A&E Roundup: Carbondale kicks off spring with Dandelion Day
Thomas Phippen/Post Independent
Dandelions are in full bloom, and Carbondale is doing a full celebration for it.
Come experience a celebration of sustainability, community and Carbondale’s town flower, the dandelion, for Dandelion Day. The theme for the festivities this year is bees, and that means everything will be bright and yellow.
“26 years ago, Doc Philip, who is considered to be the founder of Dandelion Day, and a couple other parents started to advocate with the town to stop spraying pesticides in public spaces, and that’s how the Carbondale Environmental Board was born,” this year’s overseer, Quinn Port said. “The next year came around and Dandelion Day was founded.”
Make sure to get your Dandelion coffee from the Carbondale Historic Society and recipes on how to cook with the versatile and completely edible foraging flower.
Festivities start at 9 a.m. Saturday with some bee meditation, since the frequency of the humming of bees is so soothing, Port said.
Then, the Species Parade begins at 10 a.m., where anyone can show up dressed up as their favorite species, real or fictional.
Come dressed as your favorite pollinator, if you can’t think of a personal favorite species.
After the parade will be live performances from Bonedale Dance at 11 a.m., then the Sopris Soarers, The Queen Bees, Elk Range Bluegrass and Grim Nymph.
The Carbondale Environmental Education session will be held by the Carbondale Environmental Board, and Port said this is an older session the Carbondale Environmental Board is bringing back this year.
There will be four sessions, every hour on the hour, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
They will be teaching about bees and how to attract them, bee keeping and education with local experts and pollinators.
“They’re just bringing in local experts for different topics,” Port said. “Surrounding pollinators and that’s organized by the bee friendly group within the environmental board, The Bee Friendly Group.
The slowest bike race will be back for all ages. The rules are no putting your feet on the ground, no pedaling backwards and you must roll forward (no going in circles) and no stopping.
“It’s less than a block,” she said. “So I’m hoping that it doesn’t take more than 20 minutes.”
There will be a game of musical chairs at the end of the Elk Range Bluegrass set.
Bring seeds for a seed swap to the education tent anytime in the day, and at 3 p.m. people are able to come pick up seeds they want.
Port said she is newer to the Roaring Fork Valley and wanted to help, and now that her predecessor recently left, she took it over. She will be dressed up festively as a bee and hopes to see everyone else dress up too.
The Ode to the Dandelion award will be given out to a couple community members who have been influential in the sustainability space and volunteering in the last year or several years, she said.
Some of the vendors include JC’s Food Truck, Slow Groovin’, Windy City Eats, Pollinator Chocolate, Senor Mango, Sifted Measures, Jefferies and local farms.
Calendar for the day
9 a.m. Yoga with White Horse on Main Street
10 a.m. Parade of Species
11 a.m. Bonedale Ballet
11 a.m. Environmental Education sessions until 2pm
11:30 a.m. Sopris Soarers
Noon The Queen Bees
1:30 p.m. Slowest Bike Race on 7th Street
2 p.m. Elk Range Bluegrass
3 p.m. Seed Swap
3:15 p.m. Live Musical Chairs
3:45 p.m. – Grim Nymph
If you go…
What: 25th Annual Dandelion Day
When: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday
Where: Sopris Park in Carbondale
What: Turner’s Wheelchair Van Conversion Wheel, Walk, Run Fundraiser
When: 9-11 a.m. Saturday
Where: Glenwood Springs Community Center, 100 Wulfsohn Road, Glenwood Springs
Roaring 20s Champagne Gala Fundraiser with dinner, dancing and a big band
What: Symphony Swing Gala Fundraiser
When: 6:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Ute Theater, 132 E. Fourth St. in Rifle
How much: $80-$105
Music at Carbondale Beer Works
What: Mugsy Fay
When: 5-7 p.m. Saturday
Where: Beer Works, 647 Main St., Carbondale
Legacy Dance Company presents Under The Big Top
What: Legacy Dance Company Spring Showcase
When: Doors at 6:30 p.m., show at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Where: Glenwood Springs High School
How much: $10-$18, free for 3 year olds and younger
Curator Marcia Weese brings four female artists together for a gallery of different medias and perspectives.
What: FROM THE CENTER: Maps, Wefts, Shifts, Hoops
When: 5-7 p.m. Friday, with an artist talk at 5:30 p.m.
Where: The Launchpad, 76 S. Fourth St., Carbondale
Vaudeville is back and not sold out yet
What: Vaudeville Spring Show
When: 6-9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Where: Glenwood Vaudeville Revue, 915 Grand Ave., Glenwood Springs
Safespace in Glenwood Springs
What: Queers and Coffee — PFLAG Roaring Fork Valley
When: 9-10 a.m. Saturday
Where: BlueBird Cafe, 730 Grand Ave., Glenwood Springs
Learn to go off-grid in Silt
What: Building a Sustainable Off-Grid Home
When: 1 p.m. every Saturday
Where: Silt Branch Library, 680 Home Ave.
Crafting at the Silt Library
What: Crafty Saturdays
When: 1 p.m. every Saturday
Where: Silt Branch Library, 680 Home Ave.
Cooper Wine Tastings
What: Local wine tasting
When: 5-7 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Where: Cooper Wine & Spirits, 732 Cooper Ave., Glenwood Springs
How Much: Free
Karaoke at the Vaudeville
What: Karaoke with the Sandman
When: Doors at 6 p.m. Sunday
Where: Glenwood Vaudeville Revue, 915 Grand Ave., Glenwood Springs
How much: $5
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