Plenty of libations fests, pride celebrations and a Shakespearean opening on tap

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.

Taste of the West

Taste of the West returns to Foothills Fieldhouse starting at 5 p.m. tomorrow night. One ticket gets unlimited bites and drinks from local chefs, culinary creators and mixologists.

The event includes drinks from 6 and 40 Brewery, Blanchard Family Wines, Ceria Brewing, Deep Roots Winery, State 38 Distilling and many more, plus bites from 240 Union, The Werks, The Colorado Cookie Company, Nothing Bundt Cakes and many more.

Team Thirst also will be there, with free magazines, swag and a ticket giveaway.

Sometimes you just want to catch live music, get food truck grub and only taste 2 or 3 drinks. The Lafayette Brew Fest is for that kind of day. There is no entrance fee, just individual pour tokens for as few or as many beers, spirits or wine as you want.

Participating Colorado craft libations include Aquila Cellars, Berthoud Brewing, Boulder Social, Cellar West, Denver Beer Co, Fritz Family, Grimm Brothers, Liquid Mechanics, Sanitas, Satire, Stem Ciders, The Empourium and Westbound & Down.

Dos Manos Food Truck, De Los Andes Empanadas, Bohemian Wurst and 47 Bakery will have food trucks; and Slick Machine and Jane & Matthews will play live music.

Taste of Louisville

Just down the road, downtown Louisville will throw a party on Friday and Saturday. Friday brings a big First Friday event, silent disco and family fun at the Louisville Museum. Saturday begins with a fun run and dog job, followed by summerfest, which includes live music, a spaghetti-eating contest, vintage car show, a beer and cocktail garden, circus performers, family entertainment and much more.

Belgian Import Festival

Bruz Beers in northwest Denver has hosted Belgian beer festivals in past summers, but it usually meant Colorado breweries making Belgian-style beers. This year, it means bringing a curated selection of actual Belgian beers — from Belgium.

The festival runs from noon to 3 p.m., with beers on tap from eighteen world-renowned Belgian breweries, including Orval, Rochefort, Chimay, and St. Bernardus.

The festival also will feature four food trucks — Big Belly Brothers BBQ, Macs and Mutts, Papa Frites, and Shuck Brothers — and live music by Boot Gun.

Colorado Shakespeare Festival opens

For more than 60 seasons, the University of Colorado at Boulder has hosted the acclaimed Colorado Shakespeare Festival. This year’s series opens Saturday with “The Tempest,” a tragi-comic play from late in the Bard’s career, which runs through Aug. 10. The tragic historic play “Richard II” runs from July 5 to Aug. 10, and there will be one performance of “Doctor Faustus” by Christopher Marlowe on July 27.

Fort Collins Art Week

Downtown Fort Collins Art Week starts Friday, and runs through Sunday, May 15. Attendees can participate in workshops, explore art galleries and public art, see live music and theater, find surprise art and more.

Breck Pride

A weeklong Pride celebration starts on Monday in Breckenridge. The main event is a community gathering next Saturday on the Riverwalk Center Lawn with live music, drag shows and other entertainment, yoga, rock climbing and more.

During the week leading up to the community gathering, Breck venues will host drag trivia, a “Rocky Horror Picture Show” performance, drag queen bingo, gay pop icon karaoke, a fun run and more.

Jurassic Park parody

“Hold on to Your Butts” is a live shot-by-shot parody of “Jurassic Park” with just two actors and one foley artist. After popular runs in London and New York, the show is coming to Colorado in June. It will be at The Wright Opera House in Ouray June 6-8, and Denver’s Clocktower Cabaret on June 9.

Save the date: Steinley Cup Brewfest

Every summer should include a jaunt into Wyoming for some Western heritage, open spaces and … beer? The 29th annual Steinley Cup Microbrew Festival and Competition comes to a fun island in Saratoga, Wyoming, on Saturday, Aug. 2. And it’s OK to spend some money on gas because tickets are only $30 for a day of live music and sampling beers from the Rocky Mountain region and beyond.

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.