Denver's event desk · the Monday, September 14 edition
What's actually worth doing in Denver.
A Monday edition with an actual Monday lead is rare, so thank Liz Phair and Sleater-Kinney for their scheduling department. The rest of the week splits between Oktoberfest steins on Larimer and free masked wrestling in Aurora, which is about as balanced as this city gets. Market season is quietly folding its tents, so read the last-chance row before it reads you. The arenas can wait until October.(Gil)
The sleeper · the small show that beats the big one
Live Lucha Libre at Stanley Marketplace
Free professional wrestling, outdoors, on a Friday night. That is the whole pitch and it should be enough. Primos Premier Pro Wrestling brings live lucha libre to The Field at Stanley Marketplace on Friday, September 18, 6:30 to 9 PM, part of the venue's Hispanic Heritage Month programming. No ticket, no cover, and when Stanley says family-friendly it means the front row will be eight-year-olds screaming with total moral clarity. If your only exposure to lucha is a Jack Black movie, the live version is better: tecnicos, rudos, and a story you can follow from fifty feet away. The food hall is right there when you need dinner between falls, and parking is free on site. Denver has maybe two more Friday nights this warm. Spend one of them watching a man in a sequined mask hit a flying crossbody in a park in Aurora.
Fri, Sep 18 · The Field at Stanley Marketplace · Free
Weird this week
Sep 10 - Oct 11 · The Bug Theatre
SAW The Musical at the Bug Theatre
SAW The Musical, the unauthorized parody of the horror franchise, runs Wednesday through Sunday at the Bug Theatre in the Highlands. Wednesday to Friday at 7:30 PM, Saturdays at 5 and 8:30, Sundays at 1 and 5. Five weeks only, closing October 11.
Sep 18 - Sep 19 · E.B. Rains Jr. Memorial Park · Free
Northglenn Pirate Fest
Northglenn Pirate Fest splits the difference at E.B. Rains Jr. Memorial Park: Friday 6 to 10 PM is Pirate Night, 21 and up, then Saturday 11 AM to 8 PM is the free all-ages festival. A suburban parks department running a 21-plus pirate night is the most confident programming decision of the season.
Fri, Sep 18 · MCA Denver at the Holiday Theater · $27.53 after fees
SHREK: The Drag Show at the Holiday Theater
SHREK: The Drag Show plays one night only, Friday at MCA Denver at the Holiday Theater in Highland. Doors 6, show 7 to 9 PM, 18 and up, tickets $27.53 with the fees already baked in. Mario Wanna L'Whor stars as the ogre himself.
Sep 18 - Sep 20 · Denver Marriott Tech Center
Colorado Festival of Horror: Clowns vs. Witches
The Colorado Festival of Horror runs Friday through Sunday at the Denver Marriott Tech Center, its sixth year and a bigger venue, under the theme Clowns vs. Witches. Panels, an independent horror film festival, a costume contest, and a tattoo competition. Ticket tiers vary, so check before you commit to a side.
Under $20
Sep 18 - Sep 27 · Larimer Street at Ballpark (2100 Block) · Free
Denver Oktoberfest
The 56th Denver Oktoberfest opens Friday on the 2100 block of Larimer in Ballpark and runs both weekends, September 18 to 20 and 25 to 27. Free to walk in; the beer is where they get you. Founded 1969, the longest-running Oktoberfest in the country.
Fri, Sep 18 · Levitt Pavilion · Free
La Santa Cecilia at Levitt Pavilion
Grammy winners La Santa Cecilia close out the Levitt Pavilion season Friday at 6 PM in Ruby Hill, free like every Levitt lawn show. Bring a real layer; September evenings out there turn on you fast.
Sep 17 - Sep 19 · New Terrain Brewing Company · Free
WanderFest 2026 (10-Year Anniversary)
New Terrain Brewing turns ten with WanderFest, a free three-day music and beer festival in Golden, Thursday through Saturday. Entry is free all three days.
Sat, Sep 19 · Clyfford Still Museum · Free
Clyfford Still Museum 15th Anniversary and SCFD Free Day
The Clyfford Still Museum marks its 15th anniversary with a free SCFD day Saturday, 10 AM to 5 PM in the Golden Triangle, with drop-in Art in Action mini-tours at 11 AM and 2 PM, no registration. Still famously refused to sell his paintings to almost anyone. The least you can do is look at them for free.
Sep 8 - Oct 1 · Hudson Gardens · Free
G-Scale Garden Railroad at Hudson Gardens
Hudson Gardens runs its G-Scale Garden Railroad free from 9 AM to noon on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays through October 1 in Littleton. Tiny trains, no ticket, no catch.
Last chance
Sep 6 - Sep 20 · MCA Denver at the Holiday Theater
Denver Film CO 150 Films Series at the Holiday Theater
Denver Film's CO 150 series wraps Sunday at MCA Denver at the Holiday Theater, 2644 W 32nd Ave in Highland, with BlacKkKlansman as the final screening of the Colorado-150 slate.
Sep 11 - Sep 20 · Denver Coliseum · Free
Colorado Minerals, Fossils & Gems Show
The Colorado Minerals, Fossils & Gems Show packs more than 300 dealers into the Denver Coliseum through Sunday, September 20. Free admission, free parking, open 9 AM to 6 PM daily. A free show with free parking at the Coliseum is a sentence that should not exist, and it stops existing Sunday.
Jul 11 - Sep 24 · Belmar · Free
Downtown Lakewood Farmers Market
The Downtown Lakewood Farmers Market at Belmar runs out the clock on September 24. Saturdays 9 AM to 1 PM, more than 40 food and craft makers, live music, free.
Jun 11 - Sep 24 · Carpenter Park · Free
People + Produce Farmers Market: Thornton
People + Produce's Thornton market has two Thursday evenings left, September 17 and 24, 5 to 8 PM at Carpenter Park. Colorado farms, local makers, prepared food, and live music, free to attend.
Skip it
Billy Strings at the Paramount Theatre
Billy Strings at the Paramount on Sunday is a roughly 2,000-seat room where resale starts at $900, which in real Denver units is thirty-two advance adult tickets to Bright Nights at Four Mile with four dollars left over for the meter. Nobody's flatpicking survives that math. The same Denver stand plays Ball Arena on Friday and Saturday, September 18 and 19, with no repeated setlist across the run, so you can see him twice at face value and still come out ahead of one quadruple-digit theater seat. The intimate room is a nice idea. It is not nine hundred dollars nice.
The counter-offer: Billy Strings at Ball Arena
Also on the radar
All 220 events
The guides
Free Things To Do in Denver This Weekend: July 3-5, 2026
A 300-drone show over Civic Center, 260 artists in Cherry Creek, and the World Cup on a 66-foot screen, all for zero dollars, July 3-5, 2026.
Concerts in Denver This Weekend: July 3-5, 2026
Blues Traveler keeps its July 4 Red Rocks tradition alive, the Flobots play Levitt for free, and four Denver noise bands split a $15 bill at Hi-Dive, July 3-5, 2026.
Things To Do in Denver This Weekend: July 3-5, 2026
The Fourth falls on a Saturday and Denver responds with 260 juried artists in Cherry Creek, Jaume Plensa's first U.S. retrospective at the Botanic Gardens, and costumed strangeness at Meow Wolf, July 3-5, 2026.