YOUR PREMIERE GUIDE TO BOULDER 2022
THAT MOMENT YOU FIND CLASSES THAT FIT YOUR NEEDS. Discover options and flexibility to help you stay on track. Own your journey. ce.colorado.edu • 303.492.5148
Years ThankBoulderYou Cheers to ® 28th Street and Pearl, Boulder Hazelsboulder.com Download the Hazel’s app
1309 College Ave., 303.449.4611Boulder 7735 W. 92nd Ave., 303.421.5700Westminster 1716 Main St., 303.776.9333Longmont Trusted for All Your Body Art Needs Since 1994 Tattoos / Piercing / www.tribalrites.comJewelry28YEARS!
WE’VETHEAVAILABLENATIVEROOTSCANNABIS.COMNOWLABELCOLLECTIONCOMESEEWHATBEENGROWING GROWN LOVE
*At participating stores only. O er ends 9/20/2021. **At participating stores only. See store for details. No interest will be charged on the promo balance if you pay it o , in full, within the promo period. If you do not, interest will be charged on the promo balance from the purchase date. The required minimum monthly payments may or may not pay o the promo balance by the end of the promo period. Regular account terms apply to non-promo purchases and, after promo period ends, to the remaining promo balance. For new accounts: Purchase APR is 29.99%. Minimum interest charge is $2. Existing cardholders: See your credit card agreement terms. Subject to credit approval. ©2021 Carpet One Floor & Home®. All Rights Reserved.
THANK YOU BOULDER COUNTY FOR VOTING US BEST CHINESE RESTAURANT! Welcome to Zoe Ma Ma! Inspired by my mother’s love, I wish to share with you her signature dishes and delicious home cooking. Unlike most Americanized Chinese restaurants, we freshly prepare Ma Ma’s dishes with high quality ingredients that include homemade organic noodles, cage-free eggs, and all-natural meats. It’s quality for your tummy and it’s Ma Ma approved 2010 10th Street, Boulder, CO 80302 • 303-545-6262 • zoemama.com Monday through Thursday and Sunday: 11am – 10pm Friday and Saturday: 11am – 11pm Ma Ma Says ... Dragonfly Noodle is our expression of flavors from around the Pacific Rim. We focus on creating dishes that are deeply rooted in their origin but presented with modern creativity and sensibility. 2014 10th St Boulder Co 80302 Happy Hour 4-6p Daily 720-580-1100 Formerly Chimera Ramen
Cover Photo, Jennifer Hohlfelder (“Pearl Street” 36 x 48” oil on canvas, 2020) Jennifer Hohlfelder is a Boulder, Colorado-based figurative oil painter depicting scenes and figures with a nostalgic flair. Her works, current and upcoming exhibits, and more can be found on her website JenniferHohlfelderArt.com and on Instagram @Jennifer_Hohlfelder_Art.
B
Reader, welcome to BOULDER. BOULDER WEEKLY I LONGMONT INSIDER ’22 I 9 JENNIFER HOHLFELDER in sider 690303.494.5511S.Lashley Lane, Boulder, CO 80305 Insider is a special issue of Boulder Weekly, which is available every Thursday throughout the county. 11 ....... By the Numbers Boulder at a glance 13 ....... Media Archaeology Lab Travel through tech of the past 15....... Beat Book Shop Serving Boulder’s culture literati 19 ....... Queer Art Organics An open mic for the kids 20 ....... Mural Walking Tour Take a walk, see some art 27 ....... Best of Fest Boulder’s got festivals every month of the year 31 ....... NoBo Art District A community-built art scene 32 ...... Global Groceries Your guide to Boulder’s world of international food markets 35 ...... Unexpected Places Intimate concerts pop up in nontraditional places 2022 STAFF Publisher, Fran Zankowski Circulation Manager, Cal Winn Editor-in-Chief,EDITORIAL Caitlin Rockett News Editor, Will Brendza Arts & Culture Editor, Will Matuska Food Editor, John Lehndorff Interns, Chad Peterson, Ben Berman ArtPRODUCTIONDirector,Susan France Senior Graphic Designer, Mark Goodman SALES AND MARKETING Market Development Manager, Kellie Robinson Account Executives, Matthew Fischer, Carter Ferryman, Chris Allred Mrs. Boulder Weekly, Mari Nevar CirculationGENERAL Team, Sue Butcher, Ken Rott, Chris Bauer Bookkeeper, Gina Campanella Founder/CEO, Stewart Sallo Editor-at-Large, Joel Dyer
oulder is full of surprises. Whether you’ve lived here for a lifetime or just moved in, there’s always something to discover. That’s what Boulder Insider offers: a guide to discover the hidden wonders of this beautiful city, from its food, music and art to its inclusive open mics and festivals. Take a (rare) rainy day and explore Boulder’s Media Archaeology Lab, where you can go and turn on, open up, play and create with still-working technology from the past, like phonographs, personal computers, handheld devices and game con soles. For the intelligentsia, check out the Beat Book Shop, where owner Tom Peters has rubbed elbows with Beat Generation greats like Allen Ginsberg and Anne Waldman. Young Boulderites searching for community and identity can find a home at Queer Art Organics, an open mic for youths. The whole family can take a walking tour of a handful of the nearly 100 murals created through Boulder’s Street Wise Mural Festival, or peruse through Boulder Weekly’s (fairly) comprehensive list of Boulder’s festivals throughout the year. Read our stories on Boulder’s community-driven art district in North Boulder, where to get the best selection of international spices and foods, and how to get into intimate concerts held in unexpected places around Boulder. So, we’ve given you a few ideas, now get out there and explore.
BOULDER WEEKLY I BOULDER INSIDER 2022 I 11 Boulder 2022 Days Sunshine:of 245 Average Winter Low: 18.9 degrees in January Average Summer High: 88.1 degrees in July Average Rain Precipitation: 18.1 inches Average Snow Precipitation: 71.1 inches UV Index: 3.3 yearly average Founded: 1858 Incorporated: 1871 Counties: Boulder County Elevation: 5,318 feet above sea level Land area: 27.37 square miles Highest Visible Peak: Longs Peak, 14,259 feet Water ways: Boulder Creek, South Boulder Creek, Boulder Reservoir Parks: Chautauqua Park, North Boulder Park, Martin Park, Bear Creek Park, Meadow Glen Park, Central Park, Settler’s Park, Scott Carpenter Park, Valmont Bike Park, Elmer’s Two Mile Park, Elks Park, Crestview Park, Wonderland Lake Park Breweries: 18 Wineries: 3 Cideries: 2 Meadery: 1 Distilleries: 4 Dispensaries: 28 Churches/Synagogues/Mosques: 59 Schools: 56 Museums: 8 Population:108,777 Population growth since 2010: 7.82% Median Age: 28.8 Average work commute: 19.1 minutes Average Household Income: $117,554 Persons in poverty: 20.4% Persons owning a bicycle: 70% by the numbers
Winner of Best Pizza Slice! • BEST PIZZA SLICE • BEST FOOD DELIVERY • BEST LATE NIGHT Download our app for great deals on your favorite pizza! 3117 28th Street North Boulder • Free Delivery 303-442-FAST (3278) 659 30th Street Williams Village • Free Delivery 303-447-FAST (3278) 520 W South Boulder Rd Lafayette • Free Delivery 720-598-FAST (5123) WE DELIVER TO GUNBARREL / LOUISVILLE EVERY NIGHT! THANKS FOR VOTING US BEST! Online ordering at www.cosmospizza.com
Past is prologue by Will Matuska Media Archeology Lab, 1320 Grandview Ave., Boulder. Open-house hours: Monday 2-5 p.m., Tuesday 1-4:30 p.m., Wednesday 12:30-3:30 p.m., Friday 10 a.m.-1 p.m. and Saturday noon-3 p.m. No need to schedule a visit. For updated holiday hours and emergency closures: twitter.com/mediarchaeology
Details: MIDDLE, TOP: EMAC, RELEASED 2002. MEDIA CREDIT: THE MEDIA ARCHAEOLOGY LAB. MIDDLE BOTTOM: SMITH-CORONA COUGAR TYPEWRITER, RELEASED 1963. MEDIA CREDIT: THE MEDIA ARCHAEOLOGY LAB. s
It functions as an open space for creativity, research and experience-based learning. The lab’s community of staff members, volunteers, students and faculty work to preserve and maintain this technology. Unlike a museum, Emerson says you can’t really understand a piece of technology just by looking at it. “The lab is also about play and giving people a space where they can just freely delight in all these interesting pieces of technology,” she says. MAL also uses its collection of tech for cross-disci plinary experimental research and teaching—much of which intertwines with Emerson’s own research. Prior to founding MAL, Emerson’s background was in experimental poetry and digital poetry. When she dis covered a poem called First Screening by Canadian poet bpNichol that was distributed on 5-and-a-half inch foppy disks, she began to wonder what difference it would make to access the poem through other platforms. “So I started what I called then the Archaeological Media Lab and flled this tiny room on campus with about a dozen Apple lle computers,” she says. She began branching out to investigate other dif ferences between devices like the Commodore 64, the computer comparable to the Apple lle at the time. Soon, the lab grew into a collection of “so-called obsolete tech” and MAL was well underway. Emerson was not an expert in the history of computing prior to founding the lab. Now, Emerson focuses on uncovering “crisis points” in past media where there was the possibility to create a technology that’s different from what we have now. She uses past tech alternatives as a way to reimag ine alternatives in the future. This research has led Emerson and MAL to uncover some big questions. Emerson tries to expand visitor’s senses of what could be. “We’re always told that computers from the 1970s and 1980s were slow or big or clunky or ineffcient,” she says. “But what if there’s some value in slowing down? What if ef fciency isn’t as important as Boulder might be the perfect place for MAL to exist. Hobbyists, tinkerers and people in the booming tech industry often visit the lab. Emerson says that people’s eyes light up as they gravitate toward the machines they used as kids, like the eMac or Apple Macintosh. Many see the lab as a custodian of history. MAL also prides itself on being open to anyone. Visitors can stay and hang out in the lab as long as they want. This inclusive space has helped build both a local community and one around the world. After experiencing the lab, Emerson hopes visitors “see all these incredible pieces of technology from the past as offering up ideas for how we might do things dif ferently or even better in the future.” This fts the MAL’s motto: “The past must be lived so that the present can be seen.”
BELOW: COMMODORE 64, RELEASED 1982. MEDIA s BOULDER WEEKLY I BOULDER INSIDER 2022 I 13 Boulder 2022
Travel through tech of the past at Boulder’s Media Archaeology Lab
Most digital media labs are known as a place for research using cutting edge tools. The Media Archaeology Lab (MAL) takes a different approach. Rather than keeping up with the newest tech, MAL collects still-functioning tech from the past to help think about an alternate present and future—and you can visit MAL,it.crammed into the basement of the Grandview Cottage on CU Boulder’s campus, has a serious collection of old technol ogy. The lab has acquired old tech from phonograph players, magic lanterns and historic personal comput ers to handheld devices and game consoles like the Altair 8800b, Commodore 64, Apple lle and Accordingmore.toits website, MAL’s collection of functional media could be one of the larg est in the world. Lori Emerson, founder and director of MAL, says the lab exists for a variety of reasons. “It’s there to be used by artists to create art using old tech,” she says. “It’s there to educate people of all ages about how strange and varied the history of tech actually is. It’s also there to show people how things used to be in the world of technology and how they could be different in the future.”
Photo: Chris DeCicco
BOULDER WEEKLY I BOULDER INSIDER 2022 I 15 Boulder 2022 The
T ruth is stranger than fction for Tom Peters. At least, that’s how it seems when you talk to the owner of Boulder’s venerable Beat Book Shop. Peters, who is also a published poet and a longtime fan of punk and alternative rock, has been selling books and records from his shop on Pearl Street for more than three decades; and along the way he’s gathered someTherestories.wasthetime when guitarist Joe Perry of Aerosmith visited the shop and asked Peters if he could get him a frst-edition of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road. Peters says he asked Perry to put him on a guest list so that Beat Book Shop sells Pearl St., s thanStrangerfictibyNickHutchins
Suite 10 Details:
For 33 years, Tom Peters has served Boulder— and the culture literati—at Beat Book Shop See on PAGE 16 LEFT: THE BOULDER BEAT BOOKSTORE HAS BEEN VISITED BY MANY BEAT CULTURE LITERARI LIKE ALLEN GINSBERG (PICTURED FAR LEFT WITH TOM PETERS) AND PETER ORLOVSKY.
STRANGER
PETERSTOM
used books, records, CDs and memorabilia at 1200
We also deliver
Best Pet Boarding and Doggie Daycare! 303-442-2602
STOREFRONT AT
www.NudeFoodsMarket.com Zero Waste Groceries Made Easy In Store, Online & Delivery Everything you need without the plastic waste. MATT
7275 Valmont Road Boulder, CO 80301
Play, Stay, Eat, Sleep, and Repeat!
cottonwoodkennels.com
Peters reels off a list of visitors including the Scottish troubadour Donovan, Robyn Hitchcock, Abra Moore, Lady Miss Kier (of the group Deee-Lite), Patti Smith, Glen Hansard and members of the band Yo La Tengo.
cottonwoodkennels.com
7275 Valmont Road Boulder, CO 80301
Thank you for voting for us year after year
Open 7:30 AM - 6:00 PM Every Day! Play, Stay, Eat, Sleep, and Repeat!
16 I BOULDER INSIDER 2022 I BOULDER WEEKLY
The list of famous writers and musicians who have visited the Beat Book Shop is impressive. During the many years the store has been in ex istence, beat culture literati including Allen Ginsberg, Peter Orlovsky, Gary Snyder, Diane di Prima, Lucia Berlin and Anne Waldman all dropped in at various points to browse its racks. Musicians are also drawn to the store.
Peters says he has about 25,000 used books in his shop in addition to vinyl records. A native of Michigan and the son of a teacher and a newspa per writer, he opened the Beat Book Shop in 1990, shortly after graduating from The Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa Univer sity. The store, which has had three locations on Pearl Street since frst opening, is currently located (downstairs) at 1200 Pearl St., #10. Peters cites his interest in reading as part of his impetus for selling books. “I would go to the library a lot as a kid. I always loved books,” Peters Play, Stay, Eat, Sleep, and Repeat!
“The shop allows me the opportunity to meet many interesting people,” Peters shares. “[Glen Hansard] has been buying books from me for a long time now. He and his [then] girlfriend [Markéta Irglová of the band The Swell Season] stopped by when they were in town. They were in the movie Once Glen was also in the Scottish band Texas. That was a great band. A lot of artists who were big in the ’90s came in. Abra Moore who was in the movie Slacker [and also a member of Poi Dog Pondering before launching her solo musical career] came in. She also performed at my poetry series. The singer [Lady Miss Kier] and the DJ from Deee-Lite stopped by and bought a bunch of poetry books and records. The poet Ai [Ogawa] has also visited.”
Open 7:30 AM - 6:00 PM Every Day!
Thank you for voting for us year after year Best Pet Boarding and Doggie Daycare! 303-442-2602
Thank you for voting for us year after year Best Pet Boarding and Doggie Daycare! 303-442-2602
7275 Valmont Road Boulder, CO 80301
cottonwoodkennels.com
Boulder 2022 he could deliver the book directly to the rocker at his concert at Fiddler’s Green; but when Peters called the venue to confrm that he was actually on the list, he wasn’t—so Perry never got the novel, which, according to Peters, has a value around $8,500.
“Steve grew up in Boston, and he said he wanted the book,” explains Peters. “But I can’t carry around a valuable book at a hot concert unless I know I’m defnitely going to be able to hand it off to the buyer.”
Open 7:30 AM - 6:00 PM Every Day! by Bike or Electric Vehicle! 3233 WALNUT ST. IN BOULDER MAENPAA
TOYOTA ACURA HONDA SUBARU THANK YOU!!! BoulderServingSince 1984 As of March 21, 2022, we are in a new location on 55th Street between Pearl Street and Valmont next to the Baby Goat co ee shop 303.449.6632 • www.hoshimotors.net BEST OF BOULDER 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005 TOM PETERS
In addition to reading, Peters is an avid music afcionado, which is refected in the music he plays in his shop and the records he sells there. During the years he spent living and working in Los Angeles, prior to settling in Boulder, he says he took in many live musical performances on the coast.
Boulder 2022 relates. “As I got older I read even more. For the three years before starting at Naropa, I read an entire book every 24 hours. I read a thousand books in three years. I’d start one and fnish it every day. There might have been a few times when the books took me a couple days to fnish, but I love reading.”
BOULDER WEEKLY I BOULDER INSIDER 2022 I 17
“I saw live music in LA every day and collected records vigorously while I was there. I would stop at a store and buy a book and a record every night,” he says. Peters’ obsession with collecting music and books dates back to his youth. “I started buying tapes as a teenager. I had hundreds of tapes that I’d carry back and forth to my car every day in a wooden box that I made. It doubled as an armrest. Over the years I’ve learned a lot about what makes books valuable. Not just what book to read, but how much they are worth and what about them contributes to their price. I retain information about all that stuff. I’ve been doing it for 35 years. The longer you do it, the more you learn about yourCoveringtrade.” the cost of a lease on Pearl Street doesn’t allow for much downtime and requires Peters to stay focused on his job, which he says he still loves. “I work harder now than I ever have before. We mostly keep the lights on by selling books from the store. I fgure about 90% of my business is done in here. Online sales might cover the expense of the shop for about two months during a good year. I have to work seven days a week to do this, but I have the same job that I had 33 years ago, which is great. I mean I’ve worked continu ously for 33 years at the same job on Pearl Street. I don’t know how many people can say that.” Peters says that January and February are his slowest months for sales. He also notes that he has a few autographed books by Jack Kerouac (although not a signed frst-edition copy of On The Road, which with an original dust jacket, he estimates would be worth about $25,000).
VISIT OUR BOULDER LOCATION HELLY HANSEN BOULDER | 1207 PEARL ST. | (303) 442-2215 HIKING • SKIING • OUTDOOR • LIFESTYLE
Don’t stop them now by Adam Perry
BOULDER WEEKLY I BOULDER INSIDER 2022 I 19 Boulder 2022
Herman—who uses they/their pro nouns—calls their poetry “an experiment with what happens when you disembowel the gender of a body.” Born in New Jer sey, though Brooklyn is where their “heart was born,” Herman returned to Brooklyn after graduating from the Kerouac school. They earned a creative-writing Master of Fine Arts from Long Island University Brooklyn and ran numerous open mics in New York while teaching English at several community colleges and coming to identify as non-binary. “It’s complicated,” Herman says. “I started using that vocabulary in New York, but I have felt it for a long time. I just didn’t always have the words. And non-binary isn’t static for me. I feel trans. I feel queer. I feel like I’m trying everyday to check in with what letters are right to feel more visible to myself.”
Last fall, Herman and their husband, Trae, moved to Boulder to be closer to a dear friend from Herman’s time at Naropa and leave the New York pace for a while. Continuing to teach for Brooklyn Com munity College remotely, Herman brought their Queer Art Organics to the Trident Café, and it eventually moved to Out Boulder. “I moved here to try and feel less anxious,” Herman says, “and I think Trae and I were just done with New York. I created Queer Art Organics at a place [in Manhattan] called Dixon Place, this really great, af frming, experimental place. It wasn’t an open mic; it was a monthly show featuring about three different queer performers of some sort, and I did that for several years. When I moved here, I felt like I was jonesing to create another space like that and be part of the queer community. “That’s one of the challenges of mov ing to a new place,” Herman notes. “You have to start over in every aspect. Imme diately, a month in, I was reaching out to a whole bunch of places, and I think March was our frst show at Trident.”
Herman says they have found “so much support and community at Out Boulder,” where Queer Art Organics now takes place the last Sunday of every month, from 3-5 p.m. Performers are wel come to share creative writing and music, but Herman stresses that anything goes. “I think that the weirdness has not yet started,” Herman quips, “but I’m hoping it will as the series continues. I think it’s getting out there more and being comfort able. The strange moments are the best parts of an open mic, where it’s this chain of inspiration.”Hermanhas published two full-length books of poems and one Young Adult novel, and their poems have been fea Combining that long creative history with many years of teach ing English and small colleges has come to fruition already in Boul der, where Herman will begin teaching English and music this fall at the September School, a private high school that “prioritizes social and emotional learning as highly as academic growth.”Ontheir way to being hired by the September School, Herman elder”somewhatbecameofa“queerforsomelocalkids, as young as 12, who have been frequenting Queer Art Organics since it debuted in Boulder at the Trident Café. “It’s an all-ages space,” Herman says. “Honestly, my favorite moment was when I frst saw the kids on stage. I’ve been go ing to open mics for so long, and it’s never been people that young. I love that they feel comfortable enough not only to be in that space but to share their art. Kids are 100%Straightwelcome.”people are welcome, too, with some guide lines.“I would hope that people see that it’s a queer open mic,” Herman ex plains, “and if they’re not queer they’re at least honoring the space and maybe reading a poem from a book that I bring, or saying ‘I’m not queer, but I’m read ing a poem that’s relationshipqueer.’”Herman’swith the Trident Café is living on, too, with a monthly series called And Now: Featuring… that will welcome an “open jam session” from 6-6:30 p.m. and then feature four or fve curated “artists of all kinds.” Queer Art Organics has hosted numerous “features,” from poets to performance artists, and a few have been respected local poets (such as Hayden Dansky) while others have simply reached out to Herman and succeeded in getting their blessing to feature. “I don’t want it to be about your bio,” Herman says. “I don’t care if you’ve featured before; I don’t care if you’ve even written a poem before. If you want a feature, feature. I don’t even need to see your stuff. I trust you. I would like for them to be queer. I have not been disappointed in any of them at all.”
As an experienced poet and musi cian, Herman says they miss not just be ing a host but also a performer, but Queer Art Organics has been an incredibly posi tive way to get reacquainted with Boulder over a decade after leaving Colorado for New York City. “My favorite moments are watching people come together, and it’s always a supportive audience. I’ve consistently felt this intense level of support, kindness, community,Hermanexcitement.”saysthatlocal bars, cafes, and spaces off all kinds are welcome to get in touch about hosting one-off editions of Queer Art Organics. “I defnitely feel sort of like when I moved here I had one little patch of a quilt, and as the months have progressed I keep sewing on more patches and I have enough maybe to cover my lap right now. I want a queer quilt big enough to fll up rooms.”
Queer Art Organics takes place the last Sunday of ev ery month, from 3-5 p.m. at Trident Booksellers & Cafe, 940 Pearl St., Boulder Details:
Aimee Herman was a key stone of the artistic com munity in Boulder in the late 2000s while studying creative writing at Naropa University’s Jack Kerouac School of Dis embodied Poetics, the passionate poet’s curly fre-engine-red hair and glasses marking an unmistakable presence as the weekly host of the since-closed Folsom Street Coffee’s open mic.
LEFT: AIMEE HERMAN READS A POEM AT ONE OF THE QUEER ART ORGANICS OPEN MIC EVENTS. BELOW: THE OPEN MICS ARE A SPACE FOR EVERYONE—OF ALL AGES AND GENDER IDENTITIES— TO EXPRESS THEMSELVES.
Aimee Herman’s Queer Art Organics
s
1 2
N
Art that speaks by Caitlin Rockett photos by Matt Maenpaa
Alley behind Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St.:
2. Artist: Gabriel Sanchez (woman with sunglasses) Gabriel Sanchez makes paintings that focus on Cuban current events and politics as seen through the lens of portraiture. Sanchez splits his time between Colorado and Cuba.
early 100 murals across the city come from Boulder’s Street Wise Mural Festival, which brings diverse artists together every fall to blanket empty walls around the city with optimistic murals that often focus on equality, identity and com munity.We’ve put together a walking tour that will take you through a mere nine of these murals, starting downtown on 14th Street behind Boulder Theater and running east to Folsom Village, then north to the Dairy Arts Center. We’ve also mentioned a few of our favorite spots where you can stop for food, drinks and more art along the way.
20 I BOULDER INSIDER 2022 I BOULDER WEEKLY Boulder 2022
1. Artist: Shannon Galpin, (“Say Her Name”) Shannon Galpin is a powerhouse: a global activist, artist, author, explorer, and public speaker. In ad dition to her conservation work, she spent more than a decade on women’s rights projects in Afghanistan and was awarded an honorary achievement diploma by the International Olympic Committee for her work on gender equality through sports. This mural is a part of her Love Letters series, which highlights violence against women.
4. Artist: Cal Duran Cal Duran grew up in Colorado with roots that bridge India and Native America. His work explores parallels between these hybrid identities, mostly in myth, religion and ritual. He uses ancient traditional processes to produce work through clay and sculpture. Nearby: Keep heading east on Pearl and stop by Colorado Glass Works (1500 Pearl St., Suite D), where owner/artist Meggy Wilm sells beautiful handmade stained glass pieces, but also teaches classes and sells supplies to get you started on your own stained glass art.
3. Artist: Gregg Deal (missing and murdered indigenous women) Gregg Deal, of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, challenges Western perceptions of Indigenous people, touching on issues of race, history and stereotypes. Deal tells stories of decoloni zation and appropriation that affect Indian country.
Boulder 2022 See MURALS on PAGE 22
Nearby: Grab food from one of the seven eateries inside Avanti Food and Beverage (1401 Pearl St.). Walk east along Pearl and stop by Into the Wind (1408 Pearl St.) to see fantastic kites. If you’ve got young sters in tow, snap a pic of your kid riding a bear, frog or rat at the Chil dren’s Sculpture Playground. Maybe stop by Gelato Boy (1433 Pearl St.) for advanced favors like blackberry cornbread and lavender poppy. You could also just people-watch a bit, beer in hand for the adults, on Mountain Sun’s (1535 Pearl St.) Pearl-facing patio, because the next mural is right around the corner. Alley behind Mountain Sun Pub, 1535 Pearl St.:
BOULDER WEEKLY I BOULDER INSIDER 2022 I 21 3 4
Boulder 2022 MURALS from PAGE 21 See MURALS on PAGE 24
5. Artist: Moe Gram Moe Gram is a multidisciplinary artist who creates paintings, murals, collages and installations. Gram’s work involves themes of identity, empathy, human connection and self refection through vivid colors and the suggestion of movement, noise and texture.
Nearby: Stop by River and Woods (2328 Pearl St.) if you’re feeling up to another drink or maybe a cheese board to share with friends. This century-old miner’s cabin has a charming backyard patio.
1647 Pearl St. (east facing wall on 16th Street):
Nearby: Paradise Found Records and Music (1646 Pearl St.) owner Will Paradise bought Bart’s Records from Bart Stinchcomb in 2016 and ran the store for fve years under the original moniker at cramped digs on Folsom Street. Para dise moved the operation to Pearl in 2021 for more spacious accommodations and a gentle makeover. Stocked full of vinyl, CDs, books, posters and stereo equipment, plus a staff eager to talk about records, it’s a music-lover’s paradise. Continue to explore other offerings on your easterly walk down Pearl Street as you make your way to the Chamber of Commerce.
22 I BOULDER INSIDER 2022 I BOULDER WEEKLY 5 6
6. Artist: Armando Silva Armando was born in Sombrerete, Zacatecas, Mexico, and moved to northern Colorado with his family at age 5. A recipient of a Governor’s Creative Leadership award from Colorado Creative Industries, Silva has collaborated with cities, nonprofts, businesses and educators across the state. His large-scale mural installations often focus on compelling portraits that tell personal stories.
Boulder Chamber of Commerce, 2440 Pearl St.:
ALTA PATIENTS ARE HAPPY PATIENTS! 2955 Baseline Rd, Boulder, CO 80303 303-444-8707 • www.altatherapies.com THANK YOU BOULDER COUNTY FOR VOTING US BEST PHYSICAL THERAPY CLINIC
24 I BOULDER INSIDER 2022 I BOULDER WEEKLY Boulder 2022
MURALS
Nearby: What’s a day out in Boulder without a stop at the dispen sary? Pop into Terrapin Care Station (1795 Folsom St.) and enjoy Colorado-grown weed, whether that’s in an edible, fower, concentrate or topical patch. from PAGE 22
7 1845 Folsom (the building is vacant, next to an empty lot): 7. Artist: Julio Mendoza: Julio “Jwlç” Mendoza was born in El Paso, Texas, but raised in Ciudad Juárez until he was 11 years. Since then, he’s lived in the Westwood area of Denver, growing in his artistic practice through the support of the local community. His culture, heritage and identity are central to his work.
WE OFFER HASSLE-FREE, DIRECT INSURANCE BILLING. Water and Sewage Damage Mitigation Fire and Smoke Cleanup Mold Eco-friendlyAsbestosRemediationAbatementBiodegradable Cleaning Products and Techniques Rapid Response in 20 minutes or less! 24 hours/day — 7 days/week! $200 Off Restoration Services for Water, Mold, Sewage, Fire and Smoke Damage Offer expires 10/31/22. Restrictions Apply. LYONS OWNED AND OPERATED 303-485-1730 • 247restoration.com
Folsom Village, 1605 Folsom St. (the shopping center that houses Village Coffee Shop):
Nearby: Snag an e-bike if you can, because your next stop is about a half a mile away at the Dairy Arts Center. But you should stop into McGuck in’s Hardware (2525 Arapahoe Ave.) to see why it’s a beloved business— more department store than hardware store. If you’ve skipped out on eating at other parts of the journey, let us suggest a stop by Efrain’s, where you can bliss out over the cuisine of Northern Chihuahua. And margaritas.
9. Artists: Spray Their Name (Hiero Veiga and Thomas Evans)—Denver artist Thomas “Detour” Evan’s colorful portraiture dots seemingly all of Denver. With Boston-based painter Hiero Veiga, the two have paid tribute to victims of police brutality under the moniker Spray Their Name. Here in Boulder, the Dairy Center wears a striking portrait of Sandra Bland, who hung herself in her jail cell at age 28 after being arrested for a routine traffc stop.
8. Artist: AJ Davis—AJ Davis has worked alongside internationally renowned artists including Nychos, Mike Giant, and Fabian ‘Bane’ Florin to create limited edition series of cast metal sculpture. He’s painted walls in Europe, Indonesia and Central America.
Boulder 2022 Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut St.:
8 9 Get The App & Start Riding E-BikeBoulderExperienceBy
BOULDER WEEKLY I BOULDER INSIDER 2022 I 25
Nearby: Head inside the Dairy—a former milk-processing facility—for a smorgasbord of artistic offerings: You could catch a hip art house movie at the Boedecker Theater, stroll through the art exhibitions, or see if there’s a dance performance, comedy, new play or intimate concert going on.
26 I BOULDER INSIDER 2022 I BOULDER WEEKLY 5340 Arapahoe Ave, Boulder • 1015 Pearl St, Boulder • 1521 Pearl St, Boulder 1898 S. Flatirons Ct, #110, Boulder • 1232-A S. Hoover St, Longmont OZOCOFFEE.COM FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEART, WE WANT TO THANK OUR COMMUNITY FOR LOCALSUPPORTINGBUSINESSES!
Colorado MahlerFest May 17-21, 2023 In the early 1970s, Robert Olson returned to CU Boulder’s College of Music from a study abroad program in Austria where he fell in love with the music of Gustav Mahler. He founded MahlerFest in 1988. Today the festival features chamber concerts, group dinners, open rehearsals, and even sometimes flms, ballets, and art exhibitions related to Mahler’s music Boulder Creek Festival TBD, 2023 The “offcial” kickoff of summer in Boulder, these three days of festivities on the banks of Boulder Creek feature mak ers, artists and small businesses, family activities, music, food and entertainment. Good, clean family fun.
Boulder Jewish Festival June 4, 2023 For 25 years, this one-day festival has highlighted Judaica through live enter tainment, fne art and food, community organizations and activities for all ages. In 2023, the festival will be held in the Boulder County Courthouse Lawn and 1200-1400 blocks of the Pearl Street Mall.
JANUARY Boulder 2022-23PhilharmonicSeason
Helmed by sisters Robin and Kathy Beeck, the Boulder International Film Festival is a spunky gathering that attracts some 25,000 movie lovers each year with flms, flmmakers and actors from around the world. This four-day celebration of the art of cinema includes crowd-favorite events like CineCHEF and the Adventure Film Pavilion, plus nightly parties, live music, lots of good movies and, of course, celebrities (like Shirley MacLaine, Alan Arkin, Bruce Dern, Oliver Stone, William H. Macy, Peter Fonda…).
Jan-May, 2023
Local Lab New Play Festival TBD, 2023 Local Theater Company specializes in producing original works, often with a focus on plays developed in the Western U.S. The company will mount four plays this spring for its annual Local Lab New Play Festival, chosen from a recordbreaking 140 submissions. This three-day theater festival of new works includes fully-staged concert readings, workshops and the opportunity for playwrights and attendees to converse. Bluebird Music Festival April 29 & 30, 2023 For the past four years, the Bluebird Music Festival has brought acts such as Margo Price, Colin Meloy of The Decem berists, Waxahatchee, and many more to Macky for three days of concerts in the heart of the CU Boulder campus.
MAY Tulip Fairy & Elf Festival TBD, 2023 Here in Boulder, we celebrate the awak ening of the tulips, where little ones dress up like fairies and elves and descend on Pearl Street to rejoice at some 15,000 tu lips opening up to the spring sun. There’s live music, foam sword dueling, arts and crafts, and scavenger hunts. Oh, and a fairy parade. D’uh.
BolderBoulder 10K Road Race TBD, 2023 The BolderBoulder 10K is one of the largest and most highly acclaimed 10Ks in the world, with runners, joggers, walkers and spectators of all ages—many in costume—and a frework-splashed bash at the fnish line in Folsom Field stadium. It’s a Memorial Day weekend classic.
FEBRUARY Stout Month All February For more than 20 years, the Mountain Sun pubs and breweries have hosted Stout Month to ferry us through the dark est days of winter. The pandemic stole that joy (and so much more) from us in 2021—and so far in 2022. Here’s hoping for pints of Girl Scout Stout and Megatron Imperial in February 2023.
Best in fest Boulder Taco Fest features high-fying luchadores along with delicious tacos every August.
MARCH Boulder International Film Festival March 2-5, 2023
BOULDER WEEKLY I BOULDER INSIDER 2022 I 27 Boulder 2022
Boulder Arts Week March TBA-April TBA, 2023 Boulder ranks in the top 2% in the country for concentration of artists and arts and culture organizations and businesses. Boulder Arts Week celebrates all the city’s rich art community has to offer through art walks, exhibitions, performances, music, theater, public art, lectures, flm screen ings and workshops at venues throughout the city.
APRIL Conference on World Affairs at the University of Colorado TBD, 2023 More than 100 experts on a variety of topics descend on Boulder for this fourday event featuring hundreds of panels, discussions, plenaries, concerts and events—all free and open to the public.
JUNE Colorado Shakespeare Festival TBD, 2023 For more than 60 seasons, the Colorado Shakespeare Festival has celebrated and explored Shakespeare with both classic interpretations and reimaginings of the Bard’s works. Plays are performed be neath summer night skies in the historic Mary Rippon Outdoor Theatre on the CU Campus.
Boulder’s got festivals every month of the year
January through May, Boulder’s professional symphony orchestra performs a season of classical de lights at Macky Auditorium, schools and other venues. Classical music lovers can look forward to “An Af ternoon With Bruckner,” on Sunday, Jan. 22 at 4 p.m. Here, Boulder Phil concertmaster Charles Wetherbee leads Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7, considered one of the greatest symphonies ever written.
Boulder County Pride Boulder Pridefest: June 11, 2023 Longmont Pridefest: June 30, 2023 Whether you’re looking for something the whole family can take part in or a more 21-plus experience, there’s something for everyone at Boulder County Pride Week. Sign up for teen art classes, adult networking events, music, trivia, dancing and more through Out Boulder County.
See FESTIVALS on PAGE 28
Boulder HometownCreekFestival
No better way to get to know your neigh bors than a good ol’ block party. Hosted in the historic Mapleton neighborhood of Boulder, dozens of local musicians play and sing on quaint porches at this free event. Studio Arts Chili Bowl September 18, 2022 Chili Bowl is Studio Arts Boulder’s annual fundraiser. Chefs from local restaurants compete in a chili competition. Guests can taste chili with the purchase of a bowl, plus shop for tery.handmadebeautifulpot
September 16-18, 2022
A concentrated series of Bach-focused concerts, symposia and educational events each spring and a number of outreach concerts and other community events throughout the year.
Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance Festival
Colorado Brazil Fest TBD, 2023 Hosted by Boulder Samba School, the Colorado Brazil Fest (CBF) is the largest festival of its kind in Colorado, and also one of the largest in the nation, with 1,500-2,000 participants each year, offer ing two rhythmic days of Brazilian music, dancing and more at Boulder’s Bandshell.
NOVEMBER Boulder Jewish Film Festival November 3-13, 2022 This year marks a decade for this intimate flm festival that explores the human experience through flm and provides audiences with insight into the Jewish experience.
Festival del Sol September 18, 2022
COURTESY OUT BOULDER COUNTY 28 I BOULDER INSIDER 2022 I BOULDER WEEKLY JULY
October 10, 2022 For the last years,seventhe City of Boulder and community organi zations have worked together to host annual events and festivities to promote knowledge about Indigenous Peoples and honor the city’s Indigenous Peoples Day Resolution. Boulder Bach Festival October-May
FESTIVALS from PAGE 27 Boulder 2022
Downtown Boulder’s Fall Fest
August 19-21, 2022
SEPTEMBER Street Wise Boulder Mural Festival September 29-October 2, 2022 Large-scale murals by dozens of artists are created all over town in the span of just a few days in Boulder. See page 20 for a walking tour of a mere handful of Street Wise-produced murals.
Enjoy live music, food trucks, outdoor beer/wine garden, traditional dance, games, children’s activities, photo booth, and local art vendors at the Chautauqua Auditorium and surrounding gardens.
Boulder Nature/OutdoorsEnvironmental/FilmFestival
Flatirons Food Film Festival October 21-22 Local food, food insecurity, chefs and restaurants, international cuisine, the en vironment, organic and regenerative agri culture, food justice—these are the topics the Flatirons Food Film Festival brings to the table. Take in this extended weekend extravaganza of food-related flms, expert speakers and fun culinary events.
Jaipur Literature Festival Colorado September 16-18, 2022
Munchkin Masquerade October 31, 2022 Each Halloween, Downtown Boulder is invaded by tiny ghosts and goblins, dino saurs and dragons, fairies and princes, superheroes and animals of every size for trick-or-treating along Pearl Street.
This three-day autumn festival features live music, great food, local microbrews, wine and margaritas, with the added excitement of children’s activities and featuring Firefy Handmade Markets.
Fellow millennials, this is the adult version of the Scholastic Book Fair. Boulder’s Jai pur Literature Festival welcomes the pub lic for a series of author talks and events for the camaraderie, the caravan of ideas, and the magical fow of conversations.
TBA, 2023 Beginners through advanced aerial danc ers can learn and grow in their practice through two weeks of classes, lectures/ demonstrations, informal discussions and performances. AUGUST Boulder Taco Fest TBD, 2023 It’s Taco Tuesday on steroids… and also on a Saturday. A selection of the tastiest tacos from Boulder County vendors, a curated list of craft breweries, tequila tasting, high-fying Luchadores, awesome live bands, and lots of free fun for kids— right on Boulder Creek. This bad boy tends to sell out quick.
DECEMBER Right Now Global Climate Summit December 1-4, 2022 This three-day summit will gather some of the world’s foremost human rights, scientifc, political, educational, cultural and industry leaders to commit to specifc outcomes that will address the adverse effects of climate change on human rights. Lights of December Parade December 3, 2022 Kick off winter and light up the dark nights with marching bands, foats, fre engines, holiday carolers and more. The grand f nale includes an appearance by Mr. Claus. WinterFest at Colorado Chautauqua December TBA, 2022 If you’re looking to make magical winter memories with the family, Colorado Chau tauqua’s WinterFest is the way, featuring a festival of lights, kids concert, breakfast with Santa, Santa’s Cottage, horse-drawn carriage rides, historic tours, public art, a Winterfest market, a scavenger hunt and a photo station. Chanukah on Pearl Street December TBA, 2022 Music, fresh soufganiot (jelly donuts), hot latkes, hot cocoa, tossed gelt to take home and the lighting of the giant menorah. Out CountyBoulder hosts festivities.Pride
September 18, 2022
OCTOBER DayPeoplesIndigenous
Featuring arts and crafts exhibitors, live performances at the Bandshell, craft beer garden and a food court, The Great Zuc chini Race, the LETR StarLite Classic Car and Motorcycle Show.
Mapleton Hill Porchfest
TBA, 2023, Dairy Arts Center A stimulating four days featuring nar rative, documentary features and short flms from around the globe, with postscreening Q&As with guests from the flm, scientists and outdoor sports enthusiasts. Hanuman Festival July 13-16, 2023 Hanuman Festival offers an intimate, retreat-style yoga gathering with a limited number of passes. The festival takes place on Boulder County’s Yellow Barn Farm (9417 N. Foothills Highway, Longmont) with locally sourced farm-totable dinner on Saturday included for all three-day passholders.
BOULDER WEEKLY I BOULDER INSIDER 2022 I 29 701 B Main St., Louisville, CO • 720-583-1789 www.lulus-bbq.com BESTVOTEDBBQ Best Margarita Best Place to Eat Outdoors Best Restaurant Service Best Take-Out Best Wings LOUISVILLE,WWW.COALCREEKPT.COMCO|BOULDER,CO|303 666 4151 SERVING BOULDER COUNTY FOR 21 YEARS WITH HIGH QUALITY PHYSICAL THERAPY IN TWO CONVIENENT LOCATIONS ONE ON ONE CARE WITH YOUR THERAPIST AT EVERY VISIT HIGHLY SKILLED MANUAL AND THERAPEUTIC EFFICIENTINDIVIDUALIZEDTECHNIQUESTHERAPEUTICEXERCISEPROGRAMSANDEFFECTIVECAREFORGREATOUTCOMES!FRIENDLYANDGENUINELYCARINGSERVICE!GETSTARTEDTODAY TO FEEL BETTER AND LIVE A LIFE YOU 303.666.4151LOVE!
30 I BOULDER INSIDER 2022 I BOULDER WEEKLY 2018 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80302 (720) 420-9050 • www.fujiboulder.com Fuji Restaurant & Bar HAPPY HOUR 4-7pm Every Day on Draft Beer and Sake Pine SpruceStSt St14th Walnut CanyonBoulderStDr St11th Broadway Scan for our menu Konnichiwa / Tashi Delek! Welcome to Fuji, Taste of the Himalayas. We have been proudly serving Boulder, CO since 2015. Fuji Restaurant and Bar is a small, family-owned, Asian Fusion restaurant created from a mix of Japanese and Sherpa kitchen food and culture. Joseph A. Lucero, DDS Prosthodontist Contact us to schedule an 303.834.0615appointment! offce.luceroimplants@gmail.com 2575 Park Lane, Suite 101 • Lafayette, CO 80026 What we offer: • Routine Cleanings • Crowns • Dental Implants • Tooth Extractions • Dentures • Invisalign • in-house denture lab and two week custom hand-made dentures • And more! Insurances Accepted: • Delta Dental Premier • Cigna Dental PPO Contact our offce to verify insurance plan! www.luceroimplants.com
Much of the neighborhood’s recent growth is a result of deliberate planning by the organization, such as consistent art walks on the frst Friday of each month or the installation of various murals or little libraries on side walks, but Clack insists that the neighborhood’s appeal and ning.sinceremainedvariousattractivenesssubsequentforartistshasorganicthebegin“It’salittlemore gritty,” says Lisa Nesmith, president of the NoBo Art District. “Part of it isn’t even in the city. It’s unincorporated. So it feels a little more free.” “I love the fact that it’s off Broadway, you know?” adds Ireland. “It’s really accessible to people, in terms of alternative transportation and things like that.”
BOULDER WEEKLY I BOULDER INSIDER 2022 I 31
Though the organization began in 2009 and has chugged along with the consistent strategy of further connecting the neighborhood each year, NoBo’s leader ship noticed a boom in popularity last year as many of its galleries were able to ditch the pandemic protocols of distancing or resorting to online art showcases. “Our frst Friday event went from 200 to 400 people pre-pandemic, to like, 800 to a thousand people coming out,” says Nesmith. “It was like, ‘Wow, I think people re ally missed this kind of thing.’”
COURTESY NOBO
“(NoBo) really supports the art community and wants to be involved on that level of keeping people connected and making it an aesthetically interesting place to be here in Boulder,” says Julie Ireland, a north Boulder resident, visual artist and art curation manager who, for the duration of the pandemic, has helped NoBo curate large-scale exhibits and events. “There’s just a ton of collaborations in the city that come in with people doing creative things or wanting to host their events here,” says Leah Brenner Clack, interim director of the NoBo Art District. “We continue to see interest from people that want to come and add to the creative culture that’s blossoming more and more every day up (in North Boulder).”
The NoBo Art District takes a community -oriented approach to building an art scene
While thousands fock to Boulder for its reputation as an outdoor recreation mecca beneath the picturesque Flatirons, it might be easy for newcomers to miss the fact that the city boasts an up-andcoming art district as well. Tucked away on the northernmost end of Broad way, blocks of the city have quietly amassed eclectic, vibrant collections of murals, gallery spaces and cafés through reclaimed warehouses and new constructions like a forthcoming expansion of the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art. Much of this revitalization can be attributed to the ambitious work of the NoBo Art District, a grassroots organization responsible for cultivating and reassem bling Boulder’s art community through a pandemic that shuttered much of the district’s opportunity for expansion over the last two years. Much of the organization’s work focuses on collaborating directly with artists to ensure that the north end of Broadway consistently showcases visual artwork and interactive installations in mixed-use spaces.
Collaborators like Ireland have noticed an uptick in interest from various businesses who seek to display local art in their spaces and invite residents in. “I love the fact that when I put out a call for an artist to show in a business venue, instead of getting one or two responses, I’m now getting anywhere from 15 to 25 artists,” Ireland says. Now that the hunger for the arts has returned at full force, the leadership of the NoBo Arts District turn their sights toward the future, one where that attitude of col laboration is pushed to the forefront. A major focus, Nesmith says, is to get more and more art shows hosted at these businesses, or converse ly, have other events be hosted in the district’s many gallery spaces as the neighborhood seeks to prioritize mixed-use development. Members of the organization, who range from individual artists to a variety of business owners, can host workshops, flm screenings or book releases at the NoBo Art Center free of charge. “If you have an exhibition or an event and you need space, it’s like, ‘Yes, come do it here!’” says Clack. “There’s no everyone.”prettygoinggatekeepingon.It’sopentoDespiteitsclose partnership with these local artists, the organization seems to have a sense of trust in the neighborhood’s growth: trust that its artists will put on interesting events year-round, and trust that the public interest in all of it will continue to naturally expand. Be cause of this, leadership at NoBo is assured the growth of the neighborhood will stem from the passions and interests of its resident artists above all else. “Right now, we’re engaging with the community through outreach and surveys about what the needs are and what the community wants,” Clack says. “I think that’s really important for people coming into NoBo, developing whatever it is they want real estate or com munity wise. I’m really excited to see where that goes.” “We hear comments, like, ‘This is what Boulder used to be like.’ Not gentrifed, kind of different and weird,’” says Nesmith. “I can bring my dog. And listen to music. And chat with people who are different from me. After the pandemic, people were really craving something easy like that.”
No slowingdown the arts by Ben Berman Boulder 2022 NoBo Art District is cultivating Boulder’s grassroots art com munity. Even in the wake of the pandemic it’s fourishing.
F irst impressions can be deceiving, especially when it comes to food in Boulder. While there is an impressive roster of interna tional eateries in the city dishing everything from Thai to Middle Eastern cuisine, sources for global ingredients aren’t obvious to newcomers. They won’t fnd those long boulevards chockablock with global food markets and bakeries that cities like Denver and Aurora boast. Granted, Boulder is rich in supermarkets as well as Sprouts, Trader Joe’s, Vitamin Cottage, Whole Foods and Savory Spice Shop that are well stocked with the most common international ingredients and seasonings. However, that’s not nearly enough if you are serious about authentic global cooking. That’s especially true for the area’s large contingent of foreign-born students, scientists and techies. Where do locals source the necessary ingredients needed for craft ing Indian, Brazilian, Indonesian, Provencal and Guatemalan dishes at home without driving to Denver? If you poke around a little, you’ll fnd an amazing variety of familyrun markets tucked away in strip malls and side streets across Boulder. They tend to be small and jammed with goods from foor to ceiling. The culinary roster has grown with the opening of shops offering goods for cooking South American and Afghani fare.
Middle East and Central Asia Silk Road Grill and Market, 2607 Pearl St. Mediterranean Market & Deli, 2690 28th St.
M
groceriesGlobal
Your roadmap to Boulder’s world of international food markets by John Lehndorff FRANCESUSAN FIND ALL THE INGREDIENTS YOU NEED TO MAKE YOUR FAVORITE MIDDLE EASTERN DISHES AT HOME AT THE SILK ROAD GRILL AND MARKET ON PEARL STREET. s
iddle Eastern eateries and markets had occupied this location for many years, but the opening of Silk Road Grill and Market provided one of Boulder’s frst tastes of Afghani food. The deli dishes favorites like hummus, gyros, falafel and kebabs on long basmati rice, but be sure to step out with authentic homestyle Afghani preparations such as Kabuli palow and lamb shank. The shelves offer a limited range of teas (chai), spices, condiments and pickles. The Mediterranean Market and Deli is a longtime go-to source for take-out foods including falafel pitas with hummus and tzatziki, spanakopita, and merguez lamb sausage sandwiches. The deli packs fresh olives and Bulgarian feta as well as Middle Eastern and Eastern European grocery items including sesame seed snaps, cherry jams, olive oils, date syrup, halvah, baklava and imported Kit Kat bars. Don’t miss the great selection of fresh fatbreads (including Turkish simit).
32 I BOULDER INSIDER 2022 I BOULDER WEEKLY Boulder 2022
B
oulder’s two small Indian grocery stores provide their regulars with some fresh vegetables plus the right varieties of basmati rice, spices, pickles, chutney, fours, curry mixes, yogurt, ghee, papadum and chai. The frozen cases offer prepared dishes, paneer, snacks and Halal meats including goat. Both stock Indian breads including paratha, chapati and naan. These are great places to get advice on how to make tandoori or vindaloo.
By far the largest contingent of international markets in Boulder feature foods from Mexico as well as Central American and Caribbean nations. Panaderia Sabor a Mexico is primarily a wonderful bakery with a wall of pastries, pan dulce, orejas, bolillo buns, cinnamon sugar-dusted churros, cream-flled horns and cupcakes, pineapple and pumpkin empanadas and tres leches cake. The rest of the tightly packed shop is stocked with tortillas, cheeses, candies, snacks and other foods. Shop here for a wide selection of colorful, candy-flled party pinatas. Las 10 Americas Carniceria, El Valle Market and La Loma Car niceria are known for their butcher departments flled with fresh cuts of meat. These larger stores are a great source for all the vegetables, dried chilies, canned goods and seasonings needed to cook Mexican and Central American fare at home.
Southern South America Cuji Foods, 3340 Arapahoe Ave., cujifoods.com T here have been plenty of places nearby to fnd Central Ameri can foods, but until Cuji Foods opened in Boulder, the tastes of South American have been hard to fnd. The small shop imports foods and ingredients directly from nations from Venezuela to Argentina. The shelves are stocked with coffees, teas, cassava crackers, chocolate bars and bottled garlic sauce. Frozen favorites include arepas, ready-tobake Argentinian meat pies, empanadas, cheese bread, various sausages and prime meats from Uruguay. A cooler provides cheeses and chilled yerba mate and other drinks.
FRANCESUSAN LEFRIGO ON ARAPAHO HAS ALL YOUR NEEDS FOR FRENCH AND EUROPEAN CUISINE COVERED. s
SUSANFR GOT GUAYAMANO? IF NOT, A QUICK STOP AT CUJI FOODS AND ALL YOUR SOUTH AMERICAN CHEESE NEEDS WILL BE FULFILLED. s
France & Europe LeFrigo, 5630 Arapahoe Ave. Boulder’s French-oriented deli is a delight, starting with freshly made sandwiches like the LeFrigo Royal— that’s Paris ham, saucisson, prosciutto and cor nichons on a buttered baguette. There is also a glass case of freshly baked pastries, quiche, croissants and baguettes from a local French bakery. European food lovers sigh when they see the shelves of imported jams, olives, sauces, chocolates and sweets. The cooler is stocked with pate, cheeses, French-style sausages and frozen ready-to-heat treats. (Another great nearby source of French foods and cheese is Longmont’s Cheese Importers.)
BOULDER WEEKLY I BOULDER INSIDER 2022 I 33
Mexico and Central America Panaderia Sabor a Mexico, 2839 28th St. Las 10 Americas Carniceria, 2887 30th St. El Valle Market, 2887 30th St. La Loma Carniceria Mexican Grocery Store, 4483 Broadway
India and South Asia India Bazaar, 1542 28th St. India’s Grocery, 2877 28th St.
A t 36 years old, the Asian Food Market is the grandmother among Boulder’s markets. It looks tiny from the inside, but the interior rooms are foor-to-ceiling with the vegetables and canned and dry ingredients for Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Indonesian, Thai and other cuisines. Dim sum options and meats for pho fll the freezers, and coolers are loaded with canned beverages and fresh, locally made essentials like kimchi and dipping sauces. There’s an aisle of noodles, plus teas, teas, coffees and condiments. Don’t miss the giant freshly fried sesame ball snacks, soft in the middle and mildly sweet. (For a much more extensive stockpile of Asian ingredi ents and seafood, visit Pacifc Ocean Marketplace in Broomfeld.)
John Lehndorff is the food editor of Boulder Weekly and host of Radio Nibbles on KGNU.
Asia Asian Food Market, 2829 28th St.
What is a happy place? It’s somewhere you can go, no matter what and find feel-goodfeelings. It can be a memory, old or new. A situation. An activity. A ritual. The only requirement is that it makes you feel happy and you’re welcome anytime. Downtown Boulder. Welcome to your happy
VisitDowntownBoulder.complace!happyplacewelcometoyour ExploreDining(100+ restaurants)hSopping(150+retailers)Fall/Winter Events PeopleWatching
BOULDER WEEKLY I BOULDER INSIDER 2022 I 35 Boulder 2022 House
this entire network of hosts across the country who do this, mostly for the love of mu sic, almost entirely for the love of music, because we don’t get paid,” she said. “And we don’t make money, we end up spending money to host these things. And all the money that comes in is donations. And all of that goes directly to the artist. The hosts make nothing.”
Mile High Music’s last house show this year will be Sept. 23 with traveling musician Marc DouglasWhenBerardo.speaking about her passion to share music, Terry said, “People have been doing house concerts forever… inviting the village to sit CH shows and tiny concerts along the Front RangeUnexpected by Colette
Future dates to look out for are a ’90s-hits night in Englewood, and a Beyonce-themed night in Denver’s RiNo neighborhood. Sofar also offers a back-to-school discount between Aug. 15 and Sept. 30. (Promo code: backtoschool) Mile High Music Less than 30 miles north of Boulder, in Ber thoud, Mile High Music host Terry Georgia began the singer/songwriter venue a year and a half ago. Originally from Colorado, she moved back to the Centennial State from D.C. to take care of her sick father and be closer to family. She wanted to host house concerts since attending her frst 15 years ago, but never had the space until her move back West. Here, she intentionally moved into a house to accommodate enough people for the shows.
On a Friday evening in July, two people stand outside a shoe store on the Pearl Street Mall, checking ID and vaccina tion cards for people who want to enter. Inside, among the shoes, about 30 people sit on sarape blankets laid on the foor and along curvy, contemporary wooden benches in the back. There’s a chill vibe in the air, and shoe shopping isn’t the reason. Attending concerts and small, intimate shows held in unexpected places brings another layer of ambience to a night of live music. These places in Boulder and areas along the Front Range invite people to experience this enchantment yearround. The only question is: Where? Sofar Sounds
For intrinsicallydiscoverysic,things—liveofblendtheinmanageroperationsregionalSofarSanchen,BrandySoundscrewDenver,eventsmanyherfavoritemucommunity,andaneccentric fair. “They happen in magical backyards that are lit up by twinkling, dreamy rooftops that overlook the city and moun tains,” Sanchen said. “Union Station in Denver, we’ve hosted in shoe stores, museums, breweries, motorcycle shops, music studios, you name it.”
“Each (house concert) has its own personali ty,” Georgia said. “I’ve been to some where there’s a lot of alcohol involved and people are having a good time that way. But others are very quiet, you know, you sit there and you listen. And people come in, they listen, they go home. Other times, people hang out af ter the show and it becomes a real community.”Sheprefers to musicsinger/songwritershostbecauseshefoundthere’sanentirenetworkoftalentedartistsshehasn’texperiencedanywhereelse.Shewantstoexposeheraudiencetoamoreundergroundscene.“Yourealizethere’s
The show I decided to see was at Allbirds that Friday evening, hosted by Sofar Sounds. Hours before I arrived, I had no clue where I was going to watch the musicians play. I also didn’t know who was going to play. The mystery added to the excitement.Thiswas also Denver-based amateur DJ Max well Poyser’s frst time at a Sofar Sounds concert. What brought her to the event was “the love of music and trying out new things,” she said, as she sat with her friend and drank the canned beer they brought to the BYOB show. Before the music began, MC and show experi ence lead Jamaal Curry entertained the crowd and prepped the audience for the show. He interacted with the audience to discover that one person present attended a Sofar Sounds event in Sydney, Australia. The company connects artists with com munities in over 400 cities around the world. Curry, who also is an artist, said, “the goal of these shows is to pay attention to the artist. It’s a global music community where artists are not the background.” Then, he introduced the frst act, Dora. Dora sat down in front of the audience with her guitar. She introduced her friend, Froggy, who per formed with her for the frst few songs. Together, they sang sad breakup songs with an acoustic guitar. Dora captivated through some cover songs and personal stories. She blended myriad covers into one song, snippets of each, including Justin Bieber’s “Peaches” and Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.” It was a hit. We all sang along and she suggested we all sing to the person sitting next to us during a chorus. Originally from Boston, but currently residing in LA, the alternative-pop singer/songwriter was on her frst Sofar Sounds tour. “It’s the best,” Dora said of performing with Sofar. “They’re built for people that are songwriters. I feel like because people sit and want to listen … the vibe is so chill.”
Since she recently moved to the area, her audience is gradually catching on about her house shows through word of mouth and the Colorado House Concerts Facebook page. Sometimes a signifcant number of people show up (no more than 20 due to COVID) and sometimes only a few.
placesCzarnecki See CONCERTS on PAGE 36
H Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder Before becoming a live music venue, Fox Theatre opened as a movie theater in 1961. After a period of closure and remodeling The Fox reopened its doors primarily as a music venue on March 6, 1992. Lo cated on the Hill, the Fox was once listed by Rolling Stone as one of America’s best venues. It continues to host phenomenal shows in a historic location.
H Caribou Room, 55 Indian Peaks Drive, Nederland Located 20 minutes west of Boulder in the beautiful town of Nederland, the Caribou Room offers world-class audio and visual experience. The Caribou Room was thoughtfully designed using mostly recycled materials such as recycled pine Beetle kill wood and old wine barrel heads. Events at the Caribou Room are virtually 100%-zero waste, using compostable cups and utensils.
NICHOLAS COE
H Chautauqua Auditorium, 900 Base line Road, Boulder Built-in 1898, Chautauqua Auditorium sits in the shadow of the famed Flatirons and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. The auditorium’s barn-like architecture lends itself to one-of-a-kind acoustics that have hosted the likes of musical legends including B.B. King, Ziggy Marley, Graham Nash, and Joan Baez.
Boulder Music Venues
Boulder 2022 CONCERTS from PAGE 35
H Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder Opened in May 2022, the Velvet Elk Lounge is Boulder’s newest music venue, born from a desire to create a small, funky venue where you can get a proper cocktail and listen to great local music. When there is no live music, check out the Lounge’s cal endar for any number of other events, like DJ dance parties.
H Muse Performance Space, 200 E. South Boulder Road, Lafayette The Muse Performance Space in Lafayette is an intimate venue suited for smaller shows or private events. Created and run by working musicians, Muse was designed with performance experience in mind.
H Nissi’s Entertainment Venue & Event Center, 1455 Coal Creek Drive, Unit T, Lafayette Located in Lafayette, Nissi’s is an award-winning music, entertainment and event center, focused on featuring both national and regional artists. around the campfre and listen to a traveling troubadour. It’s been going on forever. It’s something that’s kind of ingrained in us, in a way. It’s just fnding ways to access that.”
H Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St., Boulder
36 I BOULDER INSIDER 2022 I BOULDER WEEKLY
H Caffe Sole, 637R S. Boulder Road, Boulder
Fraser Valley Folk Heading west, another small concert series is held in the emerald green Fraser Historic Church six times a year.Originally from Wisconsin, husband-and-wife team Bambi and John Statz moved to the mountain town in 2013 and began attending small house concerts and classical music series in the area. They were inspired to emulate the small concert setting with folk musicians. They founded Fraser Valley Folk in 2015 . Their traveling folk-musi cian son, John Statz, plays a role in connecting with musi cians and scheduling them to perform at the small shows. Musi cians from all over the country—and one from Sweden—have played in the historic church-turned-community center. Bambi said she believes the musicians “leave with a favor of our town from people who truly appreciate them.” Again, musicians are not background noises at a Fraser Valley Folk concert, as they can be in bars. During a show, the audience often learns about the musicians’ life stories and the meanings behind their songs. “We have audiences,listening you could hear a pin drop, because they’re listening to the lyrics,” Bambi Fraser Valley Folk holds three concerts in the spring and another three in the fall each year. Audience members must RSVP through the Fraser Valley Fork Facebook page, or email (fraservalleyfolk@gmail.com). They ask for $15 donations and most of it goes to the musi cians.
H Gold Hill Inn, 401 Main St., Boulder Located up Fourmile Canyon, Gold Hill Inn provides an intimate venue, isolated from city lights. In the summertime, Gold Hill opens its doors to the warm air with performances taking place outside in the beer garden depending on the weather.
Located in South Boulder, Caffe Sole offers European-inspired weekend jazz club dinners, featur ing international sounds. The intimate venue operates on a frst-come, frst-serve basis, with a suggested $15 cover charge.
A venue for the more established artists visiting the city, Boulder Theater is nestled in the heart of downtown Boulder. Opened in 1906, Boulder Theater offers an 850-seat venue hosting events ranging from comedy shows to concerts to corporate events. Now a Colorado historic landmark, the beautiful art deco design at Boulder Theater makes for a lovely place to spend an evening.
H eTown Hall, 1535 Spruce St., Boul der eTown Hall is a live music venue, full-service recording studio, and community center all in one. True to eTown’s 24-year commitment to environmen tal education and “doing the right thing,” this facility, converted from an old church, is quite possibly the greenest music and media center in Colorado.
DANK DEALS NORTH DENVER LOCATION 6101 WASHINGTON ST. DENVER, CO 80216 BOULDER LOCATION 1537 PEARL STREET, UNIT B, BOULDER, CO 80302 20 % 20 % 20 % 20 %EDIBLESALLALLFLOWER CONCENTRATESALL BOTH LOCATIONSBOTH LOCATIONBOULDERLOCATIONSONLY LOCATIONBOULDERONLY SOLVENTLESSPRODUCTS OFF OFF OFF OFF ALTESTBOULD ER DEALSHERE MUNCHIE MONDAY WAX WEDNESDAY FLOWER FRIDAY SOLVENTLESS SUNDAY
