Bikes, beers and pow wow in Junction, short films in Aspen, more on tap

By the Thirst Team

Get Out of Town is our weekly roundup of recommended events across Colorado. For more happenings, check out our events calendar.

Aspen Film Shortsfest

The 34th Aspen Film Shortsfest opens Monday. It is an Oscar-qualifying short film festival, and nearly always screens movies that end up with Academy Award nominations.

It also is an industry-recognized destination for discovering breakthrough talent. Reinaldo Marcus Green (King Richard), Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Short Term 12), Damien Chazelle (La La Land, Babylon), Jason Reitman (Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Up in the Air), Sarah Polley (Women Talking) and the late Jean-Marc Vallée (Dallas Buyers Club) are among the alumni whose short films first screened at Shortsfest before their big breaks.

Bikes and beers in Grand Junction

The Maverick Classic in downtown Grand Junction is both a bike race and beer festival.

The criterium race zips through the city on Saturday, with collegiate and open categories. It is followed by the beer fest, opening at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $40, and include unlimited samples from at least 11 area breweries. The event also includes food trucks, live music, vendors and more.

A road race on an 11-mile loop begins at 8 a.m. Sunday, with collegiate and open categories and ride distances from 33 to 77 miles.

Grand Mesa Pow Wow

The second annual Grand Mesa Pow Wow also comes to Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction Friday through Sunday. There will be grand entries each day, as well as gourd dances, a drum roll call and drum contest, with $49,000 in prizes.

Durango Celtic Festival

The 11th Durango Celtic Festival is on Friday and Saturday, with workshops and concerts, with award-winning bands from across Scotland: Heron Valley (Hebrides), Old Blind Dogs (Scottish mainland).

Summer kickoff at Ska

Sure, the spring equinox was only last week, but Ska Brewing Co. doesn’t care about your rules and traditions. The Durango brewery hosts its summer kickoff party on Thursday.

The event includes live music from Baracutanga, Mexican Logger beers on tap, and a chance to win tickets to the 30th Anniversary Party and Brewers Invitational in September.

“Once” in Littleton

The Town Hall Arts Center in Littleton opens a month of performances of “Once” on Friday. The show is the theatrical adaptation of the beloved movie musical, which tells the story of a young Czech woman (Markéta Irglová) and a broken-hearted Irish busker (Glen Hansard).

Save the date: Denver Arts Festival

The Denver Arts Festival is coming to Conservatory Green in Denver’s Central Park neighborhood on May 24 and 25 (Memorial Day weekend). The festival showcases top Colorado artists and a select group of national artists.

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.