Brews, brass, Buckley
Fifty breweries, 100 varieties of beer, four bands and one great cause – the San Juan Brewfest combines some of life’s finest things. The 16th annual festival will come to Buckley Park, 1200 Main Ave., on Saturday for an afternoon of beer-sampling and live music. Craft breweries like Oskar Blues, Left Hand and Carver Brewing Co. will be pouring their finest lagers, browns, IPAs, stouts and even sours into the 5-ounce tasting glasses participants get with their ticket. “There will be every style you can think of,” said Tim Walsworth, executive director of Durango Business Improvement District. “Name a beer, and it’ll be there.” Providing musical entertainment, meanwhile, will be Durango bands Blue Sage Bandits, Elder Grown and One Roof Blues along with headliner The Hill Stompers of New Mexico. The Stompers bring a joyful and colorful musical party to the stage with brass instruments, kooky costumes and sky-high energy. Vendors will have food on hand to make sure people aren’t drinking their dinner, and designated drivers get in free. All proceeds go to United Way of Southwest Colorado. Brewfest will take place from 1 to 5 p.m. Tickets are $25 general admission, and, Walsworth said, they’re going fast. Visit www.sanjuanbrewfest.com to get yours now.
An evening with Paula
You’ve heard her razor-sharp witticisms on NPR’s weekly quiz show, “Wait Wait ... Don’t Tell Me!” Now, you can experience the humor of Paula Poundstone in person. Poundstone will perform her comedy routine at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Community Concert Hall, 1000 Rim Drive. The comedian got her start traveling around the country via Greyhound buses for gigs, and went on to become a renowned entertainer who has appeared on “SNL,” starred in HBO specials and been inducted into the Comedy Hall of Fame. Tickets for the show are $28/$34 and are available at www.durangoconcerts.com, by calling 247-7656 or in person at the Welcome Center at Eighth Street and Main Avenue.
Magical mycelium
Each summer, the monsoons coax an incredible array of fungi from the forests of the San Juans: polka-dotted amanitas, globular puff balls, bizarre coral mushrooms and the coveted culinary marvels that are chanterelles and boletes. The 2014 Mushroom Festival, which will take place Saturday at Durango Mountain Resort, 1 Skier Place, will celebrate the mystical and multifaceted world of mushrooms and our local specimens. The event is offering a guided hunt with mushroom experts at 9:30 a.m. followed by a mushroom, wine and beer festival from 3 to 6 p.m. While the hunt will allow people to forage for mushrooms on the backside of the mountain, the festival will feature live music by The Assortment, educational seminars, beer and wine and small plates of local and exotic mushroom dishes – including a mushroom-infused dessert care of Cream Bean Berry artisan ice creams. The hunt and festival are $40 each, or $70 for both. Visit www.durangomountainresort.com for more information.
All aboard
The Durango Blues Train returns to town today for a second summertime weekend of live music on the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. The event will offer a moving musical experience as bands perform on six rail cars during the three-and-a-half hour journey through the San Juan Mountains. Patrons can dance their way from coach to coach, sip on beer and wine and take in a variety of blues music. Saturday’s train is sold out, but today’s event will feature young guitar phenom Matthew Curry, rootsy bluesman Leon J, Durango trio One Roof Blues, Arizona axe man Scotty Spenner, Portland harpist and blues vocalist Franco Paletta and the Stingers and C.W. Ayon, who plays what he dubs “Chihuahuan Desert Blues.” Tickets are $95. Visit www.durangobluestrain.com for more information or to get yours.
