Toni Tresca

onscreencolorado.com • 13th October 2026

Boulder Jewish Film Festival 2026: Films, dates and tickets - onscreencolorado.com

From the Catskills comedy scene that helped shape American entertainment to the resilience of women resisting political oppression in Iran, the Boulder Jewish Film Festival is casting a wide net for its 14th annual edition.Running Oct. 25-Nov. 1 at the Dairy Arts Center, the eight-day festival features 21 scheduled screenings. This year’s programming explores the influence of Jewish artists on popular culture, the strength of parental devotion, moral courage and female empowerment.Several films...

Denver Westword • 12th October 2026

'FDR’s Very Happy Hour' brings immersive history to Denver

More than a decade after Regan Linton and M. Graham Smith first started talking about Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the president is finally ready for happy hour in Denver.
“We’re finally getting it here,” Linton says.
High Hard Heat presents the Denver premiere of “FDR’s Very Happy Hour” Oct. 14 through Nov. 1 at the Studio Loft at Ellie Caulkins Opera House. The immersive production brings Roosevelt back from the great beyond for an evening of cocktails, trivia, history and conversation with a co...

Estes Valley Voice • 10th October 2026

13th Pumpkins & Pilsners closes out fall festival season in Bond Park

A few years ago, Colleen Sovey attended Pumpkins & Pilsners for the first time and discovered an organization she knew little about: the Estes Park Education Foundation. Now, she’s helping run the festival.

“I think 2022 was my first year,” Sovey said. “The event is just a really cool event. It brings the whole community together.”
The 13th annual Pumpkins & Pilsners festival returns to Bond Park in downtown Estes Park from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, bringing craft beer, live music, f...

Denver Westword • 9th October 2026

As Camp Christmas retires, what's next for immersive art?

Is immersive art dying in Denver?
A recent feature by Westword arts and culture editor Kristen Fiore examined how Denver’s creative landscape has evolved over the past half-century, including the rapid rise and recent setbacks of its immersive entertainment scene.
“It had an ‘immersive is dead; long live immersive’ feel to it,” artist Lonnie Hanzon says during a visit to his Lakewood studio, where he’s currently dismantling one of Colorado’s most recognizable immersive holiday attractions, Camp...

Estes Valley Voice • 8th October 2026

A&E: This Weekend, October 9-11

This weekend in Estes Park, you can run until your legs give out or kick back with a pumpkin and a pilsner. 

Rocky’s Backyard Ultra challenges runners to complete a grueling mountain loop every hour until only one competitor remains, while Pumpkins & Pilsners brings family fun to Bond Park. Elsewhere, the Historic Park Theatre is embracing spooky season with haunted tours and a mystery movie, The Blue Fiddles bring their one-man band to the American Legion, and live music fills the town’s patio...

Estes Valley Voice • 8th October 2026

Rocky’s Backyard Ultra asks runners: How long can you go?

There is no finish line at Rocky’s Backyard Ultra. Instead, runners will gather at the YMCA of the Rockies at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, and run a 4.167-mile loop.

Then they will do it again.
And again.

Every hour, on the hour, the remaining runners will line up for another trip around the course until only one person can complete another loop. There is no predetermined distance and no time limit.

“A Backyard Ultra race essentially is a last man standing, or last person standing race,” said A...

onscreencolorado.com • 7th October 2026

Telluride Horror Show 2026: Full schedule and guide - onscreencolorado.com

Horror fans planning to spend Halloween season in Telluride finally know what nightmares await them.The Telluride Horror Show 2026 announced its lineup Tuesday, Oct. 6, just 10 days before the festival returns to the mountain town Oct. 16-18. The 17th annual edition brings a weekend of independent horror, supernatural thrillers, creature features, documentaries and short films to several venues around Telluride.This year’s schedule includes “Victorian Psycho,” a gothic thriller starring Maika Mo...

OnStage Colorado • 7th October 2026

Can 'SIP' help reinvent immersive theatre in Colorado? | OnStage Colorado

At most theatre productions, opening night means the rehearsals are finished. At SIP, opening night means it’s time to get back to work.The new immersive drink-tasting experience from Culture House Immersive, produced by Boulder-based The Catamounts, is running Oct. 2-25 at Westminster’s Orchard Town Center. Throughout the developmental run, rehearsals continue, scenes change and performers rotate through roles as the creative team tests what works.“We’ve built some great immersive pieces, but q...

OnStage Colorado • 6th October 2026

Local Theater experiments with world premiere of ‘Drag Queen Magic’ | OnStage Colorado

What do you get when you throw the plot of Groundhog Day, two drag performances and a woman named Nancy into a blender?Drag Queen Magic, apparently.Ian August’s new comedy, produced by Local Theater Company at the Dairy Arts Center as part of the National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere, is packed with jokes out the wazoo. Many are clever rather than laugh-out-loud funny, but director M. Graham Smith keeps the evening moving with enough madcap energy to make its roughly 105 minutes an en...

onscreencolorado.com • 5th October 2026

Denver Film looks toward its 50th year as Colorado’s festival landscape grows - onscreencolorado.com

25 people gathered at Writer Square at 10 a.m. on Saturday to talk about the future of film in Colorado at the exact moment Denver Film unveiled the schedule for its 49th festival.While audiences elsewhere were scrolling through the newly announced lineup, Denver Film CEO Kevin Smith and Festival Producer Alaina Campbell were looking beyond this year’s films to a bigger question: What role should a nearly 50-year-old regional film organization play as Colorado becomes an increasingly prominent d...

OnStage Colorado • 5th October 2026

‘The Pumpkin Kid’ glows at the Historic Elitch Theatre | OnStage Colorado

During Saturday afternoon’s performance of The Pumpkin Kid at the Historic Elitch Theatre, as the Candle Lady and Candle Man reminisced about their wedding during the lilting “Wedding Day Song,” a little girl in the audience wearing a pumpkin dress stood up and began dancing along.That moment felt like a natural extension of the way the 38-minute musical draws young audiences into its world. From the moment families enter through the stage door into a makeshift pumpkin patch, The Pumpkin Kid mak...

onscreencolorado.com • 4th October 2026

Denver Film Festival 2026 schedule: Every movie, date and time - onscreencolorado.com

Trying to navigate 11 days of movies at the Denver Film Festival is no easy feat.The 49th annual Denver Film Festival runs Oct. 22-Nov. 1 with 129 feature films, documentaries and shorts from around the world. Screenings are spread across venues including the Sie FilmCenter, Ellie Caulkins Opera House, MCA Denver at the Holiday Theater and Denver Museum of Nature & Science.Opening Night brings Peter Farrelly’s “I Play Rocky” to the Ellie Caulkins Opera House on Oct. 22, while the Pedro Pascal ac...

OnStage Colorado • 4th October 2026

Phamaly reimagines 'Tiny Beautiful Things' with over 120 disabled actors | OnStage Colorado

Colorado audiences have probably encountered Tiny Beautiful Things before.Maybe you’ve read Cheryl Strayed’s bestselling collection of advice columns. Perhaps you’ve caught one of the many local stage productions of Nia Vardalos’ adaptation at BETC, Theatre SilCo, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Openstage Theatre & Company or Firehouse Theater. Or potentially you watched the 2023 Hulu series starring Kathryn Hahn.Regardless, you have almost certainly never seen the story told like this.Phamal...

onscreencolorado.com • 3rd October 2026

Denver Film Festival 2026 announces 129-film lineup packed with awards hopefuls - onscreencolorado.com

The treats came early this Halloween season, and Denver Film Festival 2026 is skipping the tricks.On Oct. 3, Denver Film unveiled the full lineup for its 49th annual festival, an 11-day celebration running Oct. 22-Nov. 1 with 129 feature-length films, documentaries and shorts screening across the city. The program brings together awards-season contenders, major Hollywood names, international discoveries and Colorado-made films at the Sie FilmCenter, Ellie Caulkins Opera House, MCA Denver at the...

OnStage Colorado • 3rd October 2026

‘The Turn of the Screw’ knows how to make you jump | OnStage Colorado

When I interviewed 13th Floor Haunted House area manager Bryan Koop recently, I asked him whether there was a type of scare or technique that almost always gets people.“People are scared of so many different things,” Koop said. “But there are certain things that are almost always successful, like a loud noise and some bright flashing lights is almost always going to startle someone. If we can craft that into something more theatrical, then it elevates that simple, subtle scare.”Elemental Theatre...

Estes Valley Voice • 2nd October 2026

A&E: This Weekend, October 2-4

The elk are bugling, the ghosts are stirring, and Tim Burton’s “Corpse Bride” is getting married on the big screen. You know what that means — it’s officially October in Estes Park.

This weekend, Elk Fest returns to Bond Park, while the Historic Park Theatre embraces spooky season with haunted tours, ghost stories, and a free Saturday morning movie. Elsewhere, Adam Carolla brings stand-up comedy to The Stanley Hotel, First Friday fills local galleries with art and jazz, and live music keeps the...

Estes Valley Voice • 2nd October 2026

Elk Fest celebrates Estes Park’s wild side Oct. 3-4

On the morning Elk Fest begins, organizer Kayleigh Schissel has learned to expect an early arrival.

“The morning it starts, there is always an elk there in the middle of Bond Park,” said Schissel, special events coordinator for the Estes Park Events Complex. “It’s almost like they know the festival is for them, and so my favorite part is seeing them there.”
It’s an appropriate opening act for a festival built around Estes Park’s most conspicuous wild residents. Elk Fest returns Oct. 3-4 for a f...

Denver Westword • 2nd October 2026

More than 20 spooky shows to see around Colorado this Halloween

Halloween entertainment doesn’t have to mean wandering through a haunted house while someone with a chainsaw jumps out from behind a wall.
Colorado theaters are leaning hard into spooky season in 2026, with ghosts, vampires, serial killers, carnivorous plants and an almost alarming number of productions of “Sweeney Todd.” There are also campy musical parodies, immersive experiences, aerial performances and family-friendly options for theatergoers who would rather laugh than scream.
Some spooky p...

OnStage Colorado • 2nd October 2026

'Barefoot in the Park' sends newlywed bliss up six flights of reality | OnStage Colorado

It is a fascinating thought experiment: Would you walk barefoot in the park in the cold for the person you love?If you asked me, the answer would probably be “no,” which would likely lead Corie Bratter to lump me in with the “watchers.” Fair enough. I am a theatre critic.That question gives Neil Simon’s Barefoot in the Park its title during one of several blowout fights between newlyweds Corie (Katie Medved) and Paul (Cam Davis). Under Kate Gleason’s brisk direction at the Arvada Center, their m...

OnStage Colorado • 30th September 2026

Four friends chase Broadway in '[title of show]' | OnStage Colorado

After watching a duet between a blank piece of paper and a writer that soon segues into a musical number called “Monkeys and Playbills” with four actors frantically waving Playbills from shows like All Shook Up and Hairspray in search of inspiration, [title of show] makes one thing clear: This is not the glamorous version of how a Broadway musical gets made.It is the awkward, anxious, high-stakes, searching and frequently ridiculous version.Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen’s four-person meta-musical f...

onscreencolorado.com • 29th September 2026

Colorado Film Festivals: 2026-27 dates and locations - onscreencolorado.com

The Sundance Film Festival’s move to Boulder in January 2027 has put Colorado on the international film world’s radar in a major new way.Yet Colorado has been a film festival state for decades. Mountainfilm has been gathering documentary lovers in Telluride since 1979, while communities from Denver and Boulder to Durango, Vail, Pueblo and Crested Butte have built festivals devoted to everything from independent features and documentaries to horror, LGBTQ+ cinema, environmental films and silent m...

Denver Westword • 29th September 2026

Buntport sinks its fangs into Lafayette’s hometown vampire

Since 1918, immigrant Teodor Glava has been buried in Lafayette Cemetery.
For decades, his grave sat in relative obscurity. Then, sometime in the 1950s and 1960s, people began noticing a few details that were almost too perfect for a ghost story: His handmade headstone identified his birthplace as Transylvania. A tree grew out of his grave. A rose bush sat nearby. Before long, stories spread that Glava had been a vampire, that he was buried with a stake through his heart and that the stake itsel...

OnStage Colorado • 28th September 2026

'The Weir' is a slice of life (and death) in an Irish pub | OnStage Colorado

Who doesn’t love a good ghost story around Halloween?As a horror fan, I certainly do, and Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company proved with last season’s The Thin Place that it can deliver a genuinely spine-chilling theatrical experience. Conor McPherson’s 1997 play The Weir seems like a natural fall follow-up: another intimate, cerebral story in which ordinary people brush against the supernatural.Yet The Weir is a stranger creature. Director Candace Orrino mounts an exceptionally sophisticated prod...

onscreencolorado.com • 25th September 2026

What to See at Aspen Filmfest 2026 - onscreencolorado.com

Some film festivals ask audiences to choose among a dozen screenings happening at once. Aspen Filmfest takes a different approach.For its 47th edition, running Tuesday, Sept. 29, through Sunday, Oct. 4, Aspen Film has assembled a compact program of international festival winners, documentaries, award seasons hopefuls and filmmaker conversations, with nearly everything screening at the Aspen Isis Theatre. The festival also returns down valley this year with encore screenings on Sunday at the Crys...