Weekly Event Round-up: Dragon Boat Festival, Golden Buffalo Days and More!
Saturday-Sunday. Celebrate Colorado’s Asian Pacific American community at the 10th annual Colorado Dragon Boat Festival. Dragon boat races run on both days of the festival, but they’re not the only attraction. Three stages of entertainment and cultural performances will be going all day long, featuring everything from hip-hop MCs to Bollywood dancing. The Dragonland area is just for kids, with magic, activities and 10-year festival veteran Bongo the Balloon Man. As always, the food is a highlight. There’s lots of it, from many different Asian and Pacific cultures. Use the fest as a chance to relax, too — this year’s theme is “Find Zen in 2010,” with interactive demonstrations on Feng Shui, acupuncture, meditation and more. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Sloan’s Lake Park, 25th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard. Admission is free.
Friday-Sunday. Saddle up, buckaroos: It’s Golden Buffalo Bill Days, and downtown Golden is ready for three days of Wild-West-style partying. Friday, families gather at Parfet Park for kids’ rides and activities, plus tasty food and live music from Pairadeux and The Kings. Saturday starts with a pancake breakfast, followed by the Best of the West Parade and all sorts of Western events — sharpshooting, whip cracking, a quick-draw contest and the like. Sunday’s highlights include a mutton bustin’ contest, duck race and two car shows. 5-10 p.m. tonight, 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. The hub of the event is Parfet Park, 10th and Washington Streets, Golden. Other activities occur nearby in downtown Golden. Admission is free. Visit buffalobilldays.com for a full schedule of events.
Tuesday. Young music lovers can get a kid-friendly taste of opera at the Nina Odescalchi Kelly Family Matinee Series, presented by the Central City Opera. The company’s apprentice singers perform classic operas with families in mind — Wednesday’s show is Giacomo Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly.” Using English supertitles and a special between-acts narrator, the opera tells the sad tale of the geisha Cio-Cio-San and her husband Lt. Pinkerton. After the show, the audience is invited to visit with cast members in the courtyard. Next up: “Orpheus in the Underworld” on August 3. 2:30 p.m. Tuesday. Central City Opera House, 124 Eureka St., Central City; 303-292-6500. Tickets are $15 for children and $20 for adults. Visit centralcityopera.org for more information.
Through Sept. 26. Even in the middle of a war, there’s art — see what soldiers come up with in “From Swords to Plowshares: Metal Trench Art of World War I and World War II.” Hosted by the Longmont Museum and Cultural Center, the exhibit displays pieces of art made with bullets, artillery shells and shrapnel by soldiers and civilians. More than 300 works are included in the show. Photos from both conflicts document soldiers in the process of putting together their works, too. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 1-5 p.m. Sundays. Open until 8 p.m. Wednesdays. Longmont Museum and Cultural Center, 400 Quail Road, Longmont; 303-651-8374. Admission is free.
Through August 15. See two of the summer’s biggest exhibitions and save a little cash in the process with a special deal from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and the Denver Art Museum. The deal boils down to this: Buy a ticket to either “Body Worlds and the Story of the Heart” at DMNS or “King Tut” at the art museum, then get $4 off a ticket to the other. Just bring the ticket stub or receipt with you when you visit the next exhibit. Daily through August 15. The Denver Museum of Nature and Science, 2001 Colorado Blvd.; 303-322-7009. The Denver Art Museum, 100 W. 14th Avenue Pkwy.; 720-865-5000. Regular admission to “Body Worlds” is $18-$27.50 during the day, $15-$20 during off-hours. Regular admission to “King Tut” is $16.50-$25 on weekdays, $16.50-$30 on weekends. Visit dmns.org and denverartmuseum.org for more information.
-Kathleen St. John
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