Rooster ArtFest – ReelWorks, Denver, CO – 8.29
Denver’s premier street and urban art festival returns to ignite the city with color, creativity, and culture. This isn’t just another art event. It’s a full-on cultural takeover featuring 50+ top-tier local and national artists, live mural battles, immersive installations, live music, buzzing food trucks, and a high- energy artist market. This year, join us for the ArtFest After Party featuring Kota The Friend. Tickets on sale now at roosterartfest.com.
Boulder County Fair – Boulder County Fairgrounds, Longmont – 8.5-8.9
Experience five days of live music, rodeo action, carnival rides, local brews, food trucks, art, livestock, and family-friendly entertainment. From chart-topping performers to longtime traditions, there’s something for every age and interest.
Leadville Boom Days – Leadville, 8.7-8.9
Leadville Boom Days rolls into town for three days of mountain-town chaos, mining history, burro racing, street fair wandering, food, live entertainment, and just enough old-school Colorado weirdness to make your weekend feel properly elevation-adjusted.
Cruisin’ Colfax Summer Art Crawl – 40 West Art District, Lakewood – 8.7
Colfax gets a love letter in the form of an outdoor summer art party, and naturally, it’s weird, loud, creative, and probably wearing sunglasses indoors. Cruise through car shows, new exhibitions, Beat poetry, live bands, car-themed short films, and enough quirky Colfax flavor to remind you why this road has main-character energy.
Sculpture In The Park – Benson Park, Loveland – 8.7-8.9
Invited artists present their sculptures in Benson Park over three days, including a silent auction and a chance to take home other souvenirs; now in its 41st year.
Colorado Beef Festival – MSU, Denver – 8.8
Colorado Beef Festival is coming in hot with chef battles, culinary demos, and enough sizzling steak energy to make your grill feel insecure. Award-winning chefs will throw down with technique, creativity, and the kind of beefy brilliance that makes dinner feel less like a meal and more like a full-contact sport.
Lafayette Peach Festival – Lafayette, CO – 8.8
Lafayette Peach Festival is basically summer in fruit form. Palisade peaches take over town with truckloads of juicy, sticky, sun-drunk goodness from Colorado orchards, plus the kind of relaxed Saturday energy that makes wandering around with peach juice on your chin feel completely acceptable.
Monty Python’s Spamalot – Buell Theatre, Denver – 8.11-8.23
Spamalot gallops into the Buell with all the deeply unserious medieval nonsense your theater-loving heart can handle. Lovingly ripped from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, this musical brings flying cows, killer rabbits, French insults, British royalty, dancing girls, shrubbery-related drama, and the Lady of the Lake in all her ridiculous glory.
Telluride Mushroom Festival – Telluride, CO – 8.12-16
The Telluride Mushroom Festival is back for its 46th year, celebrating the strange, fascinating, and occasionally suspicious little organisms that keep forests weird and chefs delighted.
Flock Party 2026 – Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance, Denver, CO – 8.22
Flock Party returns to the Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance for an afternoon of food, drinks, music, style, and conservation with the city’s most photogenic party animals. This all-inclusive benefit celebrates 130 years of impact while supporting animal care and wildlife conservation in Colorado and around the world. Come for the cocktails, stay because a giraffe made eye contact with your soul.
Boulder Taco Fest – Boulder Creek, Boulder – 8.22
Tacos are the main event, but they’re far from the only reason to show up. Boulder Taco Fest serves up a full day of incredible eats, ice-cold drinks, live music, and plenty of opportunities to settle the age-old debate over who makes the best taco in town.
Breckenridge International Festival of the Arts – Breckenridge – 8.20-8.23
Part art festival, part outdoor adventure, and part fever dream in the best possible way, the Breckenridge International Festival of Arts transforms downtown Breckenridge into an interactive playground of music, theater, large-scale installations, film, and performances. Rather than simply viewing the art, visitors are encouraged to wander through it, participate in it, and occasionally question whether they’ve accidentally stepped into another dimension.
Colorado Springs Comic Con – Broadmoor World Arena – 8.21-8.23
Three days packed full of celebrities, cosplay, comics, gaming, and gloriously enthusiastic fandom. Guests can meet actors, voice performers, wrestlers, musicians, and comic book artists, then roam an artist alley filled with original artwork, collectibles, and treasures capable of destroying a perfectly sensible budget.
Nederland Jazz & Wine Festival – Chipeta Park, Nederland – 8.22
Smooth jazz, mountain air, and unlimited samples from Colorado wineries, distilleries, breweries, and non-alcoholic beverage makers come together at the Nederland Jazz & Wine Festival. The six-hour event fills Chipeta Park with live music, local food, artisan vendors, and relaxed energy as you lounge in the grass while the music rolls through the mountains
Handmade in Colorado – Union Station, Denver – 8.22-8.23
Handmade in Colorado brings a fleet of local artists and craftspeople to Union Station for a weekend of actually-cool shopping. Browse original work in metal, paper, glass, fiber, clay, paint, wax, gems, and more!
Durango Blues Train – Durango to Silverton – 8.20-8.22
A moving music venue through the mountains? Count us in. The Durango Blues Train pairs live blues performances with a ride aboard the historic Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, winding through the spectacular San Juan Mountains as musicians perform in train cars.
Colorado State Fair & Rodeo – Pueblo, CO – 8.28-9.7
The Colorado State Fair & Rodeo brings the annual Pueblo pilgrimage of rides, concerts, livestock, rodeo action, fried food, family chaos, and agricultural pride. With roots stretching back more than 150 years, this is Colorado tradition in full belt-buckle mode.
Thunder from Down Under – Paramount Theatre, Denver – 8.28
Thunder From Down Under is bringing its high-voltage Australian male revue to the Paramount Theatre for one very unsubtle night of dancing, charm, abs, and audience screaming. It’s billed as the ultimate girls’ night out, which is code for “rally the group chat, and prepare for theatrical levels of shirtlessness.”
Adult Nights at Bright Lights – Four Mile Historic Park, Denver – 8.28 & 9.11
Four Mile Historic Park’s adults-only Bright Nights lets the 21+ crowd wander through glowing lantern displays without having to dodge stroller traffic. Explore supersized flora and fauna from around the world, grab snacks or dinner from local food trucks, and browse the mercantile for a little Colorado history to take home.
Colorado Dragon Boat Festival – Sloan’s Lake, Denver – 8.29-30
Colorado Dragon Boat Festival returns to Sloan’s Lake for a weekend celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander culture, community, food, performance, and, of course, dragon boat racing. Since 2001, this festival has been bringing color, energy, and serious paddle power to the heart of Denver.
The Denver Food + Wine Festival – Tivoli Quad, Denver, August 26 – 29
Savor the best of Colorado’s restaurant scene at the Denver Food + Wine Festival! This four-day food + wine celebration brings together top chefs, mixologists, and wine experts for an unforgettable experience featuring gourmet tastings, free-flowing wines, craft cocktails, and curated seminars.