Things to Do in Denver This Weekend

There’s plenty to do around Denver this week, especially for comedy lovers. Sick of Denver? Head to the San Luis Valley for the Monte Vista Crane Festival. Love beer? Stay in Denver for the Mile High Beer Festival.

On a budget? Check out our list of free things to do. But for now, stick around for events worth the price of admission in and around Denver:

This Week

Freaky Weeky
Through Saturday, March 7
Buntport Theater, 717 Lipan Street
Come see Denver’s DIY artists, clowns, comedians and performers test out new work in front of a live audience. The five-night festival focuses on the spontaneity of new work, where mistakes are part of the fun and the next big thing is born. Get tickets and see the lineup here.

Golden Comfort and Comedy Festival
Through March 8
Golden
Golden’s first annual Comfort and Comedy Festival brings two weeks of national comedic acts, local improv, stand-up, workshops and more to downtown Golden. See all the events and get tickets here.

Colorado Arts & Health Convening
Thursday, March 5, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Denver Botanic Gardens, 1007 York Street
Hosted by Denver Botanic Gardens in partnership with Colorado Creative Industries, the Colorado Arts & Health Convening is a day-long gathering for arts and nonprofit professionals exploring how arts and cultural experiences support human health, well-being and community connection. Participants will hear about research, regional efforts and more, while connecting with other professionals. Learn more and purchase tickets here.

Monte Vista Crane Festival
Friday, March 6, through Sunday, March 8
San Luis Valley
The Monte Vista Crane Festival returns to locations around the San Luis Valley for a 43rd year of birding, art, speakers, tours, workshops and more. Buy tickets here.

Chaotic Singles Party
Friday, March 6, 8 to 11 p.m.
Improper City, 3201 Walnut Street, #107
If you’re single, chaotic and 21 or older, here’s an event for you. Come meet other local singles IRL (or invite your random dating app matches) at this party that will include games, drinks and more. Get tickets here.

Lumonics Immersed
Fridays and Saturdays, 8 p.m.
Lumonics Light & Sound Gallery, 800 East 73 Avenue
Lumonics is a multi-sensory environment intended to bring guests into a state of comfort and expanded awareness. It features interactive art, such as light sculptures, painting, music, water fountains and projection. General admission tickets are $25.

Feminine Rage Burlesque Show
Friday, March 6, 9 to 11 p.m.
Sexploratorium, 1800 South Broadway
Feminine Rage is a “dark and avant-garde burlesque descent into the raw, sacred chaos of womanhood — an invocation, a confrontation, a ritual in rhinestones.” Tickets start at $20.

Rainforest Yoga
Saturdays and Sundays, 7:45 to 8:45 a.m.
Butterfly Pavilion, 6252 West 104th Avenue, Westminster
Get your yoga mat and a towel and head to the Butterfly Pavilion for rejuvenating yoga surrounded by butterflies and exotic plants. Registration, which is $18, is required before the class. Register here.

2026 Mile High Beer Festival
Saturday, March 7, 12:30 to 5 p.m.
Denargo Market, 3800 Denargo Street
Celebrate Colorado beer at the Mile High Beer Festival, where attendees can sample more than forty local craft brews and ciders and enjoy live music. Get tickets here.

What Is Wrong With This Picture?
Saturday, March 7, 2 to 4 p.m.
Petals & Pages, 956 Santa Fe Drive
Head to Petals & Pages for a protest poetry writing workshop led by Grace E. Kelley. Participants will learn “various methods of creative composition in order to pull together words that ring true for the grief and horror of this present moment.” Get tickets here.

Fashion in Focus
Saturday, March 7, 4 p.m.
The Cable Center, 2000 Buchtel Boulevard South
SeriesFest, in collaboration with Matthew Morris Salon, puts on an event celebrating Emmy Award-winning costume designer Molly Rogers, who is known for Sex and the City, Ugly Betty, The Devil Wears Prada and more. The event includes a model runway inspired by iconic looks, archival costumes, themed cocktails, a conversation with Rogers and more. Tickets start at $125.

Food Bank of the Rockies Benefit Concert
Saturday, March 7, 8 p.m.
The Black Buzzard at Oskar Blues Denver, 1624 Market Street
Colorado musicians Emily Barnes, Zoe Stroupe, Casey Marie and Angel Corsi are coming together for a benefit concert raising money for the Food Bank of the Rockies. Tickets are $19.50 and can be purchased here.

Sunday Night Swing Dance Class
Sunday, March 8, 6:30 p.m.
The Pearl, 2199 California Street
Swing out every Sunday at The Pearl (formerly the Mercury Cafe) for live music and swing dance lessons. Each week, swing dance basics and a few other tricks are taught, and drop-ins, singles, couples, families and groups of all sizes are welcome. Tickets are $18.

Laughing for Liberation
Sunday, March 8, 6:30 p.m.
RISE Comedy, 1260 22nd Street
Laughing for Liberation is a comedy variety show raising money for the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition through a night of stand-up and improv. Tickets start at $17.

Plan Ahead

Drop Your Shorts!
Tuesday, March 10, 7 p.m.
Meow Wolf, 1338 1st Street
“Drop Your Shorts!” is a comedy contest in which performers try to get as many laughs as they can in ten minutes. A variety of styles, stories and subject matters will go live onstage, each needing votes from the audience to help determine who will walk away with $700 in cash prizes. Tickets are $29.75 and can be purchased here.

Spelling Bee(r)
Wednesday, March 11, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
River North Brewing, 3400 Blake Street
Drink some beer and spell some words for a good cause. Proceeds from this event benefit hands-on literacy programming. Tickets are $10.

The Smithsonian Bison National Road Trip – Kirk Johnson & Gary Staab
Wednesday, March 11, 7 p.m.
Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Boulevard
In celebration of the United States’ 250th anniversary and the country’s national mammal, bison, three bison sculptures are being created for display at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. The bronzes were fabricated in Loveland and will begin their journey to Washington, D.C., but not before stopping at the DMNS. Kirk Johnson and Gary Staab will share the story of the sculptures and the conservation efforts they represent. Get tickets here.

Ongoing

Dinos Alive Immersive Experience
Through Sunday, March 29
Exhibition Hub, 3900 Elati Street
Taking up the space previously occupied by Titanic: An Immersive Voyage is Dinos Alive, a prehistoric playground with 35 life-sized animatronic dinosaurs and a VR experience. “With Dinos Alive, from the time you first enter all the way to the time you leave, the space is completely consumed by this feeling of being in a sort of Mesozoic-era Jungle,” says executive producer John Zaller. “We’ve got theatrical lighting throughout that’s creating this scene that’s transitioning from day to night, as though you’re going through the whole day with the dinosaurs.” Tickets are $18.90 to $34.90.

Brick Planet
Through Sunday, May 3
Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Boulevard
Brick Planet: A Magical Journey Made with LEGO Bricks is a massive display of LEGO artistry at the DMNS. The new traveling exhibition by acclaimed LEGO artist Sean Kenney transforms ecosystems from around the globe into vivid, playful environments made from more than 1.5 million colorful bricks. The exhibit is included with general admission to the museum.

Conversation Pieces
Through October 11
Denver Art Museum, 100 West 14th Ave Parkway
Conversation Pieces is a new fashion exhibition at the Denver Art Museum made up of never-before-seen garments from the museum’s fashion archive. It’s also an interesting window into Denver fashion history. “Designers across time utilize a shared lexicon and a shared history,” says Director and Curator of Avenir Institute of Textile Arts and Fashion at the DAM Jill D’Alessandro. “They’re in constant communication with each other, whether they’re contemporaries or separated by eras. There’s a functionality to fashion that means they have the same root problem to work from. They’re responding to the body, to cultural shifts.” Conversation Pieces is included in general museum admission.

Do you know of a great event in Denver? We’ll update this list throughout the week; send information to editorial@westword.com.