With Labor Day fast approaching on Monday, Sept. 2, it’s time to firm up those end-of-summer plans or even make some new ones.
Here are five ideas for the days before and after the holiday, including free, cheap and family-friendly options. (Find more things to do at denverpost.com/things-to-do.)
Denver Food + Wine Festival
Labor Day week means the return of the Denver Food + Wine Festival, one of the city’s biggest and most popular eat-and-drink events. The Sept. 4-7 gathering features hundreds of restaurants and spirits brands. Stick around for educational seminars and the Grand Tasting. It all takes place at the Tivoli Quad, Auraria campus, 1000 Larimer St. in Denver. Tickets are $150-$225 for the Grand Tasting, with varying prices for other programs. denverfoodandwine.com
Music festivals, big and little
While Phish owns Labor Day music in Denver — with its traditional Aug. 29-Sept. 1 run at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City (plenty of GA, standing-room tickets are still available at ticketmaster.com) — there’s much more on tap. Monument Lake in Weston hosts the Caveman Music Festival, Aug. 30-Sept. 1, with on-site camping and a well-booked mix of 20 indie- and ’90s alt-rock, folk, Americana and other artists. That includes sets from Kurt Vile and the Violators, the Wallflowers, Toadies, Jamestown Revival, Band of Heathens and Red Clay Strays. Tickets: $120 per day or $220 for all three days. cavemanmusicfestival.com
Also check out Levitt Pavilion’s free, all-ages festivals over Labor Day weekend, including the Rocky Mountain Tentaclefest on Aug. 30, featuring bands from punk legend Jello Biafra’s Alternative Tentacles label: Tsunami Bomb, Kulture Shock, Wheelchair Sports Camp and Dead Pioneers. Biafra, a part-time Boulderite, will host.
The next day, on Aug. 31, Dashiki Fest from the Colorado African Cultural Center has live music, arts and crafts, vendors, fashion, dance and more. Both shows are free and family-friendly. 1380 W. Florida Ave. in Denver. See levittdenver.org for more free, all-ages shows.
Outdoor movies, fading fast
Movies under the stars won’t last much longer, with series such as Denver Film’s popular Film on the Rocks already wrapped up as of Aug. 19. Avanti Food and Beverage Denver’s free series will screen “Legally Blonde” on its patio on Aug. 29 (avantifandb.com), while Aurora’s Stanley Marketplace hosts Film on the Field with Aug. 31’s “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” (stanleymarketplace.com). Evergreen Park and Recreation has “Barbie” at Buchanan Park Field on Aug. 30 for its latest Family Movie Night (evergreenrecreation.com).
Golden’s Parfet Park will also have “Barbie” on Sept. 6, and 88 Drive-In’s Retro Week features “Grease” and “Dirty Dancing,” through Sept. 29 ($10 per person, children under 12 free; facebook.com/88drivein).
The crack of the bat
Colorado Rockies diehards and and visiting-team fans tend to equal each other in number at Coors Field most days. But whether you love the Blake Street Bombers or their rivals, you’ve still got a few chances to catch a late-summer game before the Rox hit the off-season. That includes their home series against the Miami Marlins, Aug. 26-29, followed by more games against the Baltimore Orioles, Aug. 30-Sept. 1. Prices vary (wildly). (mlb.com/rockies/schedule)
Last call for theme parks
While theme parks tend to reopen during lucrative holiday weekends to capture Halloween and Christmas traffic, their primary runs are swiftly coming to an end. Just as pools empty over Labor Day weekend, so does Water World in Federal Heights, the 50-attraction water park that ends its regular seasonal hours on Sept. 2 (waterworldcolorado.com).
Elitch Gardens in downtown Denver also ends its regular season on Sept. 2, with limited weekend hours through the fall (elitchgardens.com). The historic (if often half-open) Denver theme park Lakeside Amusement Park will be open through Sept. 16 (lakesideamusementpark.com).
