by Mark Smiley | Mar 28, 2025 | Travel
by Mark Smiley
Cirque du Soleil’s CRYSTAL — a one-of-a-kind production that brings the circus arts to the ice for the very first time, returns to two Colorado markets in 2025: Loveland, April 18-20, 2025, at Blue Arena, and Colorado Springs, April 24-27, 2025, at Broadmoor World Arena. With 11 circus acts all adapted for Cirque du Soleil’s first foray into a brand-new creative territory — the ice —CRYSTAL takes audiences on an unforgettable journey into the vivid and whimsical world of imagination.
Since 2017, CRYSTAL has performed in front of more than 2 million people in over 145 cities worldwide, blending the art of skating with adrenaline-inducing acrobatics and aerial feats. CRYSTAL pushes the boundaries of possibility within the circus arts. The show highlights Cirque du Soleil’s creativity in a new way and encourages audiences to find the magic of the everyday. Every time you watch, there’s something new to see and experience.
Tickets for CRYSTAL are now available exclusively to Cirque Club members. Cirque Club membership is free and includes access to advance tickets and special offers. To join, visit www.cirquedusoleil.com. Tickets are available for purchase online at www.cirquedusoleil.com/crystal.
CRYSTAL – Performance Schedule:
Loveland, CO – BLUE ARENA
- Friday, April 18 at 7 p.m.
- Saturday, April 19 at 3 p.m. & 7 p.m.
- Sunday, April 20 at 1 p.m. & 5 p.m.
Colorado Springs, CO –
BROADMOOR WORLD ARENA
- Thursday, April 24 at 7 p.m.
- Friday, April 25 at 7 p.m.
- Saturday, April 26 at 3:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
- Sunday, April 27 at 1 p.m. & 5 p.m.
Cirque du Soleil’s ECHO — the first original Cirque du Soleil Big Top show after the pandemic — will also make its way through Denver in 2025 with 46 performances under the tent in Ball Arena’s 4Runner West Parking Lot July 12-August 17, 2025. Tickets for ECHO are also now available exclusively to Cirque Club members and general tickets can be purchased at www.cirquedusoleil.com/echo.
Photos by Matt Baker & Olivier Brajon
by Valley Gadfly | Mar 28, 2025 | Glendale City News
Join The Good Eggs For Easter Services April 20 Amidst Bunnies, Bonnets, And Baskets
by Glen Richardson
Red Rocks Sunrise: Gates at Red Rocks Amphitheatre open at 4:45 a.m. on Easter morning. Services are timed so that those attending will see the sunrise.
Easter takes place on a Sunday each year following the Lenten season. This year Easter isn’t until April 20, nevertheless now is the time to plan for worship services, holiday dining, and spring celebrations.
From scattered stately cathedrals to small churches tucked in neighborhoods, the sound of gospel music will again spill into the streets. Some dress to the nines, while other families enjoy a leisurely drive after church.
To many, Easter signifies the beginning of spring and the start of warmer weather. Over the years, Easter services have been packed in all corners of the city. Whethe
All Together Now: Easter services at the Greek Orthodox Assumption of Theotokos in Glendale and Protestant churches are the same date in 2025.
r you’re looking for a place to worship, brunch options, or family getaways, here are Easter events and specials that are just a hop, skip, and a jump away:
Church Turnout Soars
More than half of Denver’s Protestant pastors say Easter is their best-attended service of the year, and that figure grows to 90% if you included the pastors who say it’s their second- or third-best attended.
Normally Greek Orthodox Easter falls on a different day than Protestant Easter Sunday. They do coincide every four years, and Easter 2025 is one of those years. Services at the Assumption of Theotokos located on E. Alameda Ave. in Glendale will be at 8 and 9:30 a.m.
As for the number of the Mile High City’s religious followers, the latest data was in 2020. The population of Denver County in 2020 was 715,522. The number of Denver Christian believers-followers in 2020 totaled 306,191, or 42.8% of the total population.
Easter Sunrise Services
Red Rocks Amphitheatre
On April 20, gates at Red Rocks will o
Tasty Consumption: Keeping up with the Joneses this Easter is as easy as doing brunch at Local Jones in Cherry Creek’s Halcyon Hotel.
pen at 4:45 a.m. Musical worship begins at 5:30 a.m. and the worship service starts a half-hour later at 6 a.m.
It is, of course, an outdoor service so be sure to dress warmly. Monitor weather broadcasts for possible cancellations.
Admittance and parking are free and available on a first-come basis. Canned goods donations will not be collected this year. The early morning start is timed so that those attending will see the sun rise during the service.
Masonic Denver Consistory
The Knights Templar’s Assn. of Colorado is hosting its 100th Easter Sunrise Service in the Masonic Denver Consistory (1370 Grant St.) from 5:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. Pre-worship music will start at approximately 6 a.m.
Worship service will begin a half-hour later at 6:30 a.m. and will last until approximately 7:45 a.m. Plan to arrive no later than 6 a.m. to provide time to park and get seated in the 500-seat auditorium.
Hoppy Easter: Sending you Easter wishes, and a basket full of joy: Ears to a great Easter.
Parking in the Denver Consistory parking garage is free (other than the 1st floor). The garage is right next to the Consistory Building, and will be opening at 4:45 a.m. Following service, you are invited to enjoy a hot breakfast in the Consistory’s dining room. Tickets are recommended, and can be purchased online.
Area Easter Services
Assumption of the Theotokos
4550 E. Alameda Ave.
Orthos 8 a.m., Divine Liturgy 9:30 a.m.
303-388-9314
Augustana Lutheran Church
5000 E. Alameda Ave.
Services, 8, 9:30, & 11 a.m.
303-388-4678
Thrill Of The Hunt: Easter Egg Hunts are at Infinity Park in Glendale on April 12, followed a week later on April 19 at Four Mile Historic Park.
Catholic Basilica of the
Immaculate Conception
1530 Logan St.
Easter Sunday Masses:
8:30 & 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., & 6:30 p. m.
Archbishop Chaput celebrates mass
303-831-7010
The Pearl Church
200 S. University Blvd.
Services 9:15 a.m. & 12 p.m.
Egg Hunt 11:15 a.m. & 2:15 p.m.
303-744-7213
St. John’s Cathedral
1350 N. Washington St.
Services 7:30, 9, & 11 a.m.
Egg Hunt After 9 a.m. service
303-831-7115
Trinity United Methodist Church,
1820 Broadway
Breakfast, 7 to 11 a.m.;
Services 8, 9:30, & 11 a.m.
303-829-1403
University Park United Methodist Church
2180 S. University Blvd.
Easter Sunrise Services 6:30 a.m.
Pancake Breakfast 7 to 10:30 a.m.
Easter Service 9 & 11 a.m.
303-722-5736
Wellshire Presbyterian Church
2999 S. Colorado Blvd.
Service with band in Chapel 8 a.m.;
9:30 & 11 a.m.
Service with orchestra
in the Sanctuary 9:30 & 11 a.m.
303-758-2233
Easter Egg Hunts
Follow the bunny trail to the two major Easter Egg Hunts taking place this year. One is on the turf field at Infinity Park in Glendale on April 12. The other, a week later, ends the holiday at Four Mile Historic Park. Both promise to be thrilling adventures in which you and your little ones can participate.
Infinity Park
Sponsored by the YMCA of Denver, the Infinity Park hunt is set to begin at 10 a.m. for kids from 0 to 12 years of age. Event is on the Turf Field located at 4599 E. Tennessee Ave. in Glendale. Parking is at the NE corner of Kentucky & Cherry. Information: 303-639-4711.
Four Mile Park
One of the largest and most egg-citing hunts, the Four Mile Park’s April 19 hunt will have more than 20,000 eggs ready to be discovered. Kids try to find the “golden eggs,” filled with special prizes throughout the 12-acre park. Hunts are at 8:30 a.m. and again at 1:30 p.m.
This year features three egg scrambles for kids of all ages. Little ones — age 3 and under — search the “kiddie corral.” Those in the age bracket 4 to 7, along with ages 8-plus take part in their own egg hunts.
Following the hunts, there’s more activities for kids and their family. Options includes tractor hayrides, photos with the Easter Bunny, plus spring-themed crafts. Kids can test their skills in the “Victorian Egg Rolling” contests plus Croquet. Meanwhile adults attending can sip on mimosas or Bloody Marys at the Four Mile Bar. There are food trucks plus the Spring Marketplace for snacks. Information: 729-865-0800.
Easter Brunch
Edge Restaurant
Hop over to the Edge Restaurant & Bar in the Four Seasons Hotel downtown April 20, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Featuring a raw bar, appetizers, salads, several entrée options, plus a carving station. Information: 303-389-3050.
Fire Restaurant
Experience brunch in one of the most desirable indoor-outdoor Easter settings at the ART Hotel on Broadway, expected to again be 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Bunny Menu for the kids. Information: 720-709-4431.
Local Jones
Do brunch at this classic bistro in Cherry Creek’s Halcyon Hotel. Featuring cinnamon rolls, roasted lamb shank, and more. Information: 720-772-5022.
by Ashe in America | Mar 28, 2025 | Feature Story Bottom Left
ASHE IN AMERICA — OPINION
Colorado residents are living in different realities.
Two months ago, my column discussed January 6 and outlined the suppressed but verifiable experiences of many attendees that dispute the official insurrection narrative. In response, some Coloradans advocated that I be silenced. Underscoring my point, when members of the January 6th Select Committee received preemptive pardons from Joe Biden, these same critics were silent.
And it’s not just January 6th.
These same government bootlickers celebrated the prosecution, conviction, and incarceration of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters. Peters is currently in Fort Collins serving nine years for her unauthorized investigation of Jena Griswold and the Colorado Department of State (CDoS).
Following the 2020 election — where Joe Biden allegedly received 81 million votes — Peters launched an investigation. After all, Peters was elected by the people to ensure their elections were verifiably accurate, and she was unable to reassure her concerned constituents.
When the state learned of Peters’ investigation — and specifically that she obtained machine images before and after the CDoS “Trusted Build” — Peters became a targeted enemy of the state.
In hindsight, the CDoS response makes sense. The images are the smoking gun of wireless access, deleted log files, and shadow database structures. The images are a smoking gun of the gaslighting and lies about Colorado’s “gold standard” election system.
In the early days of Peters’ plight, CDoS maintained that the clerk had stolen and leaked BIOS passwords, and that her actions constituted a massive security breach of Colorado elections. Notably, Peters never had access to the BIOS passwords. In fact, at her trial, CDoS testified that those passwords were fully locked down to just a few key staff.
The former clerk’s real crime in the eyes of CDoS appeared to be obtaining the images; but that wasn’t a crime. In fact, one of the sworn duties of the clerk was to preserve election records for 25 months under Colorado law.
Despite being false, the story of a “breach” by Peters created a mandate to change the narrative and change the law. Her office was raided, her staff were threatened, her reputation was destroyed, and her voice was silenced. Any efforts Peters made to explain her intent and findings were met with mockery and disdain. In 2022, the General Assembly passed the Colorado Election Security Act, at the urging of CDoS and election sector lobbyists.
In August of last year, Tina Peters went to trial. The charges amounted to a set of COVID-19 emergency rule violations, cobbled together to resemble something similar to a Colorado Election Security Act violation — despite the fact that the law didn’t exist at the time of Peters’ actions.
Peters, the defendant, was not allowed to explain her intent or present her findings to the jury. CDoS, the aggrieved party, was qualified as an expert to explain how alleged rule violations can amount to multiple felonies based on a law that didn’t exist at the time of the rule violations.
Peters never had a chance at a fair trial. She was convicted of four felonies and three misdemeanors and sentenced to nine years in prison.
Shortly after, on October 28th, the public learned that CDoS posted hundreds of BIOS passwords for election equipment on their website. The passwords were live during Peters’ trial, as CDoS staff were testifying about the seriousness of such a breach. It was later confirmed that the passwords were live during the whole of the 2024 primary and for most of early voting in the general.
Worse, CDoS knew of the breach on October 24th, but hid it from the clerks who had custody of the impacted equipment. Kyle Clark posted on X in November, “An audio recording reveals Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold (D) and her team didn’t tell county clerks that her office had inadvertently leaked voting machine passwords because they feared a media frenzy.”
To summarize, what Peters did was a threat to democracy deserving of a nine-year prison sentence. What CDoS did was an innocent and immaterial mistake. They did the same thing — breached secure passwords then lied about it (allegedly).
This is the essence of weaponized justice, and the Trump DOJ is now looking into it.
“DOJ is reviewing cases across the nation for abuses of the criminal justice process… This review will include an evaluation of the State of Colorado’s prosecution of Ms. Peters” and “whether the case was oriented more toward inflicting political pain than toward pursuing actual justice or legitimate governmental objectives.”
While different factions of Colorado residents are living in different realities, truth still matters. Now, with President Trump back in the White House, justice seems not only possibly, but likely.
Ashe in America is a writer and activist. Find all her work at linktree.com/ashein america.
by Valley Gadfly | Mar 28, 2025 | Main Articles
As Civic Center’s Next 100 Plan Gets Set To Start, Hope Is Change Will Enliven City Core, Reduce Crime
by Glen Richardson
Civic Center Today: Civic Center Park was constructed in 1917 as an open stage with murals by local artist Allen Tupper True.
By creating a civic renaissance of sorts, Denver hopes the makeover of Civic Center Park at the intersection of Colfax Ave. and Broadway — one of the Mile High City’s five crime hotspots — will help bring people back and turn around downtown.
The park is currently little more than a threadbare notion of civic grandeur that few people use besides the homeless and skateboarders. With constant growth of the Golden Triangle neighborhood as the 16th Street Mall renovation nears completion, Civic Center Park will connect the two and optimistically serve as a gathering spot for events and festivals.
In early 2024, Denver Parks & Recreation contracted with Studio Gang to lead the Phase 1 design of the Civic Center “Next 100” plan. Proposed changes include improvements to the Greek Theater, Central Promenade, and South Plaza. The Landmark Preservation Committee approved the initial design plans on January 21 of this year.
Boost Daily Use
Civic Center Park is Denver’s first National Historic Landmark, and city leaders say honoring its history is critical to its future. Furthermore, they believe the park needs to accommodate its traditional uses while also encouraging increased daily use.
Modifications and alterations being proposed include to Bannock Street, the Greek Amphitheater, Central Promenade, plus a new “central gathering” feature th
Seating Shift: A rendering of new seating for the Greek Theater in Civic Center Park. The curved stairs in the bowl will be removed, which some experts say is a historical feature. City & County of Denver photo
at has yet to be developed. Parks & Recreation requested and has received comment and suggestions from the public as they get ready to begin the major transformation.
Located at the heart of the city and surrounded by key civic and cultural institutions, Civic Center Park has in the past, and is expected to continue serving as a significant gathering spot for cultural events, festivals, and First Amendment rallies.
Makeover Features
The makeover will feature good-looking greenspaces, improved pedestrian access, and community event sites to attract increased usage. Direction that the theater’s audience faces will change from south to north. In addition to the direction the audience faces, the stage’s openings change from northward to south. A new stage is being added near the park’s center; thus, the amphitheater bowl will function in reverse of how it does currently.
More importantly, a new food truck promenade is being added. Furthermore, landscapers are creating fresh, innovative garden spaces. Finally, a memori
Proposed Remodel: A rendering of the proposed changes to the Greek Theater in Denver’s Civic Center Park designed by globally-renowned architectural firm Studio Gang. City & County of Denver photo
al to disability activists of the Gang of 19 will be installed.
Civic Center Park’s new designs are being created by Studio Gang, a Chicago-based architecture and urban design practice. Studiotrope Design Collective — the Denver-based architect firm that designed Levitt Pavilion and upgrades to the new Central Library — are assisting with the design project. Landscaping is being done by Philadelphia’s OLIN with assistance from Tina Bishop of Denver’s Mundus Bishop.
Small Crowd Design
Significantly, the new park designs are being created to allow for increased individual, daily use versus the huge events of the past. You’ll recall, the park has hosted everything from sports championship parades to the massive Denver PrideFest, and Cinco de Mayo Festival. With the downsize of events, park features are being spread across a broader area of the park.
This time the designers want the space more usable for events that serve 1,000 people or fewer. That will make events more cost-effective for community groups using the space. Moreover, audiovisual infrastru
Disability Honor: Rendering of Studio Gang’s memorial commemorating Denver’s Gang of 19 disability advocates for Civic Center Park.
cture is being added within the park.
Although the structure around the amphitheater bowl is a historic landmark, the bowl of the theater was rebuilt in 2004 and is no longer considered historic, so adding seats and altering its orientation is allowed. The new stage will be opposite the current theater stage, with an arch cover over the stage.
Stage Of Steel
The arch over the new stage will be made mostly of steel, but Studio Gang designers are still deciding on the material to use. The goal is to use material between the steel beams that allows some light to pass through the structure.
The updated design also includes new seats. They will be built in a radial pattern that can be opened or closed based on the size of the event. Visitors will also be able to sit inside the historic colonnade walls of the amphitheater. The seating will also be used by those having lunch at events such as Civic Center EATS. In addition to the seats, people can use the stage area for yoga classes and other activities, not just musical performances.
Another park upgrade is that the amphitheater bowl will be wheelchair accessible, with properly sloped pathways around the outer edge of the amphitheater plus the main seating bowl. Those paths will connect all the way to the southern plaza, something that currently is not possible for those who use wheelchairs.
Southern Plaza Facelift
Voorhies Memorial: Memorial in Civic Center Park was home to a temporary art display in honor of 2020 World Day of Remembrance.
A facelift is also being given to the southern plaza near East 14th Ave. A memorial is being created to honor the Gang of 19 — disability activists led by Reverend Wade Blank that ditched their wheelchairs and crawled onto then-inaccessible RTD buses at Colfax and Broadway in 1978.
Those demonstrations caused RTD to become the first mass transit system in the nation to be fully wheelchair-accessible.
The memorial will feature a large central feature bearing the words “we will ride,” as well as seating, trees, and other information about the Gang of 19.
Promenade Plans
Aside from the amphitheater and the space directly around it, the north-south promenade across the park will be revamped, as will several other of the park amenities.
The promenade is currently the only active space in the park. That causes crowding in the one area, while much of Civic Center’s 12-acre urban oasis isn’t used nearly enough. Garden rooms on the east and west sides of the promenade will reorient current planting plots which are now only on the west side of the promenade.
Finally, a new public garden walk will be placed on the southwest side of the park between the Greek Theater and the City & County Building. Both spaces will be planted with year-round or perennial foliage. Current gardens are effective, but not accessible to the public from the promenade.
