Home of the main campus of the University of Colorado, the state's largest university, Boulder is considered one of the most liberal cities in Colorado. With its colorful Western history, and popularity among hippies and the counter-culture in the late 1960s combined with 46,000 college students, Boulder offers a diverse culture and a plethora of art galleries, festivals, music and theatre events.
The Boulder International Film Festival is held each February by the Colorado Film Society, a nonprofit organization founded by local filmmakers Kathy and Robin Beeck. The festival aims to provide the Denver/Boulder metro area with an early look at the best new films in international cinema. BIFF has hosted over 150 filmmakers from around the world since 2005.
Boulder is also home to a variety of music, from classical to jazz to pop, and from informal street performances to concert music performed in historic Macky Auditorium. If classical music is your style, you’ll enjoy performances by the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra professional orchestra. Every January, Boulder hosts an annual celebration honoring Austrian composer Gustav Mahler called the Colorado MahlerFest. Each summer brings the Colorado Music Festival, a six-week classical music festival with professional musicians from around the world. This event is held at the historic Chautauqua Auditorium at the base of the Flatirons. The Boulder Chamber Orchestra was founded in 2004 by Bahman Saless, and the group offers unique and alternative programming and outreach to the community.
Several choruses call Boulder home, including Ars Nova Singers, the Boulder Chorale, the Rocky Mountain Chorale, the Cantabile Singers, the Jubilate Sacred Singers, and the Renaissance Project.
The art scene thrives in the Boulder area with the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, the Boulder Arts & Crafts Cooperative, which is one of the oldest co-ops in the United States, and numerous art shows and events like Art in the Park take place throughout the year.
Boulder’s Dinner Theatre brings Broadway to the mountains, and the Colorado Shakespeare Festival brings a variety of the famous bard’s most-loved plays to the stage each year.
Enjoy the diverse culture of Boulder. You’ll find there’s no shortage of entertaining cultural events going on all year long.
