Those flashy shows were legendary, local moments, and they are sorely missed by local art fans, who had gotten spoiled by their high production values.

But the garden was not trying to deprive culture vultures of their prey; it was simply sticking to its core mission. It is, after all, not an art museum meant to glorify the wondrous works of humankind, but a showplace for nature. Really, the flowers, bushes and trees it grooms to perfection should be enough of an extravaganza to please anyone who wanders among its pathways and ponds.

Personally, I always felt the blockbuster shows tried a bit too hard to win attention over the flora around them, and it was rare that the work of any artist was able to stand up to the stiff competition of Mother Nature. The exhibits could seem more like a rival, rather than a complement, to the garden experience.

That background is good to know for understanding just how right the garden got it with this summer’s offering, “Blue Grass, Green Skies,” which hangs on the walls of the indoor galleries in its Freyer-Newman Center. The show of American Impressionist paintings, many of them portraying gardens and landscapes, is a nice bridge between the garden’s past and present exhibitions.

In some ways, it is a big and unexpected event with the aura of a spectacle. The exhibit, a traveling attraction featuring objects from the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, has work by some very well-known names on its roster.

There is “Woman and Child” by Mary Cassatt, probably the best-known American Impressionist. The painting, dated from the late 19th or early 20th century, is a good example of the artist’s penchant for capturing domestic scenes with a loose paintbrush but a sharp focus on true human nature. The little girl in the picture is a bit antsy while the mother holding her is a strong and steady (and perhaps exhausted) presence. Cassatt was skilled at presenting these ideas without turning things too sentimental, something contemporary painters would be loathe to do. The work was ahead of its time.

There is “Strawberry Tea Set,” by Childe Hassam, an artist represented in the collections of most serious, encyclopedic American art museums. It’s a delicate oil painting that shows Hassam’s fascination with female figures, which he posed in sunlit, interior settings, allowing him to freeze light as it filters through an inside room. The painting appears to be about its subject, who is closely examining her dinnerware, but it is really about brightness and shadows.

And more to the point of place, there are numerous landscapes — John Henry Twachtman’s 1900 “Harbor Scene,” George Bellows’ 1916 “The Coming Storm,” and Granville Redmond’s 1926 “California Poppy Field” — that demonstrate how Impressionist painters were deeply inspired by nature. Those are lovely tie-ins between this group of paintings and the wares that the garden shows year long throughout its grounds.

The botanic garden drives home that link by placing several oversized, gilded frames at strategic points before its water features and flower beds. The frames are empty, except for what a viewer sees behind them — the real-life lilies, sunflowers and grasses that sparked the Impressionists’ thinking. It’s a little gimmicky — a selfie moment more than anything — but it is also fun and fully relevant.

The exhibit does a bit of teaching, but not too much. Via wall text and QR codes, it makes the connections between the more famous French Impressionists and the Americans who followed their lead. It breaks down the work into neat categories — landscapes, interiors, urban scenes, portraits — and it tries, with just a little effort, to connect the paintings to the trends that were happening simultaneously in plant cultivation and personal gardening during the same time period.

Best of all, the show accomplishes a lot while knowing its real purpose as a sideshow to the plants and flowers that take center stage at this Denver institution. There are only 18 works on display, but it makes its point, without trying to steal the show from the headliners, which in this particular summer includes thriving hydrangeas and zinnias and dazzling patches of purple globe thistle.

All that said, the Impressionist exhibit does face off strongly against one of the garden’s main elements: its gift shop. “Blue Grass, Green Skies” travels with its own little pop-up store selling exhibit-related goodies, and the Denver Botanic Gardens has installed it inside the Freyer-Newman Center.

It’s a bit of a cliché. You do have to “exit through the gift shop,” a phrase borrowed from the street artist Banksy’s 2010 documentary about how the institutional art world exploits artists for its own gain, and that is now a popular reference to the tackiness of selling greeting cards and umbrellas with famous artworks emblazoned upon them.

But the shop also underscores the kind of “important” art that is on display this summer at the Denver Botanic Gardens. It is a signal, for better or worse, to take the work seriously.

Or, maybe, because the shop feels like a folly as much as a practical endeavor, to take “Blue Grass, Green Skies” just seriously enough, to appreciate that it is special, but a bit player in the overall scheme of a garden visit.

Ray Mark Rinaldi is a Denver-based freelance writer who specializes in fine arts.

IF YOU GO

“Blue Grass, Green Skies” continues through Sept. 14 at the Denver Botanic Gardens, 1007 York St. More info: 720-865-3500 or botanicgardens.org.

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Nevertheless, the concept document provided reassurance: “As the walkway traverses the Civic Center National Historic Landmark, it will adhere to specific design guidelines for the state of Colorado, state Historic Preservation Commission, the National Park Service, and the Denver Landmark Commission.”

Fast forward 18 months and the concept document has been translated into something that looks quite appropriate in the Winter Olympics but wildly out of place in front of the state Capitol. The national, state, and local design guidelines have been steamrollered – or perhaps shredded by the metaphorical bobsled hurtling down its track. The meandering layout has been created by an out-of-state firm, leading many to question why Colorado’s birthday is being celebrated by a project designed in Illinois.

The City of Denver was not keen, so the bridge only connects state land with state land, losing the original symbolism. Public reaction has been fierce and Historic Denver’s own petition of opposition has received over 2,000 responses. In the face of criticism about the clear lack of purpose, the bridge’s proponents pivoted to labor the need for wheelchair accessibility. Yet, accessibility is not mentioned once in the original concept document. To compound matters, the only accessibility advocate to publicly support the project retracted his views and stated he felt “used.” The State had a budget deficit prior to the passing of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” in D.C. and the governor has highlighted that this will make the situation worse. Surely now is the time to exercise financial restraint.

In response to all this, the Governor’s Office is finally asking for public feedback – but for only one week. We encourage the public to vote “no” in the first question, which asks whether Colorado should build a walkway at the state Capitol.

Historic Denver has a track record in reconciling the historic past with a vibrant present and future. We support a city initiative to rehabilitate the Greek Theater just across the park from the proposed bridge. We agree with the Governor’s Office about the importance of the 2026 anniversaries and the merits of drawing upon our state’s art and culture to celebrate this unique moment – after all, the creative industries contribute more to Colorado’s economy than the ski industry. However, we firmly believe that these objectives can be accomplished at ground level without the need for an elevated walkway.

A largely designed and broadly supported initiative already exists in Denver – the 5280 Trail.

Conceived in 2017 and promoted by the Downtown Denver Partnership and the City and County of Denver, the trail aims to “link neighborhoods and connect people by reimagining underutilized streets into the essential Downtown experience, uniting urban life with Colorado’s outdoor culture.” The route passes state Capitol grounds, running down Sherman Street.

What better way to achieve the original concept of the pedestrian bridge, to symbolically link city and state, than by integrating the story of Colorado into the 5280 Trail adjacent to the state Capitol.

The trail then continues its journey through Denver, linking several of the city’s vibrant neighborhoods. The original concept of the bridge remains both admirable and achievable, but instead of giving up on our streets and pushing people into the sky, let’s celebrate street-level vitality and invest in the 5280 Trail.

Historic Denver and our state-wide partners at Colorado Preservation Inc. stand together in opposition to the pedestrian bridge.

John Deffenbaugh is the president and CEO of Historic Denver.

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But which song best represents Colorado? We’ve got our favorites, ranging from local bands like The String Cheese Incident, The Railbenders, and Big Head Todd and the Monsters — who praise the state’s natural beauty and its laidback culture — to folk-rock and country legends such as Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and Townes Van Zandt.

Newer artists continue to praise the state too, with tracks from Colorado Springs pop-rock juggernaut OneRepublic, and country’s Florida Georgia Line.

Even though Colorado has two official songs, there are more to consider in advance of the state’s sesquisemiquincentennial (or 150th birthday) next year — which coincides with the United States’ own 250th birthday.

Maybe it’s time to add a third?

‘Rocky Mountain High’ by John Denver

The reigning champ of Colorado’s pop-music heritage is this acoustic anthem from late Aspen resident John Denver. Released in 1972, it was first criticized (and in a few cases, embraced) for its ostensibly sly reference to marijuana in the line, “Friends around the campfire, everybody’s high.” Denver denied that was the case.

When it was approved by Colorado lawmakers in 2007 — they even listened to a live performance of the song in the statehouse chamber — Rep. Debbie Stafford, R-Aurora, tried and failed to amend the resolution to “make it clear that the song refers to Colorado’s altitude and doesn’t encourage drug use.”

“If we don’t like ‘Where the Columbines Grow,’ the legislature should remove it and replace it,” said Sen. Dave Schultheis, R-Colorado Springs, who added at the time that he didn’t think the state should have two songs. (He also admitted he didn’t know the words to the original state song.)

Nevertheless, “Rocky Mountain High” soars on Denver’s silky voice and melodies, and has outlasted its folky, soft-rock trappings to be embraced by a majority of Coloradans, at least according to the legislature.

‘Where the Columbines Grow,’ Arthur J. Fynn

The composer of Colorado’s first state song was a New York-born author and academic who worked his way up from poverty before moving to Central City in 1889 to teach. But “Columbines” wasn’t his only creation, thanks to his poetry and nonfiction books. He was an early expert on Pueblo Indians of the American Southwest, and not exactly a musician, according to University of Colorado’s American Music Research Center.

The Colorado General Assembly adopted “Columbines” as the official state song in 1915, about four years after Fynn composed the melody on a ship returning from Europe, according to Denver Post report. “Like the lyrics of Colorado’s other state anthem … the second verse of Columbines contains an environmental lament,” wrote Rob Natelson, a retired law professor who penned an Independence Institute paper on the song.

The slowly cascading piano melody, and lyrics that include “where the snow peaks gleam in the moonlight,” recall gorgeous vistas and high-country air — “the pioneer land that we love.” Like “Rocky Mountain High,” it’s a stripped-down number that stands on its own thanks to sturdy melody and earnest sentiment.

More iconic songs about Colorado

‘A Mile High in Denver,’ Jimmy Buffett
One of the best-known songs about Colorado’s capital is this 1970 entry from an artist more closely associated with beach culture. “A Mile High in Denver” bounces on folkie acoustic strumming and Buffett’s talk-singing as he shares, “I’m about a mile high in Denver / Where the rock meets timberline / I’ve walked this ground from town to town / Tonight I’ll call it mine.”

‘Boulder to Birmingham,’ Emmylou Harris
How much did country heroine Harris love country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons, her one-time partner? “I would walk all the way from Boulder to Birmingham / If I thought I could see your face,” she sings. The tune is from her 1975 album, “Pieces of the Sky,” which came out about a year after Parsons died, but it’s outlived the context to become a mellow heartbreak classic.

‘Get Out of Denver,’ Bob Seger
Predating Hank Williams Jr.’s rambling and cheeky “O.D.’ed in Denver,” which was released in 1979, is this rip-roaring track about evading police in the Mile High City. “Made it to Loveland Pass in under less than half an hour / Lord, it started drizzling and it turned into a thundershower,” sings Seger on this lead-off track from his 1974 album “Seven.” The guitar-ripper bears striking, if entirely self-aware, resemblance to Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode,” which is certainly not a bad thing.

‘Goodbye in Telluride,’ Dierks Bentley
A relatively new entry on this list, Bentley’s 2018 pop-country song joins a long queue of artists praising this gorgeous, tony mountain town known for its film and music events. “No, don’t take me that low when we’re up this high / Don’t you tell me goodbye in Telluride,” sings Bentley, a Telluride resident, over sunny guitar chords and clap-along beats. Tim McGraw, Neil Young, String Cheese Incident, Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani, and others have also lauded the town in song.

‘San Luis,’ Gregory Alan Isakov
More in the vein of Willie Nelson’s bittersweet “Denver” (from 1975’s “Red Headed Stranger”) than a dust-kicking country-folk banger, “San Luis” —  from the Boulder-based songwriter’s Grammy-nominated 2018 album “Evening Machines” — finds Isakov on a solo road trip through the state’s oldest continually occupied town. It’s hushed, melancholy and rending in all the best ways. “I’m a ghost of you, you’re a ghost of me / A bird’s-eye view of San Luis.”

‘Colorado Girl,’ Townes Van Zandt
Like John Prine and other singer-songwriters who shot out of the late 1960s and early ’70s, folk legend Van Zandt could turn on an emotional dime, with devastating melodies and lyrics that could also be strangely uplifting. The 1969 track “Colorado Girl,” off his self-titled third album, is as plain as can be — just Van Zandt’s vulnerable voice and light, finger-picked guitar — but he covers lots of ground as he fêtes his Colorado girl and laments her absence. “The promise in her smile shames the mountains tall / She can bring the sun to shining / Tell the rain to fall.”

‘Colorado,’ by The Flying Burrito Brothers
These country-rock pioneers wrote this 1971 stunner that “doesn’t just mention Colorado but has some real feeling about Colorado,” as a reader said in an email. He was right: the pedal steel, low-key rhythm section and high, plaintive vocals assert the band as its own entity — minus the towering Gram Parsons. It speaks of heartache and homesickness that reaches a natural conclusion with “Colorado, I wanna come home.”

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Trout aren’t just found in Colorado’s rivers and lakes but are also a staple across a range of restaurants in a wide variety of forms, from a simple roasted whole fish over seasonal vegetables to decadently dressed-up plays on the savory dish.

“We felt as though putting trout on the menu fit into the dining culture in Colorado,” said Daniel Mangin, executive chef at American Elm in Denver’s West Highland neighborhood.

But most of the trout trotted out to Colorado diners don’t hail from Colorado, and they’re definitely not caught streamside with flies and ties. Instead, nearly all of it is raised on trout farms in Idaho and Iowa. Some even come from further afield, like an island off of Australia.

Guard and Grace, a modern steakhouse downtown, serves Tasmanian trout in a Thai coconut sauce with pickled chanterelle mushrooms and herbs.

Trout used to be a staple and a popular fish in restaurants in the 1970s and 80s, said Troy Guard, executive chef and owner of Guard and Grace. But many customers now want something more exotic, he said.

“Now I can get Tasmanian trout from Australia in a day,” he said. “I’ve always been one to try new things, and a lot of people have never had it before, so I wanted to do something different.”

But less exotic trout specimens still retain broad customer appeal, according to several chefs.

“If I were to take the trout off the menu, I’d have a number of people who would be very upset with me,” said Mangin of American Elm.

The neighborhood bistro’s dish centers around the classic trout almondine dish — a lightly fried filet with a crispy crust of crushed almonds. The trout is then paired with quinoa, pickled onions, garlic chili oil and vegetables. It’s a year-round staple at the restaurant, Mangin said.

Russ Fox, executive chef at Boulder’s River and Woods, has also found that the establishment’s roasted Rocky Mountain trout is consistently a top seller. It fits the restaurant’s goal to serve familiar comfort food with an elevated twist.

“River and Woods is what you would find if you were out foraging and in the woods looking for something to cook with,” Fox said.

Despite an abundance of wild trout — rainbow, brook and brown being some of the most common — in Colorado’s gold medal waters, restaurants looking to source trout locally don’t have a lot of options, the chefs said. River and Woods uses trout raised in Idaho while American Elm cooks steelhead trout from Iowa.

As far as he knows, Kermit Krantz is the only farmer raising trout in Colorado for commercial restaurant kitchens. His Frontier Trout Ranch in Saguache has supplied fish to some of the most high-end restaurants in Colorado, he said.

“We’re not a very big farm, but we try to compete,” he said.

Krantz bought the trout farm — a former fish hatchery — in 2013 and is rebuilding his small business after COVID-19 disrupted his customers’ livelihoods and his supply of fish food and trout eggs. He raises rainbow trout now, but hopes to again start selling golden trout and brook trout.

On any given day, tens of thousands of fish swim on Krantz’s farm. When it’s time to harvest, he euthanizes the fish by dunking them in an ice bath. Then he puts them on ice, hops in his truck and delivers them to his customers. “They can be on a plate in Denver that day,” he said.

Krantz sells 100 pounds of trout a week to Shavano, a new restaurant an hour north in Salida, he said.

Sourcing ingredients locally is important for Shavano’s owner, Robbie Balenger, and its chef, Jesse Rogers.

“We want our influence to come from around the world, but not our ingredients,” Balenger said.

Rogers modeled his trout dish after a meal he had last year while visiting Tulum, Mexico. He wanted to add a similar dish to Shavano’s menu, but only if he could source the fish locally.

“That dish in particular really sets us apart, to be able to have a fresh fish option here in the middle of the Rockies,” Balenger said.

Rogers butchers Krantz’s trout once it arrives and marinades it in a mixture of garlic, orange, lemon, vinegar, Dijon mustard and achiote — a spice common in Mexican and Caribbean cuisine. He then grills the fish and serves it whole.

The restaurant often sells out of the fish nearly every day, Balenger said. Some people started coming to eat earlier so they could be sure to get the dish.

“I’ve been humbled by the fact that people have taken to it so well,” Rogers said. “People are stoked.”

I’m an unashamed subscriber to self-care culture.

Hear me out: It’s more than a gimmick on social media. Though contrarians could argue that it’s morphed into an industry based on consumerism, self-care at its core is a pillar to uphold in our fast-paced lives. Why? Because it forces you to slow down.

We’re taught from a young age that caring for ourselves means moving our bodies meaningfully and feeding them well. But on top of that, we can make our bodies feel their best — and take intentional time away from the stress of work and life — through self-care.

Often, that can just mean a hot bubble bath and a face mask after a long day. But if you’d like to step up your routine, then I have several tried-and-true services in Denver to recommend. At an economic moment when people are hesitant to spend their cash, these are my personal favorites that I consider worth the price for the value they provide.

Pur Artistry Japanese Head Spa

I’ve been entranced by those viral videos of Japanese head spas for a while now. Clients protected by eye masks lay their heads under a halo-shaped tool that gently sprays water as technicians shampoo, massage and condition their hair. It wasn’t long before I turned to Google to find local head spa experiences, and I saved a trip to Pur Artistry Japanese Head Spa for a special occasion.

Unfortunately, it was too good, and I’m now convinced that this has to be a monthly expense.

The city’s two locations in LoHi and Denver Tech Center offer four head spa experiences, ranging from $125 for an hour to $250 for 115 minutes. I tried the shortest option, the “essential head spa.” First, my technician performed a scalp analysis, identifying any flakiness, redness, oil and more. In Colorado’s dry climate, our skin is crying for help — even on our heads. After changing into a robe, the spa experience began: exfoliation, a double cleanse, a massage and conditioner.

Once that wrapped up, I was handed a tray of refreshments to enjoy while my technician blow-dried my hair. The second scalp analysis confirmed that I was a new woman.

4940 S. Newport St., Denver, and 1735 Central St., Denver

Talia Rose Aesthetics

Before Talia Rose Aesthetics, I was bouncing from chain to chain, trying to find a facial spa where the quality matched the cost. After my first facial with esthetician Talia Rosen, I was hooked.

I’ve tried several of her services: the “yours truly ritual” at $125 for 75 minutes, the “glass skin ritual” at $115 for an hour and the seasonal facial at $115 for 75 minutes. The “yours truly ritual” starts by selecting an affirmation card from a deck and settling into her cozy studio space in City Park West for some leisure time. From there, Rosen cycles through aromatherapy, a skin analysis, a double cleanse, enzyme exfoliation, pore extractions, massage and a treatment mask.

She’s a one-woman show: small business owner, esthetician and hidden industry gem.

1610 Gaylord St., Denver

SweatHouz: Cold Plunge and Infrared Sauna Studio

In search of a sauna to fight the winter chill, I frequented SweatHouz: Cold Plunge and Infrared Sauna Studio when it first opened its South Broadway location. Since then, the national franchise has unveiled plans to open on Tennyson Street and in the Denver Tech Center.

That’s for good reason, because this contrast therapy studio has a lot to offer. After booking my first hourlong session for $45, I was escorted to my private suite, which included an infrared sauna, a cold plunge tub and a vitamin-C shower. I had control of the temperature in the sauna where I sweat it out for up to 45 minutes, watching Netflix all the while. I could only stand a few minutes in the cold plunge, which drops as low as 48 degrees.

It felt like an hour well-spent. The catch: After the first try, the price jumps to $80 per session, which I can’t abide. But SweatHouz offers great promotions, and I’ve wholeheartedly taken advantage of them. If you love it, you can purchase a membership or package, which both drive that cost per session down to a more reasonable number.

2101 S. Broadway, Denver

Bori Curls Studio

This one is for the curly folks. If you’re anything like me, you’ve also faced a lifelong struggle to find hairstylists who know how to handle ringlets. I’ve been duped countless times by well-intentioned hair professionals who claimed to work with curls but left me looking like the Native Hawaiian version of Little Orphan Annie with a brunette bob.

Frances Alabarces, the owner and curl specialist at Bori Curls Studio in the University Park neighborhood, is the first stylist who’s made my curls look even better — and walks me through the process of how to care for them myself. As the only person in my immediate family with curly hair, this is a game-changer.

A curly pixie cut and a kids’ curly cut both cost $120. From there, she offers separate rates for new and existing clients. For new clients, a curly cut for low- and medium-density hair is priced at $150 for 90 minutes and a curly cut for high-density hair is $170 for two hours. The service includes a dry cut or trim, then a styling lesson and product recommendations.

Originally from Puerto Rico, she serves both Spanish- and English-speaking clients. I’ve seen her for years, and, when I move from Denver, I plan to make return trips for my haircuts. Is that ridiculous? Maybe — but she’s the only one allowed to touch my curls now.

2496 S. University Blvd., Denver

Purluxe Beauty Bar

Purluxe Beauty Bar is everything you want in a nail salon: bright, clean and fast. The wine and cocktail options are an added bonus.

I have my go-to selections — classic pedicure and Gel-X manicure — but the list of services is extensive. Customers can opt for a simple combo like the classic manicure at $32 and the classic pedicure at $42, or amp up the luxury with selections including the mango madness pedicure at $75, the champagne and roses pedicure at $85, and the Pur deluxe pedicure at $125.

This salon is top-tier, with nail technicians pampering your hands and feet at once. I’m almost always out the door within the hour — and that’s no small feat.

Locations in Cherry Creek, Lower Highland and the Denver Tech Center

Capitol Eyebrow Threading

Tucked away in the Cheesman Park neighborhood is Capitol Eyebrow Threading, a no-frills spot that is hands down the best deal for facial hair removal. Though I am part of the generation of young women whose moms largely introduced them to eyebrow waxing, I decided a change was in order and pivoted to eyebrow threading.

Capitol Eyebrow Threading is open to walk-in customers, and I’ve never had to make an appointment. For just $15, the owner sits me down and shapes my eyebrows within minutes. My face — and my wallet — have never been happier.

1205 E. 9th Ave., Denver

Lake Steam Baths

As a reporter, I’ve covered Lake Steam Baths — a Denver institution since 1927 — several times. As a customer, I’ve frequented the Russian bathhouse on West Colfax Avenue even more often. For a $32 day pass, I can languish in the sauna, steam room, hot tub and showers.

The bathhouse hosts men’s days on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Its women’s days fall on Monday and Thursday. Most times, I quietly relax by myself, though it’s a spot to socialize, too. I was recently shown how to use the venik, or a bundle of leaves, which is vigorously slapped against your body to move the steam. Another client taught me to rub Epsom salts under my armpits and feet to remove the day’s negative energy.

A trick I discovered for myself was the bathhouse’s soap and salt scrubs. That’s a service that I usually associate with Korean spas, so I was initially a little surprised to see it offered at the bathhouse. Ranging in price from $25 to $30, the scrubber on duty cleans and exfoliates your body over the course of a half hour, getting all the spots on your back that you can’t reach. I leave feeling as shiny as a seal — a sense of cleanliness and calm that every body deserves.

3540 W. Colfax Ave., Denver

Through Sunday. The biggest annual gathering of celebrities in Colorado is back with Fan Expo Denver, running Thursday, July 3, to Sunday, July 6, at the Colorado Convention Center. The pop-culture party draws tens of thousands downtown each year for comics and anime, gaming, merchandise and artist signings, cosplay, competitions galore, authors, performances and more.

This year’s notables include a Superman slate (all the living movie and TV Supermen, minus the newest one); a “Twilight” fan experience; movie stars such as John Cena, Jennifer Beals, William Shatner, John Boyega, Brendan Fraser, Bruce Campbell, Alan Tudyk, Cassandra Peterson (a.k.a. Elvira) and dozens more. Bonus: There will be opportunities to get autographs and photos for a fee. (And don’t miss the “Cobra Kai” trio of Martin Kove, Brandon H. Lee and Patrick Luwis.)

Single-day passes for the event, taking place at 700 14th St. in Denver, are $50-$71, with youth passes (ages 13-17) at $45-$51 and child passes (6-12) at $12. Full-fest passes start at $109, with family discounts available. Visit fanexpohq.com/fanexpodenver for more.

Cherry Creek Arts Fest

Friday-Sunday. The sprawling Cherry Creek Arts Festival — one of the country’s biggest juried art exhibitions — returns to the Cherry Creek North shopping district Friday, July 4, through Sunday, July 6, with 260 exhibiting artists, free hands-on crafts for kids and adults, a family-friendly and walkable layout, and live performances, food and drink vendors, and other activities.

Don’t miss Cleo Parker Robinson Dance’s appearance on the main stage at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday; tickets are free and available online. The overall event runs 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday and Saturday (with an accessibility hour starting at 9 a.m.) and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday. Secure bike parking is on Second Avenue near Adams Street. Paid parking is available at Cherry Creek Shopping Center, in the Whole Foods garage, and along the surrounding streets. Admission is free. Visit cherryarts.org for an artist list and detailed festival map.

Civic Center’s Backyard Jamboree

Through Sunday. There are plenty of concert options in town this weekend, including Wu-Tang Clan and Run the Jewels at Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre (Friday, July 4) and Blues Traveler’s impressive Fourth of July return to Red Rocks Amphitheatre (playing there nearly every year since 1992 — minus 1999 and 2020, according to venue records).

Still, there’s hardly a bigger fan draw than Toronto’s Zeds Dead, as the bass-focused DJ-producer duo swings through both Morrison and Denver for packed shows. After playing a pair of concerts at Red Rocks as part of its DeadRocks XI run (July 2-3, sold out in advance), the band jumps over to Civic Center park (101 West 14th Ave. in Denver) for the fifth annual Backyard Jamboree on Friday, July 4, with openers Ravenscoon, Cool Customer, Villager and lots more.

The family-friendly event, which includes a hot-dog eating contest, food and drinks vendors, and lawn games, should draw about 10,000 EDM fans to central Denver. Tickets, $89.95-$112.94, are still available via axs.com.

Warm Cookies of the Revolution

Friday. Denver nonprofit Warm Cookies of the Revolution, which turns civic engagement into fun, all-ages creative gatherings, is about drawing connections rather than dividing, and its latest event reminds us that the Fourth of July holiday belongs to all of us.

The Interdependence Day Celebration takes place 10 a.m.-1 p.m. on Friday, July 4, at the southeast corner of Huston Lake Park (850 S. Bryant St. in Denver), with live performances, traditional Mixtec Oaxacan cuisine from La Reyna del Sur, an herbalist walk “with magical medicine man Monticue Connally,” poetry from Molina Speaks, henna tattoos, lawn games and all-ages activities, chalk artwork, awards and more.

It’s free, all-ages and family-friendly. Visit warmcookiesoftherevolution.org to RSVP.

“It’s now up to each Native American community and each Native American chef to decide what the New Native American Cuisine is and what they are going to serve on their plates,” Frank, who was advised by Navajo chef Walter Whitewater, wrote in her introduction.

Several young women chefs are doing just that in the Denver area, starting food businesses and planting gardens as a way to reconnect with the land and the traditions of the past. They are defining in real time what New Native American Cuisine can be, from cultivation to creation.

Their work is moving forward Indigenous cuisine in a critical time of repossession after the forced relocations of the 19th century and the food distribution programs of the 20th century, a recent period Frank referred to in her cookbook as “the most painful and most difficult in terms of health and wellness in Native American Cuisine history.”

Before the exploration of the Americas, most of the Indigenous diet in the Southwest and Four Corners region came from farmed foods such as corn, beans and squash (sometimes called “the three sisters”). After the country relocated Native Americans to reservations, they were issued government rations of mass-produced food different from what they were used to, Frank writes. To her and some of her colleagues, it amounted to “nutritional genocide.”

Denver has long associated Native American cuisine with Tocabe, on 3536 W. 44th Ave., and its fry bread tacos, made with shredded bison, hominy and roasted green chiles. When Matt Chandra and Ben Jacobs opened Tocabe in 2008, the restaurant was billed as “the only American Indian-owned and -operated restaurant in metro Denver specializing in Native American cuisine.”

After learning that Jacobs, a Native chef, was using some of his family’s recipes, Micaela Iron Shell-Dominguez, 36, knew she had to work there.

An environmental and Indigenous activist — and actor with the Annishabae Theater Exchange — whose father is Lakota and mother is from the San Luis Valley, Iron Shell-Dominguez noted the sanctity of ancestral foods and emphasized the role women played in feeding Native communities.

“I remember after working there for a while, I told Ben and Matt I was so inspired by everything they did that one day I wanted to open and own an Indigenous restaurant just like them,” she said in an email to The Denver Post.

She is now a mother of two and worker-owner of Moonshell Pizza Cooperative (www.moonshell.coop), a roving pizza crew where her partner, Sid Farber, is lead dough roller. The bounty of foods native to the region, such as corn, berries and sage, makes it easy to base dishes around those ingredients, she said. Their buffalo chokecherry pizza is one such example, she added, the chokecherry plant being native to Colorado.

Iron Shell-Dominguez’s multidisciplinary and holistic approach to her Native culture is also shared by Indigenous groups outside of North America.

Andrea Condes, 39, was born in Caracas, Venezuela, and adopted into the United States, where she grew up and pursued a career in the culinary arts. It was in Colorado where the self-described “child of the Andes” landed. Although separated by thousands of miles, Condes saw many similarities integral to the experiences of the pre-colonial Americas.

“How people are treated, how the land is respected, how animal relatives and plant relatives are just that: relatives,” Condes said.

Drawn to root vegetables like the potato, which originated in the Andes, she started a catering company, Four Directions Cuisine (www.fourdirectionscuisine.com). She grows her own plants and is hosting meals two weekends a month through October as The Rooted Andina at her home in Arvada.

Learning about Indigenous foods and history, she said, helped her overcome the “cultural gap” of living in another country and brought her closer to her homeland.

“It’s definitely not something that I had language for when I first started walking down this path,” Condes said. “Reconnecting with those foods, I didn’t realize then, but I do now: It was me reconnecting with myself.”

Since growing food was a way of life, some New Native American Cuisine chefs are returning to the practice, what Frank equates with “food sovereignty.” Planting companion crops, such as the three sisters, is one of the cultivation methods Frank teaches in an effort to bring what she calls “traditional ecological knowledge” (TEK) back to Native communities.

Narissa Ribera, a member of the Navajo Nation, started planting out of necessity. She was always fascinated with food systems, a jack-of-all-trades who learned to garden as a child and had years of experience baking cottage foods.

The lifestyle developed into Ch’il Indigenous Foods (www.chil-indigenousfoods.com), a meal pickup service she started three years ago. She works out of a commercial kitchen in the Wheat Ridge Center for Music and Arts, on 7530 W. 38th Ave. in Wheat Ridge, baking cookies with ingredients grown by Indigenous harvesters and other delicacies, like blue corn ice cream. (She’ll soon open an outdoor eating area at the arts center.)

The city of Wheat Ridge lent her two commercial plots of land behind the city’s community garden, where she cultivated the beans, corn and squash (including Apache gourds and Lakota squash) along with sunflowers. It’ll be a couple of years until the crops are ready to harvest, she said.

Until then, Ribera is preparing to launch a Native cookie and tea business with the ingredients for the tea grown in her garden, she said. She received federal grants to help with marketing and her brand, which she would one day like to see in supermarkets.

“I want representation,” Ribera said.

Although she welcomes non-Natives who support her work and want to learn about Indigenous foods, her main concern is reconnecting Native people to their ancestral foods.

“So much was taken from us, including so much of our food,” she said. “You’ll find a lot of Native people… they’re just not interested in cooking.”

She solicits social media followers to help tend the Wheat Ridge gardens and visits classes at Jefferson County schools, showing students how to make Indigenous dishes.

At a winter holiday market, Ribera sold a box of cookies that came with a paper describing each one and the history behind its ingredients. For her, the joy was in having an authentic option for Indigenous people to gift their friends and family.

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Chair Julien Bouquet’s Notice of Findings and Decision letter, dated Friday and obtained by The Denver Post, said Ruscha’s communications with RTD staff members “reflect a serious and concerning pattern of unacceptable conduct.”

“You are removed from the OSS (Operations, Safety and Security) Committee Chair position and removed as a member of that Committee,” Bouquet wrote in the three-page letter.

Ruscha, he wrote, ran committee meetings in a “disorderly and ineffective” manner and violated Colorado’s open meetings law in some email communications with fellow elected directors.

In addition to Ruscha’s dismissal from the committee, Bouquet told the director: “You are not eligible for Director expense allocations or reimbursement for travel, conference, or training for the remainder of 2025,” including for an American Public Transportation Association workshop in Denver in August. But he gave an exception for an APTA conference in San Francisco that began Sunday because of the cost of late cancellations.

Ruscha, who was elected to the RTD board in 2022 to represent a northeast swath of Denver out to the airport, was defiant Monday afternoon.

“Chair Julien Bouquet’s actions against me are retaliatory, undemocratic, and antithetical to a functioning democratic government,” Ruscha, who uses they/them pronouns, wrote in a news release. “These chilling actions and mishandling of internal matters is a disturbing failure of leadership by one of the most powerful figures at the Regional Transportation District — and one who also serves as the top elected official with authority over even the CEO.”

Ruscha’s extensive response includes assertions about “bullying conduct” by agency staff members and concerns about how the agency operates, along with a defense of their own record. They called for Bouquet to be investigated “with the support of outside, neutral counsel,” accusing him of “creating a chilling culture of fear within the RTD Board.”

“I will not yield. I will not be silenced,” Ruscha wrote. “I will continue to fight for what matters.”

Friday’s disciplinary action was spurred by a May 1 letter May 1 letter signed by a bare majority of the 15-member board asking for an investigation of Ruscha’s conduct. While several directors who spoke to The Post earlier this month criticized Ruscha for inappropriate conduct, others defended their colleague as a passionate advocate of transit who might simply have rubbed others the wrong way in manner and style of communication.

Ruscha this month told The Post: “My perspectives may reflect a different view from some of my colleagues, but this is not a failure to collaborate or contribute constructively.”

“Critiquing policy and offering an independent view is a key part of healthy governance and a democratic society,” Ruscha said.

In his letter, Bouquet highlighted an email Ruscha sent fellow Director Brett Paglieri earlier this year that admonished Paglieri for his work ethic on policy matters on the committee and suggested he consider resigning “so that someone else could put in the work.”

“Your condescending tone and personal attack impugning Director Paglieri’s professionalism and ethical standards do not align with the Board Operating Guidelines on fostering a supportive culture, constructively addressing issues, and assuming positive intent,” Bouquet wrote in his disciplinary letter.

The chair said he expected Ruscha to “treat all RTD staff and Directors with civility, respect, and avoid personal attacks.”

“Further unprofessional, demeaning communication will not be tolerated,” he wrote.

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For more than 50 years, the Telluride Bluegrass Festival has been a must-hit destination for music lovers. Those willing to make the trek to this remote enclave of Colorado are rewarded with an endless supply of A+ talent, stunning mountain views and convivial vibes that are so magnetic they’ll draw you back year after year.

But don’t just take my word for it. Many artists return to play the fest multiple times because of the atmosphere.

That’s true of Colorado’s own Yonder Mountain String Band, which marked its 24th appearance at Telluride Bluegrass Festival this year. The 52nd annual event took place at Telluride Town Park from June 19 to 22, and to suggest it might feel like old hat after performing two dozen times is almost offensive.

“Yeah, totally… if by ‘old hat’ you mean ‘dream gig we’d mud wrestle each other to play every year,’” said bassist Ben Kaufmann in an email interview. “It’s Telluride – there’s nothing else like it.”

The town of Telluride and its unique setting in a box canyon, surrounded by 13,000-foot-plus peaks, is certainly an obvious draw for musicians and fans alike. The members of bluesy pop outfit Lake Street Dive, who performed Friday night, took turns describing it in an interview at the festival grounds: “Beautiful,” “majestic,” “utopia,” and “sublime” were just a few of their choice words.

Singer Rachael Price added that the festival is unique because of how “artist-friendly” it is. The musicians who perform can also access the VIP seating area to watch other bands they know and love.

“That’s a really kind thing to do because I think it makes all the artists wanna support each other and we’ve seen such incredible sets here over the years,” Price said.

This year was the band’s fourth time on the bill, and its set featured favorites from its newest album, “Good Together,” alongside excellent covers. In true Telluride Bluegrass form, there were a few surprises. Lake Street Dive collaborated with other musicians on the lineup to reimagine its funky hit “Party on the Roof” as a bluegrass tune before welcoming legendary banjo player Béla Fleck to the stage for a soulful cover of Hall & Oates’ “Rich Girl.”

That collaborative spirit is one thing that keeps performing interesting and exciting, said drummer Mike Calabrese, likening the culture to that of the renowned Newport Folk Festival.

“Be ready to be asked to play with other people and be ready to ask other people to sit in with you,” he said.

Artist comingling doesn’t just happen on stage. Lake Street Dive bassist Bridget Kearney and keyboardist Akie Bermiss recounted playing Dungeons & Dragons with the banjo player from Sam Bush Band and several sound engineers.

“It was a blast, it was battle royale,” Bermiss said.

Though New Orleans’ Rebirth Brass Band has played in Telluride before, 2025 was the first year it joined the bluegrass festival. Co-founder Keith Frazier – who plays the bass drum with a cymbal mounted on top, using a screwdriver for the latter – said he’ll take any opportunity to perform in the mountain town because of how supportive the fans are.

“The community really comes out to support. Whatever music they have, they come out and support,” Frazier said. That was perhaps no more evident on Sunday afternoon, when attendees commandeered the “standing only” walkway near the front of the stage during Rebirth’s set and transformed it into a massive dancefloor.

“If you want to be a part of it, you have to really want to be here. If you’re not from here, it’s a long drive,” he added. “So people come and they really want to be here.”

Artists, like folk singer Ken Pomeroy, noticed that from the stage, too. “One thing I find so special about this festival is you guys are so quiet, until you need to be,” she said. “I’ve never ever experienced that at a festival. Only in Telluride!”

That confluence of factors has inspired traditions unique to Telluride Bluegrass Festival, such as sleeping in line overnight to be the first for the morning tarp run and brunch picnics at the main stage. During Yonder Mountain String Band’s set, fans throw a barrage of marshmallows at the members on stage. Kaufmann said the genesis of that tradition remains “one of those great mysteries.”

“It’s endearing, it’s distracting, and somehow it keeps you from overthinking the enormity of the gig — because instead of nerves, you’re busy dodging 20,000 airborne marshmallows,” he said. “That said, we definitely feel for the stage crew. Pretty sure we owe the festival about 20 new carpets.”

Always a crowd favorite, we’ll wager that won’t keep them from receiving an invitation to next year’s event.

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Hot dogs and hamburgers accompany sides of macaroni and cheese, potato salad and watermelon slices in ecstatic union in backyards and front porches across the country. Coolers full of beer and soda crackle as the ice melts throughout the hot summer day. Ice-cream sandwiches, popsicles and pie await as the sun sets and fireworks light up the night.

But those aren’t the only kinds of American foods. Immigrants from other countries often celebrate their patriotism with twists on the classics, or other foods entirely.

And with its proximity to the Southwest, Colorado has a few of its own traditions for the patriotic holiday, including green and red chile, corn, beans and tortillas — foods eaten in Hispanic communities long before there was a Colorado or a Fourth of July.

In fact, anthropologist Carole Counihan documented Fourth of July foods in Colorado’s San Luis Valley in a report published in a 2009 anthology, The Globalization of Food. She observed special dishes such as posole, deviled eggs and pasta, noting the holiday is represented by dishes from all over the world with a heavy emphasis on grilled meats.

Below, a group of Denver chefs share their personal spreads for the Fourth of July. Some, like Munetoshi Taira at Sushi by Scratch and Manny Barella at Riot BBQ, which opened this year, weren’t born in the United States. Others, like Ni Nguyen of Sap Sua and Darren Chang at Pig and Tiger, are first-generation Americans. Lastly, one chef shares a recipe inspired by his annual travels to Italy for the Fourth.

The grill and the outdoors are what tie most of their respective menus together.

Manny Barella, Riot BBQ (2180 S. Delaware St.): “BBQ culture was a huge part of my upbringing in Monterrey, Mexico. Every gathering revolved around open-fire cooking and outdoor grilling. Tending to the grill on your own is a rite of passage. We celebrate the Fourth of July here in the U.S. by honoring those same grilling traditions. You can count on me having carne asada, ribs al pastor and grilled vegetables on the table. We also like to smoke chimichurri, a classic element of Monterrey cookouts thanks to the strong Argentine influence in our region.”

Erasmo “Ras” Casiano, Xiquita (500 E. 19th Ave.): “We go all out with a giant backyard BBQ that is exactly like the gatherings we had back in Mexico. We throw carne asada and chicken on the fire and make a bunch of salsas: salsa Mexicana, pico de gallo, salsa ranchera. And of course, fresh corn tortillas and rice. We wrap onions in aluminum and throw them in the fire. Once they are good and roasted we hit them with some lime juice. The day is all about great food and gathering with family and friends. That’s the best tradition of all.”

Darren Chang, Pig and Tiger (2200 California St.; opening this summer): “My dad grilled Taiwanese street corn every Fourth of July growing up in [Los Angeles]. Some of my best summer memories are standing around the grill and eagerly awaiting that first bite of succulent corn. At Pig and Tiger, our Taiwanese street corn starts with fresh Olathe corn. We use my dad’s original shacha sauce recipe (only difference is that we make it vegan), then we give it a dash of sweet soy for a perfectly savory-sweet bite.”

Anna and Anthony “Ni” Nguyen, Sap Sua (2550 E. Colfax Ave.): “Every year, we make BBQ pork skewers, Americana-style. We skewer quartered onions and bell peppers along with pork shoulder marinated in lemongrass. We still don’t miss out on the hot dogs, though! We throw them on the grill right alongside the pork shoulder and serve them with Vietnamese accouterments. Our favorite is bratwurst with our version of pickles: lacto-fermented garlic, baby eggplant, daikon, and carrot. It provides the perfect, briny, acid pop. Don’t forget the brown mustard.”

Munetoshi Taira, Sushi by Scratch Restaurants (1441 Larimer St.): “In my kitchen, I enjoy blending traditional American Independence Day dishes with Japanese flavors. For instance, I often prepare yakitori-style grilled meats alongside classic barbecue fare, and I like to incorporate ingredients like miso or shiso into familiar sides such as potato salad. This fusion not only honors the holiday but also reflects the harmonious blend of cultures that I cherish.”

Darrel Truett, Barolo Grill (3030 E. 6th Ave.): “For the past 15 years, I’ve spent the Fourth of July in Italy with the Barolo Grill team on our annual staff trip. One of the things I always look forward to on a hot day during that first week of July is Panzanella. It’s an Italian bread salad with mixed greens, tomatoes, cucumbers and toasted bread tossed in a beautiful red wine vinaigrette. And I usually make it when I come home from the trip — shortly after the Fourth of July — to offset all of the incredible food and wine we indulged in.”

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