Close out the summer with a perfect weekend in Boulder during one of its most dazzling times of year. The following events will be going on over the weekend, giving the whole town a fun, festival atmosphere.
Aug. 31–Sept. 2, 2019
Peruse jewelry, arts, crafts and more at hundreds of booths, catch live music performances, ride the carnival rides, let the kids go wild in jumpy castles and relax beside babbling Boulder Creek during this favorite annual festival. Don't forget to stop and make your own zucchini-on-wheels for the annual Great Zucchini Race and pick out a rubber duck for The Great Boulder Duck Race! The Boulder Creek Hometown Festival takes place in and around Central Park and also includes a classic car show and the Rocky Mountain Beer Festival.
Saturday, Aug. 31, 2019, 8am–2pm
Named the No. 1 Farmers’ Market in the country by readers of USA Today, the Boulder Farmers Market is a fun place to start a Saturday. Established in 1986 by a handful of local farmers looking to sell farm-fresh produce directly to the public, the market is now the largest in Colorado. It is a growers-only market, and shoppers can enjoy seasonal produce, eggs, cheeses, meats, herbs, flowers, wines, and gourmet food products. Plus, the market enjoys a lovely setting next to shady Central Park and the Boulder Creek, at the doorsteps of the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art (BMoCA) and the Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse.
Saturday, Aug. 31, 2019, 3–8pm
A tradition for more than two decades, the Shelby American Collection Annual Party and Car Show lets you meet famous Shelby drivers and designers, tour the Shelby American Collection Museum to see all the new cars (including the first Shelby Cobra), hear live music, enjoy dinner and an open bar — plus be entered to win a new Shelby Mustang GT350R! Ticket purchase required.
Friday, Aug. 30, 2019, 7:30pm
The Milk Carton Kids come to one of Boulder's most beloved summer venues — the historic, acoustically marvelous Chautauqua Auditorium. Ticket purchase required. Make an evening of it with dinner on the wraparound porch of the Chautauqua Dining Hall next door or a picnic on the lawn of Chautauqua Park.
Aug. 30–31, 2019, 6–9pm
This fun, outdoor concert series happens every Friday and Saturday during the summer in the Central Plaza. August 30 will feature the Boulder School of Rock, and August 31 will feature folk and bluegrass band Ponder the Albatross, the last show of the season.
The bounty of Boulder's 850 farms is a sight to behold over Labor Day weekend, and you can explore it all on the Boulder County Farm Trail. Take a scenic farm drive, stopping at some farm stands; have an on-farm experience, or simply taste the fruits of our farmers' labors in restaurants all over town.
Before the busyness of fall is really underway, get centered with some time outside on the trails in Boulder. Here are 5 Hikes with Great Views, 5 Easy Hikes, plus even more in our hiking brochure.
Eben G. Fine Park, farther upstream from the Boulder Creek Hometown Festival, is a hot spot for tubing, picnicking and playing on the shore of the creek. (Please be respectful of the park's residential neighbors and mind your Mountain Manners.) Here's where to get a tube, and also where to check creek flow levels (less than 200 cubic feet per second (cfs) is considered easy and above 300 cfs is going to be a wild ride, so proceed with caution).
