $5 each, and all proceeds will benefit a local nonprofit. The concert is free and open to the public.
Founders Green, E. 29th Ave. Town Center, Denver
4:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Tickets: FREE to $5
Friday-Saturday, September 17-18
SPEAKEASY INTERACTIVE THEATRE
You’ll feel like you’ve been transported to the Roaring Twenties! Daisy’s Day Speakeasy is a combination of live theatre, vintage music and dance, vaudeville, Prohibition-style cocktails and more! Dress up in 1920s formal attire for the most fun!
This event is for ages 21 and up, and all patrons must be fully vaccinated before attending.
Factory Five Five, 10255 E. 25th Ave., Unit 5, Aurora
7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Tickets: Starting at $30
Friday-Sunday, September 17-19
MEOW WOLF POPUP
This is a sneak preview of the interactive arts exhibit that’s coming to Denver soon! See what the transformational Denver exhibit, Convergence Station, will look like when it opens in the Mile High City in a couple weeks!
Meow Wolf is an arts and entertainment company based in Santa Fe that transports audiences of all ages into fantastic realms of story and exploration. The new Denver exhibit will include works in a variety of media like sculpture, painting, fabrication, digital art, writing, film, and many more. Local artists will be featured in the collaborations!
Stanley Marketplace, 2501 N. Dallas St., Aurora
Information: FREE
EMANUEL AX PLAYS CHOPIN
Grammy Award-winning pianist Emanuel Ax shares the stage with the Colorado Symphony as he performs Chopin’s poetic second Piano Concerto, as well as Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, orchestrated by Ravel. From its regal opening to its majestic finale, Mussorgsky’s depiction of a stroll through an art exhibit is a perennial favorite you simply won’t want to miss.
The Symphony also performs Barber’s Adagio for Strings, a timely piece offering a poignant meditation on loss, full of gripping harmonies that artfully convey the effect of courage in the face of tragedy and abiding love after a year of emotional and physical distancing. Facial coverings are required for this performance.
Boettcher Concert Hall, DPAC, 1000 14th St., #15, Denver
Fri./Sat., 7:30 p.m.; Sun., 1:00 p.m.
Tickets: $15-$89
Phone: 303-623-7876
HUNDRED DAYS
This folk-punk musical asks the question: what would you do if only had a hundred days left? When Shaun and Abigail remember the story of how they fell in love, it unleashes an exhilarating and raw musical dreamscape about embracing uncertainty, taking a leap, and loving as if you had everything to lose. Or better yet… to gain.
Aurora Fox Theatre, 9900 E. Colfax Ave., Aurora
Fri./Sat., 7:30 p.m.; Sun., 2:00 p.m.
Tickets: $15-$40
Phone: 303-739-1970
YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN ON STAGE
Everyone’s favorite Mel Brooks movie comes to life on stage! When the original mad scientist, Victor Frankenstein, leaves his legacy to his grandson, Frederick, the young Frankenstein wants nothing to do with his family’s notorious legend. But when he travels to his grandfather’s castle in Transylvania, Frederick gets sucked into the allure of the experiments and creates his own monster—and vows to civilize him!
Vintage Theatre, 1468 Dayton St., Aurora
Fri./Sat., 7:30 p.m.; Sun. 2:30 p.m.
Tickets: $20-$38
Phone: 303-856-7830
Saturday, September 18
SAFARI IN AURORA
Take a safari ride at the Plains Conservation Center and discover the pronghorn—whose Latin name means “goat-antelope,” but they are actually neither goat nor antelope. Rather, these unique survivors from another world are native to Aurora and have adapted to the changing landscape. They are living fossils from the Pleistocene and will make you look twice when you spot them!
Plains Conservation Center, 21901 E. Hampden Ave., Aurora
6:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Tickets: $10
Phone 303-326-8380
Saturday-Sunday, September 18-19
DENVER ARTS FESTIVAL
Enjoy a weekend of FREE art and music with over 140 Colorado and national fine artists exhibiting their works in the park! Music concerts throughout the weekend feature
the popular 4th Infantry Mile High Band, a dynamic ensemble with a repertoire that ranges from hard rock to pop, and from jazz to R&B. Also on stage are the Lionel Young Band—a high-energy blues act—and Cass Clayton, known for her smoky soulful vocals.
Kids will love getting their hands in the paints during the mini painting party, where they’ll create a mini 4×4 canvas magnet and get their picture taken in the photo booth.
Conservatory Green, Central Park, 8304 E. 49th Pl., Denver
Sat., 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.; Sun., 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Tickets: FREE
Sunday, September 19
STORYTIME IN SPANISH
Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with a Spanish-language storytime series! Tattered Cover Kids offers this fun, FREE interactive opportunity for both native speakers and non-native speakers to enjoy an early evening storytime.
Stanley Marketplace, 2501 N. Dallas St., Aurora
5:00 p.m.
Information: FREE
Location, Location, Location: Southshore!
There’s no shortage of things to do near the master-planned community of Southshore! You get the tranquility of lakeside living with easy access to your favorite urban activities. Stop by and see for yourself how great Life at the Lake can be! Tour the beautiful model homes from Richmond American Homes, Toll Brothers, and Taylor Morrison. Available in ranch and two-story designs, Southshore homes are priced between the upper $400s and the $700s.