By Eli Wallace, Image: Oskar Blues
The Shortlist is here for you, Boulder. We’re at that sparkling time between seasons where everything seems possible—you can climb all the fourteeners this summer, and pick up SUP, and, heck, maybe you should buy a boat and that ultralight road bike. Slow your roll before you spend all that money. Here are a few simpler suggestions for your weekend.
1. BurningCAN and The Beer Relay – Saturday, May 30
Image Courtesy BurningCAN/Oskar Blues
Does chugging beer and trail running appeal to you? Then head to the first, and only, Beer Relay in Colorado. This dastardly trail relay is a 5K loop to be completed with teams of 3 or more. If you drink a 12 ounce Oskar Blues beer before your lap, you’ll get 2 minutes taken off your time. Prizes (in beer, naturally) go to the fastest team.
If, like a normal human being with a normal gag reflex, the idea of a Beer Relay sounds horrific to you, head instead to BurningCAN. This one-day festival involves lots of breweries and lots of tastings, the beauty of surrounding Lyons, and live music. The Revivalists will be headlining, so bring your dancing feet. There’s also sports to watch, like kayaking, slacklining and biking competitions.
Proceeds from both events go to Can’d Aid, Oskar Blues’ community-focused charity. For more info, click here.
2. FLATLANDER at the BMoCA – 5/21 – 9/13
Image: Penelope Umbrico
We’ve crossed over; life is now digital. For many years we said that our society was moving that way. Now, we’re there. We have a compulsive relationship with our phones, the internet, the TV, the flat screens of our lives. Ten artists asked the question: How has this relationship changed our view of the world?
Featuring works by Carlos Aires, Jesse Amado, Man Bartlett, Matthew Chambers, Rebecca DiDomenico, Mark Hogensen, Cisco Merel, Jeanne Quinn, Xochi Solis, and Penelope Umbrico, BMoCA’s Flatlander seeks to answer and complicate the question. The exhibit will be available for the whole of summer, so head inside on one of our unbearably hot days… or go early to brag to all your friends about your newfound deep relationship with art/technology.
3. Boulder Ballet’s End-of-Year Showcase
Image: Boulder Ballet
With five shows to choose from, getting your dose of dance is easy this weekend. Students have worked long hours to put together the tip-toe grace of these ballet shows at the Dairy Center for the Arts, and tickets only run $10. Showings are Saturday, May 30 at 2 and 4pm and Sunday, May 31 at noon, 2 and 4pm.
4. Get Out There and Enjoy the Summer!
Finally, late May and June temperatures are coming back to Boulder. I’m not promising an end to the Great Boulder Monsoon of 2015 just yet, but as this week has seen some actual breaks in the clouds, so does the forecast for the week ahead. As of now, the words “Mostly Sunny” are on The Weather Channel’s prediction for Saturday. Mostly Sunny. I could cry with joy.
So get out there. Hike. Bike. Smell the blooming roses and go roll around in the grass. This is why we Boulder, isn’t it?
Have a great weekend, Boulder!
