Longs Peak Scottish-Irish Highland Festival, Sept. 10-12, Estes Park

The quaint mountain town comes alive after a COVID year off with its 44-year Celtic tradition filled with Irish and Highland Dance, bagpipe bands, parades, Scottish Highlands athletic competitions, clans and so much more.

Opening with Estes Park International Tattoo, there are parades through downtown. Also a full schedule of concerts, Friday Folk Concert and Ceilidh Rock Concert.

New this year is the Celtic ritual of handfastings, ceremonies of love and weddings.

Special features at the Estes Park Fairgrounds and Event Center are Highland cattle, Gypsy Vanner horses and the Big Lost Meadery.

Single or multiple day passes: scotfest.com.

Cherry Creek Arts Festival, Sept. 4-6, Denver

Celebrating 30 years of “Art for Everyone,” an outstanding lineup of juried artists originally chosen for the canceled 2020 festival.

Social distancing safety precautions in place as the festival is relocated from Cherry Creek North to the creekside area of Cherry Creek Shopping Center on First Avenue.

It’s free but there will be timed- entry tickets. Hours start at 10 a.m. except for a special senior and accessibility entry each morning at 9 a.m.

Reserve free tickets: cherrycreekartsfestival.org.

For Sunday and Monday of that weekend, the Denver Chalk Art Festival will be in the Cherry Creek Shopping Center’s northwest parking lot at University and First.

Great State Tomato War, Sept. 18, Buena Vista

You won’t have to travel to Spain for this tomato warfare. It started at Twin Lakes in the 1980s as the Colorado Texas Tomato War and is being revived by the Buena Vista Rotary Club.

Teams will let fly with squishy, well-ripened tomatoes and all for a good cause, the Dolly Parton Imagination Library that provides free books each month to 500 little folks in the area. A portion will benefit the Rocky Mountain Cystic Fibrosis Foundation as well.

buenavistacolorado.org/the-great-state-tomato-war-2021.

Linda Navarro, linda.navarro@gazette.com