Festivals for every kind of music fan on tap across the state

By the Thirst Team

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

Edgewater Music Festival

The Edgewater Music Festival (formerly known as Blues & BBQ for Better Housing) brings live music, BBQ food trucks, a kids zone, 20-plus art and craft vendors and more to Citizen’s Park in Edgewater on Saturday.

This year’s headliner is legendary Denver mainstay Hazel Miller. The lineup also includes May Be Fern, Hand Turkey, Wild Love Tigress, Roots & Rhythm Band and The Duke Street Kings.

GA tickets cost $10 for a full day of music. VIP tickets cost $100, and include food, craft beer, wine and a meet-and-greet with the musicians. The festival also is a major annual fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver.

Family concerts are part of the lineup at the Bravo! Vail music festival.

Bravo! Vail opens

The 38th Bravo! Vail season opens Thursday, with more than 60 classical music performances in the next six weeks at several venues across the Vail Valley. The New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and other acclaimed groups will perform, along with many internationally renowned guest artists.

The opening night brings Yefim Bronfman on piano with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe playing Brahms. The rest of the season ranges from Mozart and Vivaldi to a showcase of 1980s pop hits and a screening of “The Princess Bride” with live score.

Whittle the Wood

The 25th Whittle the Wood Rendezvous comes to Loudy-Simpson Park in Craig. Skilled carvers will create new art from dead trees from Thursday through Saturday. The event started when trees in Craig’s City Park began dying and needed to be removed. Rather than just ripping and chipping the dead tree stumps, local leaders decided to commission works of art.

The carving competition starts Thursday. Additional festival events on Friday and Saturday also include live music, axe throwing, a beer garden, car show, a 5K run and more. Click here to learn more about the festival.

Summer Vibes Rally

The Summer Vibes Bike Rally & Run Fest is the summer version of the Old Man Winter Rally, a pairing of biking and running events with camping, a free music festival, games, lounge pools and more. The event is on Saturday in Lyons. Concert performers include the Crooked Rugs, Kind Hearted Strangers and the Goonies.

Durango PlayFest

The seventh annual Durango PlayFest opens Tuesday, June 24, and runs through Sunday, June 29.

Professional and emerging playwrights gather with actors and directors for a week to develop and workshop new plays before showcasing them at staged readings. This year’s featured writers are Ian August, Andrea Aptecker, Bill Capossere, and the husband/wife writing duo of Lucy Wright and William Missouri Downs.

Moonlight on the Mountain

The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo hosts its adult (strictly 21+) food and libations festival next Thursday, June 26. Grownups get to wander the zoo while enjoying live music, the Sky Ride chairlift and unlimited bites and sips from local establishments. VIP tickets are sold out, but GA tickets were still available at press time.

Save the date: Crafts,Cocktails & Corks

On July 26, the Rendezvous Event Center in Winter Park hosts Crafts, Cocktails & Corks, a new tasting event. Tickets include tastings from Colorado wineries, breweries and distilleries, as well as live music and food vendors. There also will be a “best of” libations contest..

The event is a fundraiser for Grand Foundation’s G.A.P. Fund for Youth.

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.