Live Performing Arts Events in Colorado
Live performing-arts experiences across Colorado — local music, dance, comedy, and theater hosted by community performers.
FreeForm Dance Festival 2026
📅 May 31, 2026, 1:00 AM
📍 The Spark Boulder, 4847 Pearl Street Ste B4, Boulder, CO 80301
FreeForm Dance Festival brings together dance artists of varied styles, genres, and experience levels for two evenings of curated works at The Spark Boulder. Directed by Vivian Kim and Brittney Hietala, the 2026 lineup features both returning choreographers and artists new to the festival, drawn from across Colorado. The festival has sold out in previous years and runs the same program both nights, giving audiences two chances to catch the full bill. The Spark, located on Pearl Street in Boulder, serves as the regular home for this community-rooted event.
Candyland After Dark at The Clocktower Cabaret
📅 Jun 1, 2026, 12:00 AM
📍 The Clocktower Cabaret, Denver, CO
Mod Vaude Entertainment brings its modern circus cabaret to The Clocktower Cabaret in Denver with Candyland After Dark, a production that layers burlesque, aerial arts, dance, and comedy inside a candy-themed world that turns sugary nostalgia into something decidedly adult. The Denver-based collective draws on specialists in aerial, acrobatics, and prop work, and this run introduces new cast members alongside returning performers. The show is part of a two-city Front Range run produced by a company that has been building its presence on the Colorado performance circuit across multiple original productions.
Jaik Hakkarinen Trio at Bar 404
📅 Jun 4, 2026, 1:00 AM
📍 Bar 404, 404 Broadway, Denver, CO 80203
Drummer and bandleader Jaik Hakkarinen brings a chordless trio to Bar 404's summer Wednesday night jazz series on June 3rd. The format, saxophone, bass, and drums with no piano or guitar, opens up the harmony and puts the interplay between players front and center. Joining Hakkarinen are Denver-based saxophonist Caleb Abbott, who draws on the lineage of players like Sonny Rollins and Coltrane, and bassist Ed Ness, a recurring collaborator in the Front Range jazz scene. Bar 404 sits in the South Broadway entertainment district at 404 Broadway, a neighborhood bar that runs live music regularly and keeps the door open to the community.
Spoken at Trybal: Where I'm From
📅 Jun 4, 2026, 1:00 AM
📍 Trybal African Speakeasy, 1670 Champa St, Denver, CO 80209
Spoken at Trybal is a weekly storytelling series held every Wednesday at Trybal African Speakeasy, self-described as the first African speakeasy in the US, situated at 1670 Champa St in Denver. Each week centers on a theme; this week's is 'WHERE I'M FROM,' an invitation to share stories of origin and identity. The format pairs a featured voice with an open mic story circle, so guests can listen or step up to the mic themselves. The room, decorated with hand-painted African murals and neon art, is part of the story.
Tres Leches Vol. III: 3v3 Breaking at Mi Chantli
📅 Jun 6, 2026, 12:00 AM
📍 Mi Chantli, 1750 30th St Unit 22, Boulder, CO
Tres Leches returns for its third installment at Mi Chantli, Boulder's community-rooted dance space dedicated to cultivating local breaking culture. Teams of three compete in a Last Breaker Standing format, with judges Icey Ives, Jermz, and King Julio bringing deep roots in Rock Force Crew, Frozen Flow, Amida Crew, and the broader Front Range scene. DJ Meku handles the music while hosts Taino and Changa keep the floor moving. The event carries support from Visit Boulder and the City of Boulder, marking it as a recognized fixture in the region's hip-hop community.
Diva Cup Farewell Fort Collins at Collective Vintage
📅 Jun 6, 2026, 1:00 AM
📍 Collective Vintage, 1228 W Elizabeth St, Fort Collins, CO
Diva Cup plays their final Fort Collins show at Collective Vintage, the vintage shop and community venue on West Elizabeth Street. The all-female Boulder punk band, named Denver Westword's pick for 'Best Shows to Make You Feel Like a Riot Grrrl' in 2026, shares the bill with noCO surf punk act Rosebay, Denver's Dry Ice, and Fort Collins newcomers feverishh. This is the last time Diva Cup performs in Fort Collins before wrapping up their run as a band in early June.
2026 Denver Fringe Festival: The Majikal Ball
📅 Jun 6, 2026, 3:30 AM
📍 The Savoy, Denver, CO
The Enchanting Kiki House of Majik, Boulder's first Kiki house founded in 2022, brings its ballroom culture to the Denver Fringe Festival stage for a Pride-season celebration. The Majikal Ball centers QTPOC community and the artistry of the Colorado Kiki Ballroom scene, a tradition rooted in self-expression, performance, and collective affirmation. Doors open late on a Saturday night at The Savoy Denver, drawing together walkers, judges, and spectators into the kind of electric floor energy that defines a Kiki ball.
Ambiance Denver: Francophone Night at The Playhouse
📅 Jun 7, 2026, 4:00 AM
📍 The Playhouse, 1134 N Broadway, Denver, CO
Ambiance is Denver's new Francophone nightlife series, built around the sounds that connect Abidjan, Kinshasa, and Port-au-Prince to the Front Range. Four DJs, each rooted in a different corner of the diaspora, cover the full spectrum: Coupé Décalé, N'dombolo, Afro Zouk, Rumba Congolaise, Afrobeats, Amapiano, and Kompa across a four-hour set at The Playhouse on Broadway. MOH D brings Amapiano-fused mixes well traveled across West Africa and the Americas; Sinz holds down Afrobeats and Afrohouse from his Denver residencies; DJ Rocky and DJ Wangu round out the lineup with Congolese and pan-African sounds. This is the launch night for a series that has been quietly building since April.
Dance Continua Festival: The Heartbeat Symphony
📅 Jun 13, 2026, 1:00 AM
📍 The Spark Boulder, 4847 Pearl St B4, Boulder, CO
Dance Continua Productions brings together dance, live music, and interactive technology at The Spark Boulder for two nights in June. The evening centers on the premiere of The Heartbeat Symphony, a work choreographed to a score built from the dancers' own heartbeats, with three pieces spanning three technologies. Doors open at 6pm for interactive installations; the performance runs at 7pm across three parts, followed by an afterparty with food, drinks, and the chance to meet the artists and technologists behind the work. The Spark, a 4,600-square-foot performing arts community space in Boulder dedicated to supporting local artists, hosts the festival at 4847 Pearl St.
A Tribute to Oscar Brown Jr. presented by Gift of Jazz
📅 Jun 14, 2026, 8:00 PM
📍 The Savoy Denver, Denver, CO
Gift of Jazz, a Denver nonprofit preserving jazz heritage since 1995, brings together film, live music, and spoken word for a full afternoon honoring Oscar Brown Jr., the Chicago-born singer-songwriter and civil rights activist whose 1960 debut Sin & Soul fused jazz with unflinching social commentary. The day opens with a screening of Emmy award-winning filmmaker donnie l. betts's documentary "Music Is My Life, Politics My Mistress: The Story of Oscar Brown Jr." followed by a Q&A with the director, whose film aired on PBS stations nationwide and now streams on Kweli TV. That evening, the Bob Schlesinger Quartet plays Brown's music live, with vocalist Erica Brown on vocals and spoken word by Jeff Campbell, the hip hop artist and activist whose work was itself the subject of an Emmy-winning betts film. The event is free and takes place at The Savoy Denver.
Pride Month Comedy Showcase at Lady Justice Brewing
📅 Jun 15, 2026, 12:00 AM
📍 Lady Justice Brewing, Denver, CO
QTs & Cuties, the queer-led comedy series organized by Denver comedian Mercy Hawkins, brings five of Denver's queer comics together for a Pride Month showcase at Lady Justice Brewing. Rya Fisher, Terrence Dobbs, Lady Godiva, Ava Troop, and Kendoll Clitzone take the stage, with Mercy hosting. Artist lilgydoesart will be on site selling work and contributing items to a raffle. Ticket sales from the event go directly toward local mutual aid fundraisers, a practice built into how QTs & Cuties produces its shows.
Playhaus: Denver Pride Dance Party
📅 Jun 28, 2026, 2:00 AM
📍 Junkyard, Denver, CO
Playhaus brings its Denver Pride edition to Junkyard on June 27, with Pulse Ctrl joining a lineup that includes Pabllo Vittar presenting Club Vittar, Saucy Santana, Shermanology, Hercules & Love Affair, and Matt Suave. Pulse Ctrl, the Denver-based DJ duo of Erin McMahon and Jovana Bjelanovic, has built a following in the city's queer underground through their Pulse Controlled party series and regular bookings at venues across the Front Range. This is a 21+ event, and proceeds benefit Center on Colfax, Denver's LGBTQ community center.
May Be Fern at Red Rocks: Film on the Rocks 2026
📅 Aug 4, 2026, 1:00 AM
📍 Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO
May Be Fern, Denver's neon funk-rock band and Westword Best Funk-Rock Album winners, takes the Red Rocks Amphitheatre stage as part of Denver Film's Film on the Rocks lineup. The band plays before a screening of Bridesmaids at one of Colorado's most storied outdoor venues. For a band rooted in the Front Range club circuit, Bar 404 Broadway residency and all, this is a genuine milestone: Red Rocks is the room every Colorado band points to, and May Be Fern is playing it.