Flamingos, films, Scottish athletics, chili contests and much more on tap

By the Thirst Team

Get Out of Town is our weekly roundup of recommended events across Colorado, mostly focusing outside of Denver, to help everyone enjoy the entire state. For more happenings, check out our events calendar.

Flock Party at the zoo

It’s in Denver, but I can’t pass up the chance to squawk about the Flock Party at the Denver Zoo. After all, a zoo visit is like a quick trip around the world. On Saturday, it also will be a tropical escape for the annual Flock Party fundraiser, with live music, animal experiences, on-the-spot fashion illustrations, and craft cocktails and food.

Wear flamingo pink to match the birds walking around the event, or animal prints to match other zoo denizens. VIP tickets are sold out, but GA tickets are still available.

Longs Peak highland festival

Estes Park hosts the Longs Peak Scottish Irish Highland Festival from Friday through Sunday. It is the largest gathering of its kind west of the Mississippi River. One highlight of the festival is the Scottish athletics. Amateurs and professionals compete in caber tossing (basically throwing large tree trunks), hammer and stone throwing, and other feats of strength and stamina.

The giant event also includes a highland cattle show, dog exhibitions and contests, guided whiskey tastings, live music, vendors and clan celebrations, jousting and more.

Chili and beer festival

The 26th Annual Mount Crested Butte Chili & Beer Festival comes to the base area of Crested Butte Mountain Resort on Saturday. Amateur and professional chili cooks battle for the "best of" in a variety of categories. Meanwhile, craft breweries from around the state also compete for "best of" awards and cash prizes in several categories.

GA tickets are available, and include live music and unlimited beer and chili sampling. Chili-only tickets also are available for half price, with no beer samples included.

Colorado Springs film festival

Summer is undeniably the music festival season, but the fall calendar is getting packed with film festivals. In between the prestigious Telluride and Aspen film festivals, a more modest and homegrown movie fest comes to the charming Ivywild School Gym in Colorado Springs.

The century-old school building is now a community marketplace, with a Bristol Brewing taproom and The Axe and the Oak Whiskey House. It also will host the 8th annual Colorado Short Circuit Film Festival from Friday to Sunday, screening more than 100 diverse Colorado-made short films.

Green Line Music Festival

The Green Line Music Festival comes to the Barbox in Littleton’s Aspen Grove complex on Saturday. Taylor Maxwell and Skank Williams will perform. The event also includes beer, food trucks, fly fishing vendors, a raffle, and family activities.

Mental health organizations will also be on hand, and the festival is a fundraiser for Fishing the Good Fight, which hosts retreats and other programs aimed at helping men with mental illness or substance abuse. Read more about their vital work here.

As always, please send us your events and announcements. We’re happy to share them. If they don’t fit in the Get Out of Town column, we will add them to our events calendar. And enjoy your Colorado craft libations responsibly.