Beaver Creek Oktoberfest
September 3 – 4
Beaver Creek Plaza, Beaver Creek
The Helmut Fricker Band, Trachtenkapelle, Petty Fever, The Hollywood Stones
Oom-pah-pah music, coupled with some tribute acts, large steins of beer and wunderbar wurst are the hallmark of the Bavarian bazaar in Beaver Creek.
Black Mountain Family Reunion
September 9 – 11
Guffey, Colorado
Whiskey Tango
The 7th annual festival curated and promoted by Denver’s Whiskey Tango is an intimate gathering with a maximum allotment of only 150 tickets.
Boulder Creek Hometown Festival
September 3 – 5
Central Park, Boulder
Hazel Miller, Paa Kow, Forever in Blue Jeans, Coral Creek, Rastasaurus, Disco Floyd, Pro Leisure, Selasee Family, Caribou Mountain Collective, Sweet Lillies, We Dream Dawn, Banshee Tree, Prairie Scholars, Jami Lunde
Centered around the entertainment at the famous bandshell, the Hometown Festival is the more intimate and down-home version of Boulder’s mammoth Creek Fest.
Chile & Frijoles Festival
September 23 – 25
Union Avenue Historic District, Pueblo
Grupo Mezcla, Gypsy and the Beat with The Kid, Mike Nelson Trio, Southern Belle, Bad Habitz, Triple Nickel, Blue Frog, Dan Treanor & the Afrosippi Band
An homage to Pueblo’s best loved crops, green chilies and frijoles, the street festival takes over the historic downtown with music and the savory aroma that marks the end of summer.
City Star Brewing’s Farm Stand Band
September 24
Fickel Park, Berthoud
The Prairie Scholars, Left Hand Artists Group
The Farm Stand Band is a celebration of beer, food, farming and music with a unique twist. Music will be performed on instruments crafted from non-traditional farm-themed materials, like carrot flutes, garden rake bass and a garden hose and pumpkin tuba, among other hand-built instruments.
The Commonwheel Artists Co-Op Art Festival
September 3 – 5
Memorial Park, Manitou Springs
Cold Heart Revival, Roma Ransom, The Charlie Milo Band, Skean Dubh, Mizmar Madness, A Pick, A Stick & A Chick, Concordian
The annual Labor Day Weekend art festival goes beyond the fine art on display in white tents and adds an entertainment element that ranges from blues to jazz and an array of Americana.
Denver Oktoberfest
September 23 – 24 and
September 30 – October 2
21st & Larimer, Denver
Dave Tamkin, Rob Drabkin, Poet’s Row, Anthony Ruptak, Ancient Elk, String Resistance, DJ Chonz, Bear Antler, Milk Blossoms, Time Scale, Polkanauts
A world tradition since 1810, Denver Oktoberfest has been a tradition here since 1969 and is massive, attracting over 350,000 people. USA Today called it “The Best Oktoberfest.”
Downtown Boulder Fall Fest
September 16 – 18
Pearl Street Mall, Boulder
TBA
Downtown Boulder’s Fall Fest is a three-day autumn festival featuring a full line-up of tribute bands in the beer garden, more than 100 artisans at the Firefly Handmade Market at Fall Fest and a children’s carnival.
Fall Harvest Brewfest
September 16
Lincoln Center, Fort Collins
Breakfast for Dinner, Last Call Romance
Drink beer, save a dog. The 8th annual Fall Harvest Brewfest in Old Town Fort Collins benefits the Animal House Rescue with craft beer and live music. Hops and pop for the pups.
Four Corners Folk Festival
September 2 – 4
Reservoir Hill Park, Pagosa Springs
The Del McCoury Band, The Milk Carton Kids, The O’Connor Band, Sara Watkins, Darrell Scott, John Fullbright, The Black Lillies, Sierra Hull, The East Pointers, Lindsay Lou & the Flatbellys, The Lonely Heartstring Band, Rose’s Pawn Shop
Returning to Reservoir Hill Park for Labor Day weekend, the festival is close to the San Juan River and Pagosa Springs’ world-famous therapeutic hot springs. The Park’s 120 acres, perched upon a hill overlooking town, is big enough to comfortably host the crowd without feeling crowded.
High Peaks Music Festival
September 10
Feed Store Park and Amphitheatre, Westcliffe
Monocle Band, Dakota Blonde, Acoustic Eidolon, Free the Honey, The Frank Martin Trio, Darryl Purpose
Set against the backdrop of Colorado’s Sangre de Cristo Mountains the acoustic music event is a visual spectacle at over 8,000 feet.
Jazz Aspen Snowmass Labor Day Experience
September 2 – 4
Snowmass Village
Train, The Killers, Stevie Wonder, Duran Duran, Thievery Corporation, Andy Grammer, Black Pistol Fire, Corinne Bailey Rae, Analog Son, Pandas and People, JD and the Straight Shot, Kat V
Aspen has never been known for its subtleties in wealth. It’s one of the reasons Hunter S. Thompson famously vowed during his 1969 run for mayor to re-name the town Fat City. But sometimes that excess can bring wonders of good too. Jazz Aspen Snowmass is a non-profit, and thus the sky is the limit with extravagant VIP packages that end up being huge donations to the cause.
Keystone Oktoberfest
September 3
River Run Village, Keystone
Those Austrian Guys, Summit Concert Band
Beer steins, oom-pah bands and a lederhosen-optional 5k race anchor this internationally flavored celebration.
Lafayette Brew Fest
September 12
Lafayette Florist, Lafayette
Chris Daniels & the Kings
An awesome sampling of local brewers come together for this single afternoon event that features music by Chris Daniels and the Kings.
Laid Back Festival
September 25
Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison
Gregg Allman, ZZ Top, Richie Furay, Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band, Gabriel Kelley, Lucie Silvas, Levon and People’s Blues of Richmond
The Laid Back Festival is a Celebration of Music and Food, and features regional restaurants, wineries and breweries. Following a highly successful inaugural festival in 2015, it has expanded to five cities for 2016.
Littleton Harvest Jamfest
September 24
38 State Brewing Co., Denver
Kenk, Oak, Shakedown Street
A start of Fall celebration by Colorado craft purveyors 38 State Brewing featuring seasonal beers, including a Dunkelweizen, and Grateful Dead cover band Shakedown Street.
Longmont Oktoberfest
September 23 – 24
Roosevelt Park, Longmont
Bright Light Social Hour, The Wailers, Con Brio, Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band, FACE, Thunk , Gabriel Kelly, Last Men on Earth, Hey Lady!
Presented by Left Hand Brewing Company, Longmont’s favorite fall gathering will take place once again at Roosevelt Park, featuring ten live bands with headliner The Wailers and the band that Pop Matters said was “the best new live band in America,” Con Brio.
Mapleton Hill Porch Fest
September 18
Mapleton Hill Neighborhood, Boulder
Aulternate Reality Jazz Trio, Black Fox String Band, Chapels & Cathedrals, Drive: A Tribute to the Cars, Dusty Stray, Dwarf Planets, Felonius Smith Trio, KC Groves, HenScratch, The Howling Commandos, Mayhem Gulch, Rae Miller and Friends, Tim Novak
Mapleton Hill PorchFest — inspired by the Ithaca NY PorchFest — is a neighborhood walkabout where local musicians play and sing unplugged music on the beautiful porches of the Mapleton Hill neighborhood in Boulder.
Morrison Ciderfest
September 24
Bear Creek Care & Rehab, Morrison
The Morrison Town Band, The Atomic Drifters, The Acousticators, Steepland String Band, Strange Brew
Morrison Cider Fest features a diverse range of activites from a car show to cider press demonstrations to live music.
Mountain Harvest Festival
September 22 – 25
Town Park, Paonia
Jam the Dragon w/CKI, Joint Point, Bicycle Annie, Millk, The Scones, Erik Stucky, AJ Fullerton, Bruce Hayes, Embodying Rhythm Marimba Ensemble, Suckafish, Jack & Jill, El Mundo Mando Bando, David Starr Duo, Will Whalen, The Lugnuts, David Snider & the Sarah Eller Trio, Mike Gwinn & David Snider
With a mission to celebrate and serve the local community of the North Fork Valley Mountain Harvest Festival is designed to highlight the arts and agriculture of the area with this weekend long event.
My Favorite Bands Tribute Festival
September 16
9th Street Plaza, Greeley
Save Our City (The Doors), Little Creatures (The Talking Heads), Loud Mary’s (Creedence Clearwater Revival), Oxycodone (Morphine), Chitlin Dixon (Prince), Peter Paul and Gary (The Dirty Dancing Soundtrack)
Stretched across two stages My Favorite Bands Tribute Festival is one of the biggest gatherings of tribute bands in the area.
One Good Weekend
September 9 – 11
Crested Butte Resort, Crested Butte
The Reminders, Rapidgrass Quintet, The Sweet Lillies, Workshy
Chili, beer, bikes and bands in the Butte! The three-day festival features top-notch musical choices alongside mountain biking radness.
Parker Fine Arts and Music Festival
September 24 – 25
O’Brien Park, Parker
Grass it Up, Ponder the Albatross, Scarecrow Revival, Band on the Fence, Beans and Wheels, Kelly Triplett, The Rail Ramblers, nth Degree, Dave Tipton, Scott Adams, Chris Nasca, Clyde Tullis, Steve Werges
It’s a white tent fine arts festival with a far-reaching lineup of musicians the stretches over the two-day run.
Punching Mule Festival
September 10
Mile High Spirits, Denver
Ludacris, Galactic, Soul Live feat. The Shady Horns, Tatanka feat. AJA Black & Big Samir (The ReMINDers), Mikey Thunder
If craft brewers can do it, so can craft cocktailers. Punching Mule Music Festival is focused around Mile High Spirits’ Punching Mule, America’s first can-crafted Moscow Mule, and with this party, and as astounding, high-profile lineup, the Mule is ready to throw down.
Rendezvous Experience
September 30 – October 1
The Ritz Carlton Bachelor Gulch, Beaver Creek
Native Run, Shadowboxers, Lucie Silvas
The ultra-VIP experience of The Rendezvous Music Experience at the Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch is an intimate, pinkies-up experience that is simply unparalleled at any festival in the state, and honestly for the $2,000 ticket price it ought to be. But the promoters promise a luxurious musical experience that no camping festival could ever come close to matching.
Riot Fest & Rodeo
September 2 -4
National Western Complex, Denver
Jane’s Addiction, Death Cab for Cutie, Deftones, Ween, Sleater-Kinney, Julian Marley, The Original Misfits, NAS, Fitz & the Tantrums, Descendents, Under Oath, Devotchka, The Hold Steady, Tyler the Creator, 2 Chainz, Gogol Bordello, Bad Religion, Yo La Tengo
Last year’s move to the National Western Complex gave the festival elbow room to spare, despite losing some creature comforts, like grass to sit on between sets. That loss though was overcome by a blistering lineup that churned through act after act with Swiss precision. While Riot Fest ironically uses the phrase “Riot Fest Sucks” as their promotional punchline, things that do not suck include Riot Fest’s FAQ page and its list of items that are banned from the event, which includes Donald Trump and Justin Bieber, crying and selfie sticks.
Soul Rebel Festival
September 10
Sunshine Acres, Boulder
Black Uhuru, Dead Phish Orchestra, King Hopeton w/Yellow Wall Dub Squad, Judge Roughneck, Selasee, Highway 50, Inna Di Red, Howlin Goatz, DJ Blood
The 15th annual Soul Rebel Festival is an annual grass roots reggae, afro pop, world and American roots music festival. The manifestation of the creative visionary ideals of Ujama News and held in honor of reggae musician and Yellow Wall Dub Squad founder Fazal Prendergast, who passed way in 2005.
Sunnyside Music Festival
September 10
Chaffee Park, Denver
Atomga, Grant Sabin, Hang Rounders, Highland Ramblers, Porlolo, Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore
The Sunnyside Music Festival provides free music, fun entertainment, local food, lots of beer, and kids activities to the greater Sunnyside neighborhood of Northwest Denver via an inclusive all-day music festival in Chaffee Park.
Telluride Blues & Blues Festival
September 16 – 18
Town Park, Telluride
Joe Walsh, Gary Clark Jr., The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band feat. Rick Vito, Jason Isbell, Anders Osborne, Shakey Graves, Vintage Trouble, North Mississippi Allstars
Unlike Telluride Bluegrass, tickets are easily attainable without perfect karma or high-up connections. Fifty-six breweries pouring over 170 of the country’s top beers can almost at times compete with the music but it is the ultimate casual festival by day and the juke joint shows in town in the evening are legendary.
Tour de Fat Fort Collins
September 3
Civic Center Park, Fort Collins
Sputnik, Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds, Ben Sollee, Slow Ride, The Kolars, Atomga, Write Minded, Brent Cowles, The Delta Spirits
New Belgium Brewing’s Tour de Fat is the brewers’s largest annual fundraiser. Each year this cycling spectacle crosses the United States, but Fort Collins is home base. Simultaneously raising awareness for cycling, the Tour de Fat also allows New Belgium to do good year-round. Tour de Fat is bike-friendly fun for the whole family. The parade, live music, sideshows, and non-profit groups combine to make a great outlet for cyclists.
Tour de Fat Denver
September 10
City Park, Denver
Sputnik, Ben Sollee, Slow Ride, The Kolars, Sister Sparrow
The Denver version of the Fort Collins-based festival mentioned above.
Windsor Harvest Festival
September 3 – 5
Boardwalk Park, Windsor
Sean Curtis Band, Logan Mize, The Pryde, Guerilla Fan Fare Brass, Steve Mansel Band, Emma Marie, Felonius Smith Trio, Daddy Rab
The 95th annual event starts with a hot air balloon launch at dawn and goes on through the day to host Northern Colorado’s largest parade, a host of activities and music.
