August is here and there’s still plenty of summer to be had! From state fairs and food festivals to unique eats and cool treats, we’ve rounded up our top picks for the best ways to enjoy this late-summer month in and around Denver.
🍑 Eat Something Distinctly Colorado
How serendipitous that Colorado’s birthday month includes the annual Palisade Peach Festival in Palisade, the annual Olathe Sweet Corn Festival in Olathe, and the green chile-loaded Colorado State Fair in Pueblo.
- Pro-tip: Don’t wanna make the 4-hour drive to Palisade? Lafayette does an impeccable peach festival that same weekend on August 17 🍑
🐉 Explore a New Culture
Cultures collide at the Saigon Azteca Night Market, a late-summer community festival that heats up after the sun goes down. The Westwood neighborhood’s vibrant Asian and Latinx communities come together to show off their best food, drinks, dance, music, and local artisans.
⚽ Cheer on Your Colorado Soccer Olympians
The U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team has three (!) Coloradans — Lindsey Horan, Sophia Smith, and Mallory Swanson — and they’re killing it in Paris. Show some hometown pride and saddle up to watch their next match — the start of the quarterfinals knockout rounds — against Japan on Saturday, Aug. 3.
- Where to watch? Here are our favorite Denver sports bars.
⛷️ Brush Up on Your State History
In honor of Colorado’s 148th birthday, we’d suggest a visit to the History Colorado Center where you can learn something new about the great state you call home. Check out the center’s current exhibition on Colorado’s connection to the U.S. Army’s famed 10th Mountain Division — an elite group of WWII soldiers on skis!
- Mark your calendar: The center is screening a historical documentary, “The Lost Mountaineers,” recounting the harrowing mission of 25 soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division on August 19.
The Pollo Guisado arepa from Quiero Arepas 🤤 (Peyton Garcia / City Cast Denver)
🍽️ Try a New Restaurant Rec
Looking for a new restaurant to try? You’ve got the official City Cast Denver stamp of approval on Quiero Arepas, which has locations in Denver and Boulder. My personal fave is the Queso arepa with fresh mozzarella and muenster cheese, avocado, and fried plantains. Do yourself a favor and add the guasacaca sauce. *chefs kiss*
- Bonus rec: Don’t sleep on Arepa House 🇻🇪
🍧 Indulge in Japanese-Style Shave Ice
For a limited time, Temaki Den is showing off its sweet side with Kakigori Ken, a decadent Japanese-style shaved ice pop-up running now through September. Don’t miss this fluffy, icy treat dressed in luxurious flavors, including a magical combo of matcha syrup, red bean paste, and crème anglaise, all topped with a mochi ball.
✨ Learn Something New
From the use of poisonous plants in medicine to the role of deadly tinctures and elixirs in great literature, the Power of Poison exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science takes a closer look at society’s many uses for poison (good and evil!) past, present, and future.
- What we’re looking forward to: Stepping into an immersive recreation of Colombia’s remote Chocó forest, home of the poison dart frog, to learn about how some animals use poison to survive.
☕ Practice Your Spanglish
Convivio Café is a women immigrant-owned, Guatemalan-inspired, bilingual cafe in the Berkeley neighborhood centered around the Guatemalan concept of “convivio” — meaningful connection over culturally-rooted food and drink.
- But also: I mean, just look at this menu of delicious cross-culture coffee concoctions and pastelitos 🤤
🥢 Brunch Differently
Pancakes and omelets are good, but have you ever had Hong Kong deep-fried stuffed French toast? How about a Spam and egg bao bun? MAKfam has just kicked off its new weekend brunch menu inspired by Hong Kong’s version of “greasy spoon diners,” and I’m drooling just reading about it.
- By the way: We reviewed the hot new Cantonese American restaurant when it first opened. Spoiler: We LOVED it.
