Free Things to Do in Denver (and Beyond) Today

This weekend has already been hot, with the first Denver Summit home game and No Kings protests across the metro area. If you just want to chill today, Beaver Creek has moved its end-of-season party.

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

Today

“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.”

Sugar Plum Bazaar Spring Fling Market
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.

Darimer Street Block Party
Sunday, March 29, noon to 4 p.m.
2900 block of Larimer Street
Remember when this block of Larimer Street was blocked to traffic? It will be again during the Larimer Street Block Party, which marks the one-year anniversary of this stretch suddenly being reopened. It will again be car-free during this event, which includes vendors, food trucks, games and different organizations offering info about the work they are doing to make Denver a great place to live. If you want to ride to the party with others, the Critical Mass Ride will get rolling at 11:30 a.m. at Sunken Gardens Park.

Beaver Creek End of Season Party
Sunday, March 29, 2 to 5 p.m.
Broken Arrow, Beaver Creek
Beaver Creek is closing two weeks early, but you can still enjoy end-of-season fun. There will be live music from the Laughing Bones as well as raffle prizes at this final bash.

Faith Rising: Path to Love & Liberation
Sunday, March 29, 2 to 3:30 p.m.
Colorado State Capitol, west steps
Gather at the Capitol to stand for love, liberation and the dignity of every person, raising a voice against systems that tear families apart and spread fear.

Motus Playback Theater x CAPU: Adoptee Journeys of Belonging
Sunday, March 29, 4 to 6 p.m.
Posner Center for International Development, 1031 33rd Street
CAPU and Motus Theater present Adoptee Journeys of Belonging, an interactive performance focusing.on the wide spectrum of Asian adoptee experiences across cultures, generations and identities. Audience members are invited to share stories of belonging, displacement and connection, which are then improvised live on stage by the Motus Playback Theater Ensemble.

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. For 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 Byways.

Plan ahead

Remembering the Three Sisters
Monday, March 30, 5:30 p.m.
The Center on Colfax, 1301 East Colfax Avenue
The Three Sisters was one of Denver’s first lesbian bars; it closed in 1996. During this ceremony, its history will be remembered and a stained glass art piece from the bar installed at the Center. An afterparty will follow at The Pearl, one of only three dozen lesbian bars left in the country!

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