Free Things to Do in Denver (and Beyond) This Week

Spring has rushed in, bringing record temperatures with it. Today will be another hot one, but there are plenty of cool things to do around town, including celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the current West High School tonight.

For ticketed options, check our list of activities worth the price of admission. Now keep reading for free things to do in Denver (and beyond) this week.

This Week

“Ireland in Motion”
Through March, dusk to midnight
D&F Clock Tower, 1601 Arapahoe Street
Night Lights Denver has devoted its March display on the Clock Tower to video works by Irish artists in Denver. Curated by Rian Kerrane, a native of Ireland who teaches art at the University of Colorado Denver, the show weaves together seven motion works. “March is a time when everyone is Irish,” Kerrane explains. “There is a celebratory spirit that overtakes people with St. Patrick’s Day.”

Colorado Water Center Sixtieth Anniversary Reception
Thursday, March 26, 4 to 6 p.m.
Lory Student Center, Colorado State University, Fort Collins
The Colorado Water Center at Colorado State University will celebrate sixty years of water education, research and outreach with a free reception that includes a short film about the center’s work and impact, along with remarks from CSU President Amy Parsons, Colorado Water Center Director Karen Schlatter and Office of Engagement and Extension Vice President James Pritchett. The reception will be followed by a ticketed fundraiser/dinner.

ConnectArte: Music, Identiy and the Creative Process
Thursday, March 26, 6 p.m.
Museo de las Americas, 861 Santa Fe Drive
Curators Kristina Stamatis and Andrea Garcia will share how youth incorporated music into their creative and curatorial process for Nuestras Historias, exploring how sound activated the exhibition’s themes of identity, justice, tradition and play. The evening features live musicians performing in the gallery, creating an immersive experience where sound becomes a powerful element of storytelling and design. Admission is free; register art museo.org.

West High School Building’s 100-Year Anniversary
Thursday, March 26, 6 p.m.
 West High School, 951 Elati Street
West High School will commemorate its 100th anniversary at 951 Elati Street (the school was founded in 1883) with a celebration ceremony for students at 3 p.m., and then a community event at 6 p.m., welcoming alumni, families,and local residents. There will be speeches, guided tours of the campus showcasing historical exhibits, and interactive displays that narrate the school’s journey through the decades.

Strings School Days with Greg Ward and Matt Gold
Thursday, March 26, 7 p.m.
Strings Music Pavilion, 700 Strings Road, Steamboat Springs
The Steamboat ski resort may be high and dry this spring, but during Strings School Days, saxophonist Greg Ward and guitarist Matt Gold will perform on their own, then share their collaboration with students from the Steamboat Springs Middle School 7th and 8th Grade Bands and the Steamboat Mountain School 5th–8th Grade Orchestra.

Visiting Writer Series: U.S. Poet Laureate Arthur Sze
Thursday, March 26, 7 p.m.
Cornerstone Arts Center, Colorado College
As part of its Visiting Writer Series, Colorado College will host a reading by Arthur Sze, the 25th Poet Laureate of the United States, and the first Asian American to hold the office. Sze is the author of twelve poetry collections; his collection Sight Lines won the 2019 National Book Award for Poetry, and The Glass Constellation: New and Collected Poems received the National Book Foundation’s Science + Literature Award. His most recent work is Into the Hush. The son of Chinese immigrants, Sze left MIT as a sophomore to pursue his dream of becoming a poet. “As laureate, I feel a great responsibility to promote the ways poetry, especially poetry in translation, can impact our daily lives,” he says. “We live in such a fast-paced world: poetry helps us slow down, deepen our attention, connect and live more fully.” There will be a reception after the reading.

Frozen Dead Guy Days: Dead of Winter Reception
Friday, March 27, 5 to 8 p.m.
Aspen and Evergreen Gallery, 356 East Elkhorn Avenue, Estes Park
Dead of Winter, a spirited exhibit inspired by the Frozen Dead Guy Festival that opened at the start of the month, is hosting a mixer and awards celebration; it’s one of the few free events tied to the revived and reconstituted fest, which got its start up in Nederland. There will be a bar crawl Friday afternoon, too, as well as as the Colorado 150 drone show on Saturday night. Find info on Frozen Dead Guy Day here.

Autumn Nicholas Pop-up
Friday, March 27, 7 p.m.
Blend.Co, 2246 Larimer Street
Brandi Carlile-adjacent artist Autumn Nicholas is doing a free pop-up tied to the Denver Summit FC weekend. It’s a community-driven show with mental health-focused music.

Black Cube Shorts: A Mini Film Festival of Shorts
Friday, March 27, 7 to 8:30 p.m. and Saturday, March 28, 1 to 2:30 p.m.
Black Cube Headquarters, 2925 South Umatilla Street, Floor 2, Englewood
Black Cube Nomadic Art Museum is welcoming spring with a new slate of public programs, including a two-day screening of short, experimental films commissioned by Black Cube from international artists Julie Bena, Anna Uddenberg,and Alejandro Almanza Pereda. Both programs will include a post-screening Q&A with Black Cube Executive Director and Chief Curator Cortney Stell. Admission is free with RSVP; there’s a $5 suggested donation that supports Black Cube’s programming.

Sugar Plum Bazaar Spring Fling Market
Saturday, March 28, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday, March 29, noon to 4 p.m.
Aspen Grove, 7301 South Santa Fe Drive, Littleton
The annual Spring Fling maker’s market is back, with a curagted selection of more than two dozen local artists and artisans,selling a variety of locally made home, body, food and creative wares. Attendance is free with donations accepted at the door for Big Dogs Huge Paws.

Denver Summit FC Inaugural Match Watch Party 
Saturday, March 28, noon to 3 p.m.
McGregor Square, 1901 Wazee Street
Didn’t get tickets to the first Denver Summit FC’s game in Denver? You can still join the party at McGregor Square and watch the match on the 66-foot LED Jumbotron.

Bad News Babes Social Club
Saturday, March 28, 1 to 3:30 p.m.
Peach Crease Club, 4180 Wynkoop Street
Trần Nguyên-Wills, now a candidate for Denver City Council, District 2, founded this Best of Denver award-winning group celebrating the accomplishment of women a decade ago. It’s badder than ever, and will host an afternoon discussion hosted by Nguyen-Wills and Alex Jump, director of operations at Peach Crease, along with panelists Doris Yuen, co-owner of MAKfam; Vivi Lemus, co-owner of Convivio Café; and Dianne Myles, executive producer at Human Focused Media and an Emmy Award-winning storyteller. Admission is free, but a $20 donation is requested; register here.

KUATO and Star Creature Release Party
Saturday, March 28, 2 to 5 p.m.
El Pinon, 5550 East Colfax Avenue
Pantones Denver is bringing modern funk heat to the El Pinon patio with a Star Creature 7″ release party celebrating KUATO’s latest release, “DJ’s Delight / She’s A Go Getter.” The free event will include all-vinyl sets by Neon Brown (one-half of KUATO and creator of Pantones) alongside Tim Zawada, founder of Star Creature. Tim Tucker, Star Creature recording artist and featured vocalist on KUATO’s new 7”, will be in attendance, selling his music; the KUATO duo will be on hand, too.

Lafayette Apres Ski Party
Saturday, March 28, 3 to 5 p.m.
Foxglove Bar & Hideout, 107 1/2 South Public Road, Lafayette
Bid farewell to Ski Lafayette’s first annual apres ski party. You don’t need no slopes — or no snow, for that matter — to dress in your best ski gear for the costume contest, and DJ Dave will be throwing down old-school vibes all afternoon.

Ongoing

SCFD Free Days
Locations and dates vary
Thanks to the sales tax you pay into the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District, many arts institutions around the metro area offer occasional free days and programs. On Friday, March 27, both Four Mile Historic Park and the Dinosaur Ridge Exhibit Hall are offering free days. For more bargains, check the SCFD site.

Colorado State Capitol Tours
Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
200 East Colfax Avenue|
The Capitol is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free guided tours are available, but limited to thirty people on a first come, first served basis. Check in at the Visitor Information Desk, which opens at 9 a.m.

America 250 – Colorado 150
Through 2026
Around the state
Happy 150th birthday, Colorado! On August 1, 1876, Colorado became a state, and there will be celebrations all year — at the same time this country is celebrating its 250th anniversary. You can find a full list of the activities at Am250CO150.org, but don’t miss the already-open exhibits at the History Colorado Center: Moments That Made US, 38th Star: Colorado Becomes the Centennial State, and the new John Fielder show, Majestic Mountains.

“We Are the Land”
Denver’s YouTube
On February 7, Landmark Preservation staff and the American Indian community celebrated the culmination of more than three years of work to preserve and celebrate the history and culture of Denver’s current American Indian population, as well as Tribal Nations with cultural and historic ties to the land that is now Denver, with the oral history project “We are the Land: American Indian Life, Legacy and Future in Denver.” The project includes an accompanying documentary produced by Off the Road Productions, “We Are the Land,” which is now available on Denver’s YouTube channel.

Beyond the Western Horizon
Through July 31, Tuesday through Thursdasy, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Madden Gallery at Museum of Outdoor Arts, 6363 South Fiddlers Green Circle, Suite 110, Greenwood Village
The Museum of Outdoor Arts just opened Beyond the Western Horizon, an exhibit featuring 21 artists and 60 artworks depicting aspects of the American West — people, animals, landscapes and objects — in paintings as well as sculptures and mixed-media artworks. The artists include Edward Aldrich, Raj Chaudhuri, Lorenzo Chavez, Maeve Eichelberger, Ian Fisher, Bruce A. Gómez, David Kammerzell, Buffalo Kaplinski, Andrea Kemp, Corbett Kesler, Crystal Latimer, Amy Laugesen, Michael Magrin, William Matthews, Patrick Oates, David Sherwin Parker, Craig Marshall Smith, Robert Spooner, Daniel Sprick, Clyde Steadman and David Uhl. “Our exhibition will display a range of artworks from nostalgic, romantic cowboys to contemporary cityscapes executed in Realism or Expressionism. We’re exhibiting an array of sculptures: glazed clay horses, Plexiglass saddles and cast longhorn skulls encrusted in thousands of tiny glass beads,” says MOA founder Cindy Madden Leitner. “We invite visitors into Madden Gallery to drift and to dream among inspired and inspiring artworks branded by the aesthetic of American West.” 

Colorado Scenic and Historic Byways
Through April 19, Fridays through Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sangres Art Guild’s 3rd Street Gallery, 59000 Highway 69, Westcliffe
Ready for a road trip? Celebrte Colorado’s sesquicentennial with a visit to Westcliffe, where 3rd Street Gallery has a traveling show of 52 photographs taken along Colorado’s Scenic and Historic

Do you know of a great free event? We update this list throughout the week; send information to editorial@westword.com.