Ten More Things to Do in Denver (and Beyond) This Weekend

Now that it's April, this city's cultural scene isn't fooling around. New shows are opening, and steampunk and romance fiction fans are flocking to town. The fun isn't over at ski resorts, either.

See our latest art roundup here, and catch things to do for free here. Now keep reading for ten events worth the price of admission:

Readers Take Denver
Sunday, April 2, 9 to 11 a.m.
Grand Hyatt Denver Downtown, 1750 Welton Street
Fans of literary genre writing will have a field day all weekend long at the Readers Take Denver convention, a chance to meet, greet and party with favorite authors. Writers of sci-fi, thrillers and general fiction are flocking to town to sign autographs and introduce their books; by far the biggest genre represented, though, is romance, with more than 150 authors on the roster. Admission ranges from $75 for book signings on Friday or Saturday to $350 for a complete convention package; get details and tickets here.

WhimsyCon 2023
Sunday, April 2, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Delta by Marriott, 10 East 120th Avenue, Northglenn
Steampunk fans and dedicated cosplayers, this one’s just for you: WhimsyCon 2023 is bringing you three days of workshops, lectures, a cosplay costume contest, an art shop and vendor room, special guest speakers, kids’ events and gaming galore. You’ll also meet author Ken Liu, known for his Dandelion Dynasty silkpunk fantasy series, and get costuming ideas from local cosplay champions December Wynn and Wingedlight. Get tickets, $10 to $50, in advance here.

Magic Moments: The Envelope
Sunday, April 2, p.m.
Littleton High School, 199 East Littleton Boulevard, Littleton
Let's put on a show! For decades, Magic Moments, a community group of theater lovers, has been doing just that. This year, the show is the musical comedyThe Envelope, which tells the story of a small group of nerds accidentally recruited to get a highly secret “envelope” safely to New York City while being pursued by the nefarious MALICE organization. They run into many complications along the way, including a lack of money and transportation, weather, festivals and even cows. Tickets are $35 for in-person, or $35 for a virtual view; get them here.

The Color Purple
Sunday, 1:30 p.m. Continuing daily (except Mondays) through May 7.
Wolf Theatre, Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex, Denver Performing Arts Complex
Alice Walker’s award-winning novel The Color Purple has been inspiring readers for the past forty years; already the basis for a movie, there's another film due out in December. And it's a musical, too, with a score that rises to the rafters on a combination of soul, gospel, jazz and blues; the DCPA's version of The Color Purple opens this weekend in the Wolf Theatre. Find tickets, $25 to $96, at the Denver Center’s online box office.

Stories on Stage, Denver Noir
Sunday, April 2, 2 p.m.
Su Teatro Cultural and Performing Arts Center, 721 Santa Fe Drive
Virtual Premiere: Thursday, April 6, 7 p.m., streaming indefinitely
Stories on Stage has fun this weekend with staged readings from the latest release of Denver Noir, an anthology of short crime fiction by local authors, including David Heska Wanbli Weiden, Peter Heller and Manual Ramos. See it Sunday afternoon at Su Teatro or wait until April 6, when a virtual version goes live at 7 p.m. Either way, a ticket is $24; learn more here.

Medea Benjamin: War in Ukraine
Sunday, April 2, 2 to 5 p.m.
Unity of Boulder Church, 2855 Folsom Street, Boulder
Medea Benjamin, peace and justice activist and co-founder of Code Pink, is the author of thirteen books, including the recent War in Ukraine: Making Sense of a Senseless Conflict (co-authored with Nicolas J.S. Davies), which offers historical context. She'll talk about the book and the current situation in Ukraine in a series of talks along the Front Range that continue through April 5; get more information here.

A Celebration of API Heritage Through Food: Cultural Roots Night Market and Mix-Tape
Sunday, April 2, 6:30 to 9 p.m.
History Colorado Center, 1200 Broadway
This celebration of Asian Pacific Islander diaspora in Colorado will offer food, art and other goodies from API culture-bearers, as well as the opportunity to meet with local API organizations and discuss their work in the community. Hosted by Courtney Ozaki (Japanese Arts Network) and featuring a talkback with artists led by journalist and author Gil Asakawa, the market closes out a year of the interactive art exhibition Colorado's Asian Food Culture: Rice & Resilience. Admission is free; reserve a spot here.

Letters From Home: The 50 States Tour
Monday, April 3, 7 p.m.
Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut Street, Boulder
Play the role of the troops when Letters From Home hosts Erinn Dearth and Dan Beckmann's stop in Colorado while they tour the states with their own upbeat version of a USO show. The two have already performed their signature song and dance for veterans and their families to the tune of more than 900 shows — including at the 75th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, France — and now it’s our turn to find unity in their brand of pure entertainment for all ages. Admission is $20 here.


Watering the West Trilogy: It All Starts Here
Monday, April 3, 6:30 p.m.
Sie FilmCenter, 25 10 East Colfax Avenue
The Sie FilmCenter will warm up an audience for Earth Day with the Watering the West Trilogy, a series of documentaries by Mona Maser and Shari Due that explore water wars and shrinking water supplies in the West. In this week’s first installment, the filmmakers follow the trail of the 156 rivers that start in Colorado and the right and wrong ways in which that water gets divvied up. The story continues with "Wanna Buy a Farm?" on April 10 and "Across the Divide" on April 17; admission is $12 per screening here.

Icons: An Evening With Jad Abumrad
Monday, April 3, 7 p.m.
MCA Denver at the Holiday, 2644 West 32nd Avenue
MacArthur Fellowship awardee Jad Abumrad, a rare journalist who also has the free-roving mind of a composer and electronic musician, left his long-running podcast Radiolab after twenty years to teach and experiment with ideas at Vanderbilt University. What’s on his mind? Learn all about it when he appears at MCA’s Holiday Theater venue to deliver a hands-on lecture of games and exercises to guide the audience toward having more satisfying conversations on difficult subjects. Find tickets and info here.

Do you know of a great event in Denver? We'll be updating this list through the weekend; send information to [email protected].