See this list for free things to do; for art openings, check Art Attack. Now keep reading for ten events worth the price of admission:
Alpaca Show
Sunday, March 19, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
National Western Complex, 4655 Humboldt Street
The National Alpaca presented by Eagle Eye Farm is wrapping up its fun run at the National Western Complex today. And admission is free! Get details here.
Denver March Powwow
Sunday, March 19, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Denver Coliseum, 4600 Humboldt Street
To honor the Apache, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Pueblo, Navajo, Shoshone, Comanche and Kiowa people who once freely roamed the lands of what is now Colorado, every Coloradan should visit the Denver March Powwow, an annual tradition here since the mid-’70s, at least once. Now drawing nearly 100 tribes from 38 states and three Canadian provinces, the gathering celebrates centuries-old dance traditions, cultural activities, food and crafts. Admission is $3 to $7 daily, or $9 to $20 for a three-day pass at axs.com or at the door (children six and under get in free).
Frozen Dead Guy Days 2023
Sunday, March 19, 10:30 to 5 p.m.
Estes Park
Frozen Dead Guys Days has parted ways with Nederland, where it began in 2002 to honor the cryonically frozen body of Bredo Morstoel, grandfather of Trygve Bauge, a Norwegian citizen who brought the corpse to town and stored it in a Tuff Shed in his mother’s backyard. Owing to disagreements between Morstoel’s family and fest organizers, the celebration and its coffin races, ghost hunts, haunted tours and more will move to Estes Park. And what was once free now requires tickets, with the exception of the Icebreaker kickoff Friday afternoon. General admission is $39 (with an extra fee of $99 for the Royal Blue Ball at the Stanley Hotel Friday night); learn more and get tickets here.
Local Theater, Undone: The Lady M Project
Sunday, March 19, 2 p.m.
Savoy Denver, 2700 Arapahoe Street
Meet Lady MacBeth as you’ve never seen her before at Local Theater’s original Macbeth adaptation, Undone: The Lady M Project, a collaboration between Hadley Kamminga-Peck, Anne Penner and Mare Trevathan. You don’t have to be knowledgeable about Shakespearean lore to know what’s going on, but you will be expected to play the game, when conniving Lady M is judged in court while the audience, including you, forms the jury. The run continues through March 26, Wednesdays through Sundays. Tickets are $12 to $45 here, with four special event nights including a meal or discussion.
Gift of Jazz
Sunday, March 19, 3 to 5 p.m.
Dazzle at Baur's, 1512 Curtis Street
The Saturday Adult Education Students present a showcase that includes a professional jazz ensemble with Vlad Girshevich, piano; Donna Wickham, vocals; Adam Gang, tenor sax; Bill McCrossen, bass, and Kevin Matthews, drums. The program includes new works by students in this semester’s composition class, as well as performances by students in the jazz piano class. Admission is free!
Denver Jewish Film Festival
Through Sunday, March 19
Mizel Arts and Culture Center, Jewish Community Center of Denver, 350 South Dahlia Street
Organizers of the Denver Jewish Film Festival say this year’s fest —the 27th — marks a return to normal, in-person operations with a full week of in-person screenings, plus a virtual viewing option. That’s good news, and so is the packed lineup, with over thirty films showing at the Elaine Wolf Theatre and the Pluss Theatre. Following the in-person festival, the majority of the films will be available virtually between March 20 and March 29. Admission options range from $13 to $420; see the complete schedule and purchase tickets here.
The Denver Museum of Nature & Science is full of Bugs!
Denver Museum of Nature & Science
Through August 27
Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Boulevard
Get to know the insect world a little bit better when Bugs, a traveling exhibit from the Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand, creepy-crawls into the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. With displays created by Weta Workshop, the studio behind the Lord of the Rings film trilogy’s sets, Bugs offers a web of immersive and hands-on activities and games, where you’ll learn that bugs are perhaps not nearly as icky as they seem. Museum admission, with Bugs tacked on by timed entry, ranges from $24.95 to $32.45 at the museum website.
Stories on Stage: The White Chip
anytime, online
Stories on Stage continues a season of switching things out and developing new themes with a dramatic reading of The White Chip, a harsh autobiographical play about a hard-core alcoholic in recovery by Sean Daniels, who lived to tell the tale. Local actors Geoffrey Kent, Martha Harmon Pardee and Erik Sandvold staged a dramatic reading at Su Teatro on March 12; now you can watch it online for $24. Get information here.
Plan ahead:
Flatirons Jazz Orchestra With Deborah Stafford: Ella & Ellington, A Legendary Friendship
Monday, March 20, 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Dazzle, 1512 Curtis Street
Dazzle’s salute to Women’s History Month continues with a special focus on the musical relationship between Duke Ellington and sublime vocalist Ella Fitzgerald, put into perspective by Boulder County jazz singer Deborah Stafford and her eighteen-piece swing big band, the Flatirons Jazz Orchestra. Stafford and her crew will begin the story in 1935, when Fitzgerald and Ellington met at the Savoy Ballroom, taking it to the 1957 release of the classic album Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook — and beyond. Act fast: The price for this stellar night of music ranges from $15 to $35, and it’ll likely be a sellout. Get tickets here.
National Geographic Live, Greenwood: A Century of Resilience With Alicia Odewale
Monday, March 20, 7:30 p.m.
Gates Concert Hall, Newman Center, 2344 East Iliff Avenue
The story of the massacre in Tulsa's Greenwood neighborhood, once known as the “Black Wall Street" of the West, has only recently come back into the public view since the 2021 release of HBO’s documentary Dreamland: The Burning of Black Wall Street. That was mainly an account of the event itself, but Tulsa archaeologist and historian Alicia Odewale prefers to look beyond the unconscionable act to record the community trauma and resilience of those who survived. Learn more when Odewale’s findings are revealed during a National Geographic Live program at the Newman Center; find tickets, $18 to $34, here.
Do you know of a great event in Denver? We'll be updating this list through the weekend; send information to [email protected].
