Smash Fine Arts Festival
Audio By Carbonatix
Whoa! This is the last weekend of August, and the calendar is packed with free events, both serious and silly. Get curious, get moving…but above all, get out and enjoy this city.
Keep reading for eight of the best free things to do in and around Denver today:
Mutiny Con II
Sunday, August 28, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Mutiny Information Cafe, 2 South Broadway
You can spend big bucks to wander the dizzying aisles at a convention center until your eyeballs start to spin, or you can go to Mutiny Con II, a free pop-culture con in a cool used-book store/coffee counter where you can see all four walls from wherever you’re standing. You’ll still get to meet national and local graphic novel and comics creators, peruse vendor tables for collectibles and other character goodies, take your chances in a cosplay contest for prizes and bid in a comic-book auction – without having to hock your wallet. Learn more about who’s going to be there and see a schedule here.
Healing Hoop
Sunday, August 28, 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
E.B. Rains Jr. Memorial Park, 11801 Community Center Drive, Northglenn
The nonprofit Healing Hoop provides a helping hand to veterans and their families, using a mix of traditional Native American healing modalities and modern educational programs. In keeping with those goals, the Healing Hoop Powwow builds community with a special nod to veterans, with cultural disciplines including drumming and dancing competitions for all ages, craft vendors, Native dishes and even a 3-on-3 basketball tournament. Admission is free; find a schedule on Facebook.
Firefly Handmade Summer Market
Sunday, August 28, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Old South Gaylord, 1000 South Gaylord Street
Boulder’s Firefly invades Denver in the best possible way for its summer market, bringing eighty-plus quality vendors to join the small businesses and restaurants that line the block year-round. Live music, a street bar courtesy of the South Gaylord Merchants Association and free admission bolster that nice air of neighborly commerce that is the benchmark of Firefly Handmade. Find info and an artisan list here.
Smash Fine Arts Festival
Sunday, August 28, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m
Fillmore Plaza, Cherry Creek North
The Smash Fine Arts Festival is back with booths and displays by top-shelf artists, as well as live violin/piano music and fine-dining catering. Admission is free; find out more here.
Big Dork Dance
Sunday, August 28, 9:30 to 11:15 a.m.
Commons Park, 2101 15th Street
Have you heard of dork dancing? On August 28, Denver will be the site of the country’s first Big Dork Dance, which is all about crazy energy, heightened awareness and mental health. Admission is free; find out more here.
Golden Triangle Block Party
Sunday, August 28, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Fourth Place, 49 West 11th Avenue
Urban guerrilla vintage artisan events are popping up on street corners on South Broadway and in Capitol Hill this summer, and now here’s one in the Golden Triangle, anchored by the vintage shop Fourth Place. Vendors will spread out around the corner of 11th Avenue and Acoma Street for a retail block party, selling vintage threads, art, tarot readings and hair trims, along with a DJ to keep things upbeat. It’s a perfect Sunday afternoon plan; get details here.
Hootenanny at River Bend
Sunday, August 28, 2 to 7 p.m.
River Bend, Lyons
The Lyons Community Foundation and the Lyons Emergency Assistance Fund are hosting the town’s second annual Hootenanny, which will take place at River Bend. The family fun includes a cornhole tournament, dancing with Mayama, a duck race, live music and a silent auction. Find out more here.
Celebration of Life for Marina Graves
Sunday, August 28, 2 p.m.
RedLine Contemporary Art Center, 2350 Arapahoe Street
Marina Graves, who passed away on July 29 at the age of 92, was a grand multilingual traveler, a seasoned cook and oenologist, and a singular and pithy Denver arts booster who helped found the first incarnation of Denver’s Museum of Contemporary Art, the Denver Invisible Museum, fashioned after the biennial Month of Photography. Friends, admirers and members of the Denver art community will gather on Sunday afternoon at RedLine for a remembrance of Graves’s irreverent life.
and a bonus:
Echoes From the History Colorado Collection, Season Two
Anytime on SoundCloud
Got fifteen minutes to learn something new about Colorado in the ’30s? Every Monday for ten weeks, History Colorado is offering another episode of Echoes From the Collection, hosted by Arlo White of Hypnotic Turtle. The second season, which launched last week, is a series of dramatic readings culled from interviews conducted in Colorado in the early years of the Great Depression by the Civil Works Administration. Tune in here for a free listen.
Do you know of a great free event around town? We’ll be updating this list through the weekend; send information to editorial@westword.com.