Things to do around Denver and Colorado this weekend
THURSDAY-SATURDAY
The Colorado Music Festival opens today in Boulder’s Chautauqua Auditorium with seven festival concerts livestreamed as well. 22 performancess through Aug. 7. The festival orchestra is directed by Peter Oundjian. Seventeen guest artists, three string quartets and three guest conductors will participate throughout the season. Concerts 7:30 p.m., $48-$75. coloradomusicfestival.org
SATURDAY-JULY 18
Gunnison Cattlemen’s Days are a Western tradition since 1900. Songwriters compete starting Saturday, and 4-H events run until mid-July. A Pinkalooza “Tough Enough to Wear Pink” rides on July 4. Then it’s the “Granddaddy of Colorado Rodeos” opening with mutton busting and the ranch rodeo July 11, followed by PRCA Rodeo time. The Cattlemen’s Days Parade, Legacy Rodeo and dance are July 17. cattlemensdays.com/events/
SATURDAY-SUNDAY
Opening weekend for that medieval, jousting, turkey-legs world, the Colorado Renaissance Festival, Saturdays and Sundays through Aug. 22 in Larkspur, 650 W. Perry Park Ave. 10 a.m.-6:30 p.m. $12-24. coloradorenaissance.com
SATURDAY
Calling all pups, and their humans, too, to the Pooch Parade, the newest addition to the Green Box Arts Festival in Green Mountain Falls. 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Everyone will stroll in a Westminster Dog Show style parade around the lake, and some fur babies will take home awards such as Best Dressed, Best Smile, Most Talkative, Waggiest Tail and even more. Free. Register: greenboxarts.org/arts-festival/2021-calendar/pooch-parade. The whole Green Box Festival, through July 11 with dance and music, is always worth the trip.
SATURDAY
Opera live. The beloved Central City Opera Festival arrives Saturday with COVID-19 adaptations. Performances of “Carousel” and “Rigoletto” are moving outdoors and socially distanced to Hudson Gardens & Events Center, 6115 S. Santa Fe Drive in Littleton. There is no regular summer concert season in Hudson Gardens this year. The opera Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas” is performed in the Central City Opera House Gardens but at this time is sold out. Check for changes. Also in the Opera House Gardens, the Al Fresco concert series starring the summer performers. centralcityopera.org.
SATURDAY
See the majestic “Mansions of Quality Hill” during a Historic Denver Walking Tour, 10 a.m. Saturday. Start in Governor’s Park, 7th and Logan. Hear the histories of the Governor’s Mansion, Malo Mansion and the Zang Mansion. Tickets $20, historicdenver.org/tours-events/walking-tours