On Friday, July 22, the Boulder Theater will host an event that very well may rock the globe. For nearly 5 hours  (breaks included) audience members will get a chance to hear about some of the most visionary and extreme projects being developed by young entrepreneurs from around the world.

The event, dramatically titled the Unreasonable Climax, is hosted by the Unreasonable Institute, a Boulder-based organization that is in its second year mentoring, training, and equipping young entrepreneurs with the resources and skills they need to create large-scale social change through business. Unreasonable Fellows speaking at the Climax have gone through a 6-week intensive program at the Institute in Boulder to learn how to make their dreams a reality.

Twenty-five Fellows will speak for 6 minutes each about their projects, adressing such issues as better ways to screen for disease, provide clean water, ease food shortages, and provide education to women in impoverished and struggling countries.

While their projects may seem ideal and perhaps far-fetched, these Fellows have been selected by the Unreasonable Institute precisely because they can succeed. The Institute only trains entrepreneurs who have a strong business idea involving a sustainability or social problem. The Fellow must be able to make their idea must be profitable and, (here’s the kicker) be able to impact more than a million people in 5 years with their vision.

The goal of the Unreasonable Climax is to gain public support and awareness of these revolutionary businesses and to, according to the Institute’s website, “define progress in our time.”

Following the event, audience members are invited to join the Unreasonable Fellows, Mentors, and Partners at the St. Julien Hotel in downtown Boulder for food, music, drinks, and inspiring company. For those who can’t get enough, there will be additional events on Thursday the 21^st and Saturday the 23^rd.

With so many wild ideas, energized people, and radical business plans swirling around, there may be no more unreasonable place to be on July 22 than Boulder, Colorado.

Boulder is known as a progressive town, partly due to its liberal university population and partly because the people who live there tend to be passionate about preserving the beautiful environment around the city that makes it such a great place to live.

There are many “green” businesses in the area, and just about every business makes some effort to incorporate sustainable practices and products. One of the areas in which Boulder really is at the leading edge is renewable and sustainable energy research, thanks to collaborative efforts between the university and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

The Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI) was launched in 2009 after years of research and collaboration. The goal of forming the institute was to become an international force in solving the energy challenge through research, education and technology commercialization. With the expert input provided by CU faculty, it was determined that in order to be successful, the institute must be highly interdisciplinary. Integration of the university’s extensive research in renewable and sustainable energy with its strengths in climate and environmental science, behavioral studies, policy analysis, and entrepreneurship is key. RASEI uses a three-pronged approach emphasizing discovery, transformation, and entrepreneurship.

The individuals who make up RASEI believe that a critical aspect of the institute is commercialization. RASEI strives to move new technologies into clean and renewable energy markets as quickly as possible. Increasing commercialization through start-up incubation, collaborations on research and deployment, early engagement of students, strategic giving opportunities, and increased networking between CU community and the business community are all facilitated by the Energy Institute’s business program.

RASEI has also aimed to create a local hub for clean technology commercialization and start-up companies by partnering with the Deming Center, Tech Transfer Office and other institutions on and off campus.

RASEI retains a leadership council that serves as advisers. The council corporate leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, scientists, policy makers and academics. The goal of the council is to merge the research capabilities of scientists and faculty with local leaders’ market-based experience and perspective.

Institutes like RASEI and innovative entrepreneurs are what keep the city of Boulder at the leading edge of technology and renewable energy research.

Colorado Shakespeare Festival (CSF) is one of the most famous such festivals in the world and is highly regarded by experts in the field of Shakespearean literature. In fact, in 1992, CSF was named one of the top Shakespeare festivals in the nation by TIME Magazine. And later that same year, the Festival was given the Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts and the Denver Drama Critic’s Circle Award for “Best Season for a Theatre Company.”

The purpose of the festival is to provide meaning, expand understanding and deepen appreciation of Shakespeare’s texts—through performances, workshops and lectures. The Colorado Shakespeare Festival is tremendously successful and draws as many as 40,000 audience members each season.

The festival began in 1958 with productions of Julius Caesar, Hamlet and The Taming of a Shrew. In 1975, with the production of Cymbeline, the CSF became the seventh theatre in the world to complete the entire Shakespearean canon of 37 plays.

CSF is much more than a series of plays. There are also a number of other CSF programs that accompany the festival, including a sequence of courses called Shakespeare in Production; and Prologue, which is an informal introduction to the evening’s performance by CSF staff members. There are also Green Show activities, a free Actors’ Talkback series, and school outreach programs.

The school outreach program is called “Living Shakespeare.” This program is seen by about 5000 students and teachers each year, and has given over 600 performances throughout Colorado public schools since 1991.

CSF offers community programs as well, including the “Classics 101″ discussion series hosted by the Boulder Public Library, as well as the “Director and Designer” presentations, wherein the public gets and inside view of the production process that takes place before each season opens.

The 2011 season will have a distinct Russian flair to it. Plays will include “The Inspector General,” a 19th century comedy by Russian playwright Nikolai Gogol. This play will be staged indoors on the University Mainstage, and will include a handful of bi-lingual performances, and a team of Russian theater artists will travel to Boulder to helm the show.

The other plays that will show this season are Shakespeare’s “The Comedy of Errors” and “Romeo and Juliet,” and an adaptation of the novella “The Little Prince.” Fans of the festival will be glad to hear that funding has allowed the installation of a full amplification system at the Mary Rippon Outdoor Theatre that will be implemented in time for the 2011 season.

One of the best places to visit in Boulder if you like art, theatre and dance is the Dairy Center for the Arts. The Dairy Center for the Arts is a non-profit cultural arts organization founded in 1992 and one of the only places in Boulder to experience dramatic theater, comedy, live music, film, dance performances and visual arts under one roof. It is housed in the historic Watts-Hardy Dairy building, which once operated as a dairy storage and processing plant. The Dairy is home to fifteen premier resident arts organizations and offers high quality performing and visual arts experiences. Thousands of patrons participate in classes, workshops, exhibitions, films and dance, music, and theater performances each year.

The center hosts all kinds of shows throughout the year. For example, there’s Playback Theatre West, which is improvisational, “comicathartic” theatre based on using the audience’s stories to entertain, enrich and enlighten. There’s Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company’s presentation of Crime & Punishment, an award-winning adaptation of Dostoyevsky’s literary masterpiece is set in the mind of the murderer, where he relives and explores the events that drove him to his horrible crime. And if you like dance, check out the Boulder Ballet: Stepping Out 2011. This is Boulder Ballet’s annual contemporary concert which demonstrates the cutting edge of ballet technique and artistry through varied and imaginative choreography.

The center’s Resident Organizations are specifically designed for working with young people. Boulder Ballet, for example, connects with youth through performances and outreach at schools, festivals and special events. The Ballet partners with Boulder Philharmonic to present “The Nutcracker” each holiday season. Students perform in a number of events including the Annual Student Choreographers Showcase, the End of Year Showcase, and others.

The CenterStage Theatre Company offers three to four productions each year, and approximately 300 children participate in theater productions, camps or the summer choral program.

Imagination Makers Theater Company is an adult theater company that performs for children in the Denver-Boulder area. The company performs at 175 or more schools each year. Productions explore complicated issues such as homelessness and hunger.

These are just a few of the Dairy Center’s outreach programs. Art exhibits at The Dairy Center range from professional, accomplished artists working in all types of media from clay to oil to sculpture and found objects to student exhibits.

The Dairy Center can also be rented for special events, and offers spaces that will accommodate anywhere from 85 to 250 people in a beautiful, historic yet modern setting.

One of the most popular venues in Boulder is the Chautauqua Auditorium, which is a historic landmark with a long history. The Chautauqua Movement began in the late 1800s as a means to share cultural and educational experiences with people in small towns. Performers of all kinds, including speakers, educators, actors, and others traveled a national Chautauqua circuit of more than 12,000 sites. This circuit brought lectures, performances, concerts, classes, and exhibitions to thousands of people who otherwise had little opportunity to experience such culture and entertainment.

The Colorado Chautauqua is one of three remaining Chautauquas in the United States today, and it’s the only site that continuously operates and maintains its original structures west of the Mississippi River. Located at the base of Boulder’s Flatirons, Chautauqua Park is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a well-known local landmark situated on 26 acres of land.

The Auditorium, which was built in 1898, has been voted one of the top ten places artists love to play because of its superior acoustics and intimate feel. The Dining Hall was constructed that same year and is now open all year long, offering delicious cuisine to visitors. The Academic Hall is home to Chautauqua’s administrative offices and was the first collegiate-level summer school in Colorado. It was built in 1900. And lastly, the Community House, completed in 1918, is a striking example of Arts and Crafts architecture, though the building has been winterized and renovated.

The Colorado Chautauqua hosts numerous events all year long, from music to dance to films and lectures, and the Colorado Music Festival (CMF). CMF takes place each summer and offers hundreds of performances by extremely talented and award-winning musicians. The upcoming season of CMF includes a five-concert violin mini-festival; “Ansel Adams: America” composed by Chris and Dave Brubeck; a Festival-commissioned world premiere by Patrick Zimmerli;  Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony with the Colorado premiere of Marcel Tyberg’s two movement completion to Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony, and much more.

Visit the Colorado Chautauqua center for any of its varied events and you’ll find yourself in a living history exhibit, where past meets present and creativity abounds. No visit to the Boulder area would be complete without taking in a show at this unique venue.

The 7^th Annual Boulder International Film Festival (BIFF) kicks off on February 17^th this year. The festival has become known as one of the most influential newer film festivals in the country and is sponsored by the Colorado Film Society, a nonprofit organization. The Colorado Film Society was founded by local filmmakers Kathy and Robin Beeck. The festival aims to bring the hip, leading-edge films and filmmakers to the Boulder-Denver area. Over 16,000 filmmakers, media, special guests and film enthusiasts attended last year’s four-day event.

This year Academy Award-winning film director Oliver Stone will be the guest of honor. He will be presented with a “Master of Cinema Award” the last night of the festival, February 20^th, at the Boulder Theater. The evening will also include a retrospective of Stone’s work and a question-and-answer session with Stone.

In previous years the festival honored Alec Baldwin and Chevy Chase among many other accomplished writers, actors and directors. The official schedule for 2011 has not yet been released, but be sure to check the official website frequently for updates.

BIFF is also committed to its educational outreach programs, such as its Free Screenwriting Seminar, Student Volunteer Program, “Best New Filmmaker” Award, “Best Student Film” Award, and World Cinema Days.

The goal of World Cinema Days is to keep students engaged by screening inspiring and thought-provoking student-appropriate documentaries, films and animation. Films are screened during unstructured days off, such as when teachers have professional development or in-service days. These events also help parents arrange activities for their child on these non-school days. World Cinema Days features a free film program, presentation and group discussion for students in grade 4 through 12.

BIFF also offers free tickets for students to films, panels, workshops, and helps students meet filmmakers. BIFF also found a Youth Advisory Council a few years ago. It’s made up of 12-15 local film enthusiasts from grades 8-12, and the council is given a voice in the festival each year by helping to select student films, judging the student film category, and organizing and promoting film-related opportunities for students in the county.

The Boulder International Film Festival is about much more than actors and movies; it’s a local cultural force that helps cultivate diversity in the area while engaging residents and visitors in other cultures by sharing films from all over the world.