State brimming with months of festivals/ Summer packed with music,

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), May 25, 2003 | by DAVID PHILIPPS

Festival weekends spill over both ends of summer and flood normally quiet main streets and parks with beer, bicycles, balloons, bronco busting . . . you name it.

Telluride has so many festivals each summer (bluegrass, mushroom, wine) that locals declared a "Nothing Festival" (July 18-23) so they could just sit around and relax for a weekend.

With so many towns closing down the streets and folks kicking up their heels, it is hard to know which festivals to pick.

Is Kremmling's Road Kill Fest worth missing for Sterling's Sugar Beet Days? Which burro race in a decaying mining town is the most prestigious?

Here is a rundown of some of the highlights:

Capitol Hill People's Fair, Denver, June 7-8

The streets stretching out from the golden-domed capitol in downtown Denver have hosted music and food with a refreshing metropolitan flavor for more than 30 years; this year the area will hum with 75 bands on five stages.

Arts and crafts vendors from 28 states make the People's Fair the state's premier art festival and Denver's funky old neighborhoods make it the most diverse.

Contact:

(303) 830-1651 or www.peoplesfair.com

Colorado Renaissance Festival, Larkspur, weekends only, June 14- Aug. 3

Knights in shining armor, court jesters, fire eaters, a king and queen and hundreds of other costumed medieval folk take the quiet town of Larkspur back to the 16th century for eight themed weekends of revelry.

There's no better place on the Front Range to chew on a turkey leg while watching a joust.

Contact:

(303) 688-6010 or www.coloradorenaissance.com

Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Telluride, June 18-22

The granddaddy of mountain music festivals rings in its 30th birthday this summer with country, folk and bluegrass mainliners like String Cheese Incident, Leftover Salmon, Emmylou Harris, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

Fans, locally known as festivarians, can catch the four-day grass fest for the very Telluride price of $170 and gaze up at the awesome backdrop of the San Juan Mountains behind the stage for free.

Contact:

(800) 624-2422 or www.bluegrass.com

Strawberry Days, Glenwood Springs, June 20-22

Few Colorado towns can boast having a festival more than 100 years old, but the mix of small-town warmth and a spectacular setting have kept Glenwood's Strawberry Days hopping for 106 years.

Food and crafts blossom around town during the three-day party, which features music, a parade and free strawberries and ice cream.

Contact:

(970) 945-6589 or www.glenscape.com

Wildflower Festival, Crested Butte, July 7-13

Where else but the wildflower capital of Colorado could you hold a weeklong appreciation of alpine angiosperms with almost 200 events from frolics through the phlox to photography classes with renowned photographer John Fielder?

The wet spring in the Rockies should make this summer's flowers especially abundant.

Contact:

(970) 349-2571 or www.crestedbuttewildflowerfestival.com

Balloon Rodeo, Steamboat Springs, July 11-13

Steamboat bills itself as a ski town with a cowboy flair, so when a rainbow of 50 balloons rides into town, they compete in an aerial rodeo of events to test the pilots' skills.

On the ground, visitors will be treated to a rainbow of art as artists from around the state show off their creations in the park.

Contact:

(970) 879-0880 or www. steamboatsummer.com

A Taste of Colorado, Denver, Aug. 30-Sept. 1

More than 50 restaurants from all corners of the state cap off the summer by serving up their finest at the Denver Civic Center.

The food fest, which attracted almost 400,000 people last year, has everything from standard fair funnel cake and hot dogs to ceviche and mole poblano. And then there's the endless live music, crafts and carnival rides.

Contact: (303) 295-6330 or www.atasteofcolorado.com