By admin 
It’s high time for the high country this summer and Fraser Valley is giving you two excuses to get up and out this weekend: the Winter Park Film Festival and Plein Air at Altitude.
We’ve also got a music festival in Five Points, free Shakespeare shows in Westminster and celebrations all over the state for Mexican Independence Day.
Sept. 10-16
Winter Park Film Festival. The fourth annual Winter Park Film Festival kicks off Friday with a free secret film screening at Denos Mountain Bistro at 3:30 p.m. From then until Sunday it’s all things outdoors, from local legends to international adventures. Festival mornings begin with a run, walk or flyfishing outing that leaves from Grand County Roastery, before attendees settle in for some screenings.
And what’s a film festival without a couple of keynotes? Filmmaker Josh Berman takes attendees behind the scenes of shooting freestyle skiing for the past two decades, while director of photography Igor Meglic pulls back the curtain on the chases, crashes and explosions that make a Hollywood action film so Hollywood.
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While you’re there, the Rendezvous Event Center in Winter Park will host more than 25 artists who have spent the week painting outdoors during the annual Plein Air at Altitude 10-day festival. The works will be displayed for the public beginning Friday evening at a ticketed reception, and open for free from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday.
Various prices; Friday-Sunday; Various venues in Fraser and Winter Park
Other events to consider
- Hi Points Festival. Thirteen straight hours of live music across six venues up and down the Welton Street corridor in Five Points. $20; 1 p.m.-2 a.m., Saturday; 27th & Welton Street, Denver
- Fiestas Patrias. Mexican Independence Day is Wednesday and the celebration starts this weekend, with parties in Denver, Aurora and Colorado Springs, as well as events happening statewide throughout the week. Free; Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday; Various locations
- Shakespeare in the Parking Lot. Two of Shakespeare’s most approachable plays — “Romeo and Juliet” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” — in the most accessible of places: the parking lot at the Orchard Town Center in Westminster. The abridged shows are free with no RSVP needed, just show up with a lawn chair and a cold drink. Free; noon and 2 p.m., Saturday; Orchard Town Center, 14697 Delaware St., Westminster
Note: This is a curated list by the reporter to give readers a sense of arts and culture events happening across Colorado that they may not have otherwise known about. This is not meant to be an exhaustive account of things to do.
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