Hey. This is a lower-keyed, but equally festive Obon Festival. If you've been to some of the big…read moreones in California, this is different. But just as meaningful, and just as fun. Don't forget to grab a free popsicle!

It's pretty incredible when you can go to an event and feel like you're stepping back in time to a…read moredifferent era. Filled with Hawaiian shirts, hula dancers, tiki's and palm trees, the Tiki Exotica Ball is an all day and night event designed to transport you back to the 40's and 50's. Inspired by the WWII era it gave you a feel of good ole American culture that your grandparents could relate to. The event is run by the 1940's Ball NFP, a non-profit which hosts events such as these to donate proceeds towards the Wounded Warriors Project and the Spirit of Flight Center Colorado. The day and night were packed with events that included hula performances, an Elvis impersonator, swimsuit contest, limbo competition, and a local performance group called Polynesian FiaFia- just to name a few. At night, Onda, an Afro-Cuban orchestra blessed our ears with jazz like music while everyone danced under the stars. All the performances were excellent, and there were many other fun things to do. You could take dip in the pool, or stroll around the vendors selling 40's and 50's style memorabilia, see the vintage car display, or purchase a tropical drink at the tiki hut. In terms of the crowd, it was so fun to see how people really went all out for this event. Outfits ranged from full out WWII sailors suits, to 40s and 50s style bathing suits, or even ball gowns. Hair styles and make-up were true to the era as well (men slicked their hair back and wore side burns, women curled their hair and painted their lips red). It was surely a sight to see. The weather was great, and after being their for a couple minutes I quickly forgot I was in Boulder, CO. This was the first year the luau was held and I think the organizers did an excellent job putting on a fun, well organized event for a great cause. Like any first time event there are slight kinks to work out for next time, but I'm sure the next Tiki Exotica Ball will be even more groovy than the last!

This review is strictly for my experience at the Adams County Fair as a participant of the 2026…read moreRocky Mountain Siberian Husky Club biennial specialty. This year was my first time attending the RMSHC specialty, and it was held at the Al Lesser building. The grounds themselves were clean and beautiful. There was construction going on as well, but we never had an issue getting to our show site. The building was spacious, and there was even a microwave for me to reheat leftovers. Chairs were provided, and were quite comfy. Parking was plentiful, and there was a gorgeous lake for those who wished to take their dogs on a nice scenic walk. There were plenty of spots for photo ops as well! At the end of our specialty weekend, we made sure to pick up after ourselves and swept the whole building clean. As those involved in the longevity/breed preservation of well-bred purebred dogs, we were conscientious to present our best foot forward and leave no room for complaints. This was honestly such a wonderful venue, and I liked it much better than some of the fairgrounds that I've shown at in my home state of CA. I did hear that they would be raising their rates for renting the building, unfortunately, which is happening across so many venues these days. Hopefully we can return to show here again in 2028, but we shall have to wait and see.

Wasn't a fit for us. We arrived at 10:30 am, having read on the website that the inside exhibits…read morewould be open at 10 am. We were able to look at entered paintings and quilts. What was off to me so that the pieces were not named and didn't have a blurb about their background which I've seen at other fairs. It's nice to have a little background to what inspired the artist. The larger exhibit room with 4H didn't open until noon, despite the website's posting of 10 am. The other exhibit hall had some exhibitors like a local bee club but several of those exhibits were unstaffed like the disaster response table. The bee club was hopping and interesting. Food wasn't really available, maybe one place. Customer service booth wasn't staffed at 11:30 a.m. when we left. Plenty of parking. Website said we had to pay but we didn't but maybe we were really early.

Denver Flea is taking on the holidays four weekends strong this year, with a Union Station setup…read moreuntil mid-December. $5 per person gets you admission Friday-Sunday, which is a very easy price point. Even if it's not the most expansive showing of vendors, you can't really argue with the low cost. Also, I appreciate the warming tents serving adult beverages like bourbon spiked cider. Even on a "warm" December day downtown, it gets chilly. If you arrive before noon, there's plenty of room to relax and enjoy mid-shopping moment. Yesterday I purchased some buffalo leather gloves for myself as well as an incense burning kit + 2019 lunar calendar for a holiday present. And I'm going back for the final weekend while my parents are visiting. A festive (and brisk) way to get into the holiday spirit!

The Denver Flea was fabulous (and free admission!) when I first attended a couple of years ago…read more There were loads of interesting vendors with items I'd never seen anywhere else, live music, good food, busy but not overwhelming and loads of fun! Now the secret's out and the Flea busts at the seams. There's an admission fee, long lines, and impossible parking. Vendors and food trucks become redundant in that the same ones come to every Flea, and many carry similar goods- candles and soaps: CHECK. Colorado/Outdoorsy t-shirts: CHECK. Salsa and similar food items: CHECK. Jewelry made from rocks: CHECK. Succulent plants: CHECK. A Denver hipster's delight for sure! All of the his is super cool if you haven't seen all the very same makers before, but I have, so... I'm over it. The new space, Denver Rock and Drill, is pretty rad. It's an old warehouse that feels haunted by ghosts of the past. Old machinery and even metal and materials still lurk in some places, a liability issue waiting to happen I'm sure, but interesting none the less. My fave part about this Flea was the photo booth, Whoa Pony! Be sure to hunt them down as they wee wedged far in the corner, but they're free! Ultimately, I think I'll skip the next few fleas in hopes that fresh vendors and some new ideas and surprises may work their way in in the future.

Wow! What a neat place! The Fiske Planetarium is located within the CU Boulder campus in the…read morebeautiful city of Boulder. Parking is located right outside the planetarium and costs a dollar per hour. Very reasonable. If you check out their showtimes online, you will see right away that there is a show for everyone. Ranging from music light shows featuring music of Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Taylor Swift, etc; to just exploring space; to full on movies, there really isn't a show that you won't find appealing. I have personally been there 3 times: once for a Deftones show (amazing!), a space show (amazing!), and a Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon/The Wizard of Oz show (amazing!). Each show was so different but all of them were great. I would highly recommend buying tickets ahead of time. Even though most shows do not sell out, there are some that are very popular and do. The tickets are $12 for adults.

We went to see Qualia here last night. The sound bath before the show was incredible. So many…read moredifferent instruments were used beautifully! The actual movie was horrible. It was like a middle schooler made it. No flow whatsoever. Choppy and just really, really bad. It's unfortunate because we will probably never go back.

What a lovely way to spend the morning and support small local businesses. I was able to get some…read moreholiday shopping done and get a little something for myself! Fabulous event!

What a great day! My husband and I just love local art, and supporting these artists. I hadn't…read moreheard of the Jackalope Arts festival, which apparently appears every year just up the street from me in Olde Arvada. We went out on this sunny and warm October day, glad to enjoy some time outdoors in the sun. We were greeted, as well, with an enjoyable stroll through local venue booths sporting everything from beeswax products to locally mixed spices to jewelry made from local stones (think petrified wood and Marble's marble, among many others). I was drawn to the designs at a T-shirt shop, and when I couldn't find my size in the design I wanted, they assured me that I could email them and they would make it for me and send it along to my home. The jewelry maker at Waystone (mywaystone.com) promised that if I could bring her a piece of petrified wood that I had discovered in my backyard, she would make it into something special to display in my home. While she accepts items through mail, since she is just down I-70 just east of Denver, I mean to bring it right to her. I was excited to visit this arts fair, and came away with some nice items, along with the cards of some artisans to whom I will reach out for some custom items. What a great way to spend a glorious fall day outside!

I just wanted to shout out Sean and Nancy!!! Genuinely such great people who made my experience so…read morefun and easy! They deserve some credit!

Still one of my favorite theaters. Parking is easy, everything is always clean, staff is friendly…read moreand helpful, great variety of shows and ticket prices are reasonable. What's not to love!

I visited the Highlands Art Festival for the first time. This is one of the ten annual art shows…read moreorganized by Colorado Art Weekend. It uses the front lawn of the Highlands Masonic Temple at 3550 Federal Boulevard and in 2024 operated from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on June 8th (Sat) and 9th (Sun). The Temple's parking lot was full the two times I visited, but I was able to find street parking in the local neighborhood without too much trouble. I did have to walk a couple of blocks from my parking spots to the event. I found the show to have a lot of crafts and commercial vendors. The fine arts booths were limited. Publicity for the show was also limited. I'm on dozens of mailing lists for fine arts providers, but I only heard about the show because an artist I know invited me. The show was disorganized. Each vendor had been assiged a booth number, but those numbers were nowhere to be seen, so finding a specific booth was impossible. There was no show brochure. The complete list of vendors on the Web site was a PDF copy of a spreadsheet, listed in order of booth numbers. No Web site was shown for a large number of the exhibitors. The tents were not laid out in even rows and tents were mostly set up facing each other with far too narrow walkways between them. I did see some interesting artists, but this mostly seemed like a disorganized mess. The artists I spoke to said business was slow. There are now a lot of art shows and art festivals around town. This is a business and it is very competitive. These guys need to do better.