Free Things to Do in Denver This Week, May 30 to June 5

If you’re looking for options today; see our Memorial Day list. And keep reading for fifteen more free events to put on your calendar:

Russia’s War in Ukraine: Bracing for Long-term Competition
Tuesday, May 31,7 p.m.
Chautauqua Community Houe, 301 Morning Glory Drive, Boulder
Russia and Ukraine have been at odds since the end of the Soviet Union. Putin’s fateful decision in February to invade Ukraine raises fundamental issues concerning limits to escalation, the meaning of victory, consequences and success of sanctions, and prospects for transformation of global politics, economics, and norms. Bring your own questions for a discussion with professor Adam Stulberg, chair of the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech. Admission is free; find out more here.

Portrait of a Culture/Chained Voices: DU Prison Arts Initiative
Wednesday, June 1, through closing reception Saturday, August 20, 5 to 8 p.m.
DCR Studios and DeMarcio: Creating the Glamour on Center Stage at Denver Pride
Wednesday, June 1, through June 30
McNichols Civic Center Building, 144 West Colfax Avenue
The McNichols Building Galleries slide into summer with pair of very different art exhibitions expressing views from marginalized communities. On the second floor, Portrait of a Culture/Chained Voices, a show facilitated by the DU Prison Arts Initiative, includes works by 150 incarcerated artists across the state. On the first floor, a show devoted to drag-queen costumery serves as a prelude to a Pride fashion show on June 11, with emcee DeMarcio Slaughter and RuPaul Drag Race All Stars contestants Yara Sofia and Mayhem Miller. That event is ticketed, but the art shows are free. Learn more here.

Denver Environmental Film Festival II
Thursday, June 2, 3 to 7 p.m.
Museo de las Americas, 861 Santa Fe Drive
Friday, June 3, 5 to 7 p.m.
Mexican Cultural Center, 5350 Leetsdale Drive
The second Environmental Film Festival offers not just films, but numerous activities related to nature and art, including “Art and Recycling Workshop for Children,” from 3 to 5 p.m. on June 2 with artist Ulises Villa Jr., and a conference in English on “Engaging the Community for our Ecological Future Together” at 6 p.m. on June 2. On June 3, the “The Giant Frog of Lake Titicaca and its Conservation,” a program in Spanish, will be at the Mexican Cultural Center, followed by the Infinite Beauty art exhibit. On June 2, take-home planting kits will also be available. Find out more here.

Centennial Center Park Turns Ten
Friday, June 3, 3 to 6 p.m.
13050 East Peakview Avenue, Centennial
Centennial Center Park was the first new park in the ten-new city. Now it’s celebrating its tenth birthday with a summer kick-off that includes a visit from the Arapahoe Libraries Summer Reading Program, face painting and crafts, a splash pad, and a DJ. Admission is free; find out more here.

Judge Gary Jackson at the History Colorado exhibit on Lincoln Hills.

Evan Semon

Lincoln Hills 100th Anniversary
Friday, June 3, 6 to 7:30 p.m.
History Colorado Center, 1200 Broadway
A century ago, developers founded Lincoln Hills as a resort for Black Coloradans and other travelers who weren’t allowed in many other resorts. Judge Gary Jackson’s great-grandfather built a cottage there that is still in the family; he and his sister, Dr. Kimberle Jackson-Butler, will share personal history of the place during this History Colorado program. “Lincoln Hills was founded in the early 1920s by E.C. Regnier and Roger Ewalt, who envisioned a Colorado mountain resort that would serve as an oasis for African-Americans suffering from racism,” explains Dexter Nelson II, History Colorado’s associate curator for Black History and Cultural Heritage. Admission is free, and you can visit the permanent exhibit devoted to Lincoln Hills while you’re at the History Colorado Center; find out more here. And don’t miss “The Last Resort,” our recent story on Lincoln Hills.

Theatre Artibus Presents: In the Pocket: The Ballad of Bobby Trombone
Friday, June 3, 7:30 p.m.
Savoy Denver, 2700 Arapahoe Street
Get in the mood for the Five Points Jazz Fest on June 4 with a little neighborhood history lesson at a reading of In the Pocket: The Ballad of Bobby Trombone, a play-in-progress fictionalizing the jazz heyday of the Rossonian Hotel by Denver playwright Jeff Campbell. After the reading, Campbell will sit for an audience Q&A, and a live set by Danette Hollowell and the Queen City Quintet will finish off the night. The evening is free; find info and RSVP for a seat at Eventbrite.

Second Floor Collective First Friday Market
Friday, June 3, 6 to 10 p.m.
Colorado Housing Assistance Corporation, 670 Santa Fe Drive
If you’re headed to the Art District on Santa Fe on First Friday, you’ll be able to do some thrift, vintage and artisan shopping, too. The Second Floor Collective, a group organized by artrepreneur Jarred De Palo, is gaining steam with a new monthly market. And if recycled fashion is your thing, don’t forget the First Friday Market with Hell & Rats and Town Hall Collaborative, at 525 Santa Fe Drive, from 5 to 10 p.m. Learn more about the Second Floor Collective here.

Bob Ragland Library Grand Opening Festival
Saturday, June 4, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Bob Ragland Branch Library, RiNo ArtPark, 1900 35th Street, Suite A
The Denver Public Library’s newest branch in ArtPark RiNo is already a sweet victory for Five Points, but having the public vote to name it after a neighborhood legend — the late artist Bob Ragland, who often hung out on the porch of his Whittier home, shooting the breeze and counseling others on how to be a “Non-Starving Artist” — made it sweeter. Ragland will be in the spotlight during Saturday’s public grand opening party for the library, where you can also sample Qi Gong exercises, play with paint with artist Selah V., and be the family that does yoga together. It’s free; get details here.

Yard Art Contemporary 2022
Saturday, June 4, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, June 5, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
100 Gaylord Street
Yard Art is kind of like a yard sale of something that’s not second-hand stuff. It’s real art by notable Denver artists, who’ve banded together to take advantage of warm weather to sell their work free of a middleman. Produced by artists Annie DeCamp and Michael Dowling, the series has plumped up for 2022, with a schedule of six weekends through September at different art yards around town. The kickoff gets started in the Denver Country Club neighborhood; find the whole schedule here.

Boozy Book Swap
Saturday, June 4, 1 to 4 p.m.
Western Skybar & Tap, 4361 South Broadway, Englewood
Western Skybar & Tap will become a little library for literate grown-ups at the Boozy Book Swap, an invitation to clear your bookshelves and find something new for your summer read. It’s a take-one, leave-one honor system, just like those boxes in front of homes all over town, but you can have a drink while you peruse. Learn more at Eventbrite.

Five Points Jazz Fest
Saturday, June 4, noon to 7 p.m.
Welton Street Corridor, between 25th and 29th streets
Stroll down Welton Street and hear local bands on eleven stages along the way. The Tivoli Club Brass Band leads off the jazzathon at noon, marching from 29th street to the Denver Arts & Venues Stage at 25th; each stage has a full slate on a staggered timeline, and just about everyone who is anyone in the local jazz community will be there at some point. Learn how to get your jazz on here.

Latino Cultural Day
Saturday, June 4, noon to 5 p.m.
Museum of Boulder, 2205 Broadway, Boulder
Latino Cultural Day at the Museum of Boulder will include a lineup of local Latino authors ready to chat you up and sell you their books, and Reading Partners will be distributing free children’s books. The event also includes a craft table, vendors, dance performances and storytelling, homemade tortillas to sample, and a couple of Mexican food trucks in the parking lot. Find more info here.

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Lakewood kicks off summer with a free bash.

City of Lakewood

Rockin’ Block Party: Fabulous Females of Yesterday and Today
Saturday, June 4, 5 p.m.
Heritage Lakewood Belmar Park, 801 South Yarrow, Lakewood
This free event a summer kickoff for Lakewood, celebrates women of the past and present. The party begins with an hour of covers and originals by 16-year-old Julia Kirkwood and Bri Weesner. That’s followed by a performance by Colorado favorite Hazel Miller will, in a tribute to Aretha Franklin. At 9 p.m., there will be a screening of Hairspray. Get all the details here.

Small Biz Sundays Launch
Sunday, June 5, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Hope Tank, 1434 East 22nd Avenue
Erika Righter’s Hope Tank, formerly a small-business- and local artisan-friendly gift boutique on South Broadway, has moved to Whittier and adopted a transitional business model as a fulfillment center for curated gift boxes and baskets ordered online and either shipped or prepared for pick-up. But beginning this week, you can now stop by Righter’s space every Sunday and say hello, order gifts in person and check out the wares and services of a small group of up to five Denver micro-businesses. Shop with a social conscience! Learn more here.

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World’s Wonder View Tower still stands, a century after it was built on the Plains.

Friends of the Genoa Tower

The World’s Wonder View Tower in its heyday.

Colorado Preservation Inc.

World’s Wonder View Tower Pie Social
Sunday, June 5, 2 to 5 p.m.
30121 Frontage Road, Genoa (just off I-70)
Enjoy an afternoon on the Plains in the shadow of the World’s Wonder Viewer Tower, a legendary tourist attraction for decades. The Tower is currently closed for repairs; Friends of the Genoa Tower is hosting this Pie Social as a fundraiser for ongoing renovations. Admission is free, but you’ll get a chance to buy slices of pie ($4, or $5 with ice cream), tour the Tower (suggested donation $5, or $10 for families), and bid on fabulous ceramic plates created by artists from both Denver and Lincoln counties, and beyond. Find more information on friendsofthegenoatower.com. (Conflict alert: Westword editor Patricia Calhoun is on the board of the nonprofit, and once you see the place, you’ll know why: The Tower is a true Colorado landmark.)

Know of a great free event around town? We’ll be updating this list throughout the week; send information to [email protected]