Grusin Music Hall is a performance venue at CU Boulder main campus for use by students in the…read moreCollege of music, the faculty and some visiting guest performers or composers. We were invited to the concert this week by a graduate student we had met recently. The particular program featured the SoundWorks program which included student groups performing in different genres and mostly self composed music or music from the Composition major students. One of the composers was a faculty member. There was a wide range of specialties, operatic, brass quintet , a hymn, banjo contemplative. Such wide ranging performances were amazing to hear and see. The composer gave a personal description before the musicians performed the pieces. Students ran every aspect of the evening. They greeted at the doors, they rotated from performer to stage hand to announcers to audience. There were random friends, family and other students as well as Boulder community members who had seen the postings on the College of Music web page or been invited line we had. . It was completely free for attendees and not even an online sign up required. We had a lot of fun and plan to see the other two upcoming concerts this season. We were able to chat with the students at the end of the evening and were able to get perspective from them and share reactions with them. One thing to note from my perspective as a former high school orchestra member back in the 60s, it was great to so many of the brass instrumentalists that were women. Not the case 60 years ago. If you want a free and casual musical event at CU, this is it. The building itself was comfortable, modern yet classic and a nice performing space, much more intimate than the big events in Macky. And it was renovated just a few years ago. Check out the website to see if you find something to stop by and hear. We live nearby and walked part of the way but there is a parking garage across the street from the building. https://www.colorado.edu/music/ensembles/cu-boulder-soundworks

Beautiful concert hall with free student and faculty concerts. Parking lot and garage across the…read morestreet.

Fall Fest has really gone down the drain. They used to have really great bandsa and good rock and…read morer&B bands but in recent years ithe bands have been horrible. It seems like they hire the cheapest bands possible. It is a real shame They have no sense of musical quality. whoever took it over ruined it. It used to be so much fun with great music

The Pearl Street mall Fall Fest was on September 14 and 15 this year. For Fall Fest, there are…read morevendors (some commercial) and a lot of artisans and craft folks lined up and down Pearl Street and 14th Street. This is in addition to all the normal Pearl Street businesses. Fun time. Lots of people and lots of activity. Parking in the city owned parking garages is free for the Fall Fest (I think it may be free every weekend but I wouldn't swear to that - check their website to be sure).

As the catch phrase boasts, "Not your average Greek Festival," the best way to describe my…read moreexperience was: a genuine community run event. Not too many fancy frills to this festival, it was pretty small but you can tell the church members and people involved all work hard to bring this together. Located conveniently right off Foothills Parkway and Hwy 119, parking was super easy and organized- one of the things that usually deters me from going in the first place. They handed out well organized programs including all the performances and events happening that weekend, really a perfect family event. Drinks and food are listed in a ticket format, basically a dollar a ticket and it varies on the dish. They had a variety of Greek food staples: gyros, hummus, spanakopita, stuffed grape leaves, lamb etc. I tried the hummus and pita, and the dolmathes (stuffed grape leaves). The food tasted homemade and delicious. The hummus was way better than anything I get anywhere else. On the other side of the food tents are covered areas where you can eat at a table. In the middle was a stage with music and performances. It was so fun to watch the community dancing traditional Greek dances! And the music was really nice to listen to. There were also tents selling pastries, coffee, and Greek goods. Really nice to walk around and see what they had. Since the festival was small it was great that it didn't have to take up your entire day or all your energy. Perfect to grab some lunch, watch the performances and walk around a bit. I look forward to going again next year! I believe it's always the weekend after Labor day, so make sure to stop by if you live in Boulder or the surrounding areas.

My friend and I have a tradition. It started out years ago as my birthday present to her, but it's…read moreevolved into a shared birthday event. We've seen many shows both inside and out. We've missed the outdoor amphitheater the past two years as they remodeled the buildings surrounding the outdoor venue. The other night, we saw Twelfth Night, which is a comedy. The play itself was fun. I don't understand the casting of the male twin, Sabastian, with Kenny Fedorko. He isn't either built or have any resemblance to the woman twin, Viola, played by Meg Rodgers. And, he wasn't as good an actor as she is. Ms. Rodgers was amazing. I hope to see more of her in the future. The Sabastian role is small, so perhaps the director didn't care so much about the casting. But I think it does a disservice to the play. For me, it was distracting. I'm sure they could have cast someone who at least was closer in stature. You really had to suspend disbelief to acknowledge them as twins and accept the other players' confusion. That's all I'll say. The rest of the casting was well done, and the music was also wonderful throughout, most of it by Jordan Coughtry as Feste. We saw him in a similar role in The Tempest last year. I have a couple of critiques of the new setup. First, it's a safety hazard that there is only one way in and out. It was jammed, and there was no emergency. Had there been one, it would have been a disaster, and people would have been hurt. There need to be additional doors, especially to get out. Next, I love the store they have now. That's a positive. It's not as cramped as the setup behind the amphitheater they had in the past. It's important to know that the bathrooms are now co-ed. Both men and women use the same stalls, sinks, and stand in line. It's all fine with me except that there aren't enough of the stalls! Come on! What were they thinking? The men looked confused, for sure. They're not used to our lines! But I did run into an old male friend, who was standing behind my friend. Good to catch up, and I'm not sure I would have seen him any other way. The area where you wait before the show, during intermission, and after is way too crowded. And, like I said, only one way out, or back to the amphitheater. The amphitheater itself felt smaller than it used to be. My friend didn't agree, but we also sat up closer than we had in the past, so it's hard to know for sure. There is not as much room behind the seats, I don't think. And not enough helpers to put away the stadium seats at the end, so it caused a bottleneck there, too. I hope they learn from the mistakes and make improvements.

Went to go see Merry Wives of Windsor. First time seeing a Colorado Shakespeare play. The play had…read morea 70s twist which was super fun and the play was so funny. Highly recommend!

I've been coming to BIFF for years and it's always been very well organized with helpful staff…read more This is now my 4th movie of the festival and I'm there has been confusion among the staff with lines at every film though this one has been the worst. When I tried to get clarification of where to stand because I was standing behind the sign for the movie I was here to see while a line was developing for another movie. When I heard people saying we were all here to see the same movie I went to staff to let them know there was a lot of confusion. Not only did I get ignored but then when I asked them to move the sign to make it more clear I was told that wasn't his job. So frustrating. The films on the other hand get 6 5/5 stars. They have all been excellent!

The Argentinian wanted to show me Boulder. Lucky for us, the Boulder International Film Festival…read more(BIFF) had just started the day prior. After walking through the Boulder Mall (10 minutes) we decided on a movie and a documentary. BIFF was well organized with a good variety of films to chose from. Had we stayed in Boulder I'm sure we would have spent the day at the BIFF.

My wife and I just saw "The X-files, The Spoof is Out There". The Theater Company of Lafayette did…read morea great performance for such a low budget program. The venue is small so you're close to the action. A great, low-cost, night out!

Did an Adult Beginner Plus drop-in class a few months ago when I was visiting Boulder. It was my…read morefavorite class in years! The teacher was Ana Claire. The instructions and corrections were excellent. I learned a lot. At the same time, it was super fun. It had interesting, fun, logical combinations with plenty of movement. AND people in the class were friendly

My daughter has danced at Boulder Ballet for the last few years and has had a wonderful experience…read more Not only has she had great training and opportunities to dance with the professional company, but she has gained so much in terms of confidence, resilience, and organization skills. She has also made some of the most amazing friends through dance and we could not be more thankful.

A landmark? An eye sore? The opinion is definitely in the eye of the beholder. Sure a fun festive…read moreyard is great during the holidays. This haunt happened to go all year long - for a very long time. During the day it's pretty campy, walking home late night from downtown the haunt appeared downright creepy. Nothing like an open grave and a propped up casket to get your blood pumping after a night out on the town. The residents took full advantage of the festive fun often having parties and pups in the yard (a Mom golden retriever and her two sons to be exact). Someone scooped up the real estate next door, built a fancy condo thing on the back of the historic house and bam the Pearl Street Haunt came down. R.I.P Pearl Street Haunt!