Five Things to Do for Free This Weekend

Feeling strapped this Labor Day weekend? There's a wealth of ways to celebrate the last summer holiday without spending a cent while watching ballers, bikers, ballerinas and more. From a neighborhood picnic with water balloons to a free-to-watch pro beach volleyball tournament, Colorado is filled with fun over the next few days.

Free yourself, people.

MotherLode Volleyball Classic
Through September 2
Koch Lumber Park
120 West Cooper Avenue, Aspen
Colorado may have little in the way of beaches, but that hasn't stopped the Pro Am beach volleyball tournament, the MotherLode Volleyball Classic, from taking place in Aspen each year. Pro volleyball players will be descending on Koch Lumber Park to battle it out, and spectators can watch all the fun for free. There will be barbecue, live music and vendors galore, not to mention all that gorgeous mountain scenery.


Labor Day Festival
Saturday, August 31, and Sunday, September 1, starting at noon
Bass Pro Shop
7970 Northfield Boulevard
Whether you love hunting, fishing or tailgating, Bass Pro Shop has something for you at its free Labor Day Festival. Learn about camp cooking at educational seminars. Decorate a holiday sign. Have your face painted and photo taken. Win prizes, sample hushpuppies and cobblers, and while you're there, outfit yourself for the fall.

Denver Performing Arts Complex Tour
Sunday, September 1, 10 a.m.
The Galleria at the Denver Performing Arts Complex
Do you know your DPAC from your DCPA? Have you ever wondered what's up with those dancing aliens in Sculpture Park? Do you know the history of the art interwoven into the ten performing arts spaces in the Denver Performing Arts Complex? Public art docent Djamila Ricciardi will be offering a tour of the sculptures, murals and architecture that make up the Denver Performing Arts Complex. Tickets are free; get yours at Eventbrite.

Soulfully Stapleton
Sunday, September 1, noon to 2 p.m.
Prairie Meadows Park
Off East 51st Avenue between Uinta and Verbena streets
The Stapleton neighborhood has been wrangling with the legacy of its namesake, former Denver mayor and Ku Klux Klan leader Benjamin Stapleton. After racist graffiti popped up in the neighborhood and a fourteen-year-old youth was killed in Northfield, neighbors decided that it was time to come together. They'll do so for a few hours on September 1 at Soulfully Stapleton, a celebration of inclusion and diversity, with a picnic, games, water balloons, music and neighbor meet-and-greets.

Framework Cycles
Monday, September 2, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
3655 Navajo Street
Break out your bike — whether it works or not. On Labor Day, you can celebrate the grand opening of Framework Cycles, a bike shop that, coupled with  Pinwheel Coffee, will serve as a classroom site for a new middle school called Embark Education. To mark the occasion, the shop is throwing a bike rodeo from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with a children's bike obstacle course, bike safety checks for ten participants from 2 to 3 p.m. (register here), and a free maintenance workshop from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m, also limited to ten (register here). There will be food, free kombucha and coffee from Pinwheel Coffee, prizes and more. Tickets are free; register in advance at Eventbrite.

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