DISPATCH #5 · TUE, JULY 14, 2026 · NoCo · TUE HIGH 95°
Postcard from NoCo
Hi NoCo families. The forecast this week: 90, followed by 90, with a chance of 90. And Saturday alone has a puppet parade, a LEGO festival, a foam party, and taiko drums. So start tonight in a free pool, hide at the Rialto for three dollars, and pace yourselves. The week is sorted below. Oh, the places you'll actually go.
JP & Alexis
Where To This Week
THIS WEEK
Saturday goes full summer, four parties in four towns, and two free pool nights kick it all off tonight.
FoCo Food Truck Rally — FREE
Tue 6/16 · 5:30pm to dusk · City Park, Fort Collins
A rotating lineup of trucks and free live music. Grab dinner, let the kids run, skip cooking on a Tuesday. Details →
Two free pool nights, tonight — FREE -
Tue 7/14 · 6pm to 8pm · Winona Outdoor Pool, Loveland + Chimney Park Pool, Windsor
Yes, tonight, and yes, both are actually free. Loveland's Parks & Recreation Foundation opens Winona for a free evening swim, first 200 people are free, and Windsor runs its own free twilight swim at Chimney Park the very same hours. Suits on, dinner solved by a snack bar, everyone sleeps well. Pick the pool closest to home. Winona, Loveland → · Chimney Park, Windsor →
Ice Age at the Rialto — $3
Tue 7/14 · 10am and 2pm · Rialto Theater, downtown Loveland
Heads up, the Rialto's three-dollar family movies run Tuesdays this summer, and today's is Ice Age. A real theater, working AC, and tickets cheaper than the popcorn. Two showtimes to work around a nap. Details →
Popsicles in the Park — FREE
Wed 7/15 · 9am to 11am · Sanborn Park, Greeley
An easy Wednesday morning: playground time, other parents to talk to, and a popsicle to seal the deal. Hosted by Christ Community Church's Tiny Tots crew, and it is not a drop-off, so stay and hang out. Details →
A free family day in Downtown Loveland — FREE
Wed 7/15 · Kids on the Plaza 12pm to 2pm, concert 6:30pm · The Foundry, downtown Loveland
Make a whole day of it again. At noon, Kids on the Plaza brings Emergency Services Day, so the kids can climb around the big trucks and meet first responders, then dance it out with DJ Brandon. Come back at 6:30 as the Poudre Valley Playboys play the free One Sweet Summer concert, with the Kids Zone (crafts, games) running so the little ones have their own spot. Kids on the Plaza → · One Sweet Summer →
Lagoon Concert Series: Rootbeer Richie — FREE
Wed 7/15 · 6:30pm to 8:30pm · CSU Lagoon, Fort Collins
Fort Collins' favorite lawn concert rolls on with Rootbeer Richie and his eight-piece swamp-pop ensemble, plus the usual food truck lineup. One heads-up this week: construction is affecting the concert site and Lot 310, so check CSU's parking page before you load the wagon. Details →
The Sandlot on the driving range — FREE
Wed 7/15 · shortly after sunset · Collindale Golf Course, Fort Collins
A movie night on a driving range. Bring a blanket or lawn chairs, settle in as the sun drops, and note the heat hangs on after sunset, so pack water. Stay FOR-EV-ER. Details →
Sugar Britches at the Pioneer Courtyard — FREE
Wed 7/15 · 5:30pm to 8:30pm · Little Thompson Valley Pioneer Museum, Berthoud
Berthoud's turn: the honky-tonk outfit that packed the CSU Lagoon in June plays the museum's outdoor Sunnyside Stage, with food and drink for purchase. A small-town summer evening, no ticket required. Details →
Thursday concerts, town by town — FREE
Thu 7/16 · Loveland 7pm · Windsor 6:30pm · Greeley 7pm
Loveland's Foote Lagoon gets Material Girl, a full-band Madonna tribute with costumed backup dancers. Windsor's Boardwalk Park has the Parlor Pickers plus food trucks. Greeley's Family FunPlex brings back Kream of the Krop, a 17-piece big band. Low chairs, blankets, done. Loveland → · Windsor → · Greeley →
StoryWalk Storytime at Lakeview Park — FREE
Thu 7/16 · 10am to 10:30am · Lakeview Park, Severance
Severance celebrates a brand-new book installed on the park's StoryWalk, with a storytime to match and 25 take-home craft kits, first come, first served. Built for the 0 to 5 crowd. Details →
Tiny Trekkers: It Takes 3 To Be Me — FREE, registration required
Thu 7/16 at Lions Open Space, Laporte
Sat 7/18 at River Bluffs Open Space, Windsor · 10am to 11am
July's theme is insects: the 2-to-5 crowd learns what makes a bug a bug, catches a few, and hears a story. Note the two sessions are at two different open spaces, and the free registration fills, so book your date online. Thu 7/16 → · Sat 7/18 →
Downtown Summer Sales — FREE
Thu 7/16 to Sun 7/19 · store hours · Old Town Fort Collins
The sidewalk sale tradition that goes back to the 1970s: four days of deals from 60-plus locally owned shops, in stores and out on the sidewalks. Starts Thursday, not Friday, so the early birds get Thursday. Details →
THIS WEEKEND
Saturday is the day to circle. Four towns are throwing four very different parties, and every one of the first three is free.
Dino Yoga Stay-n-Play — FREE
Fri 7/17 · 10:30am to 11:15am · Centennial Park Library, Greeley
Move, roar, and yoga like a dinosaur: poses, music, toys, and a craft for the baby-through-preschool set. Space is limited and dinos are punctual, so arrive early. Details →
Cars in Timnath Community Park — FREE
Fri 7/17 · face painting and yard games from 7:30pm, movie at sundown · Timnath Community Park
Timnath's free movie night lands on Cars, with themed face painting, yard games, and dessert trucks before the show (the Divine Ice Cream truck is confirmed). Camp chairs, blankets, pajamas encouraged. Details →
Family Swim Night in Milliken — $20 per household
Fri 7/17 · evening (listed 5:30pm, confirm) · Milliken Waterworks Pool
One flat $20 covers the whole household: pool admission, family games, inflatables, music, plus a slice of pizza, a drink, and a cool treat each. Outside food is fine, glass is not. Register online ahead. Details →
River District WonderCrawl — FREE
Sat 7/18 · 3pm to 9pm · River District, Fort Collins, Wolverine Farm Publick House
The marquee. A free neighborhood street party where you hop, stroll, and crawl between art, live music, food trucks, street performers, and a scrap metal art competition. The puppet parade is open to everyone, so bring a puppet or make one there, and dress whimsical. Details →
Brickies Creation Festival — FREE
Sat 7/18 · 12pm to 5:30pm · Old Town Square, Fort Collins
An entire festival made of LEGO: building zones, competitions, LEGO art stations, face painting, and hourly LEGO set giveaways, benefiting a local horse rescue. It sits a few blocks from the WonderCrawl, so the ambitious can stack both into one epic downtown day. Details →
Boulder Taiko at Library Park — FREE
Sat 7/18 · 11am to 12pm · Library Park, next to Wellington Public Library
Thunderous traditional Japanese drumming, outdoors, followed by a hands-on workshop where the kids get to try the drums themselves. Bring a blanket or camp chairs, sunscreen, and water. Worth the drive to Wellington for this one. Details →
Foam Party at LINC — FREE
Sat 7/18 · 11am to 12pm · LINC Library west parking lot, Greeley
Ann Lincoln turns a parking lot into a giant foam dance party with a serious sound system. Towels in the car, kids in the bubbles. Parking is limited, so arrive early or park a block out. Details →
Great Chimney Cook Out pool party — $6
Sat 7/18 · 12pm to 5pm · Chimney Park Pool, Windsor
Windsor's big pool bash: food trucks, bounce houses, and yard games wrapped around an afternoon of swimming, all for six bucks. Towels and sunscreen, and make a Windsor morning of it at the farmers market at Boardwalk Park first (8am to 12:30pm). Details →
NoCo Regulars
Markets and story times you can count on: Larimer County Farmers' Market (Sat, Old Town Fort Collins) · Windsor Farmers Market (Sat, Boardwalk Park) · Loveland Farmers' Market (Sun) · Greeley Summer Market (Sat) · Fort Collins Farmers' Market (Sun & Wed) · Loveland Library Baby & Toddler Storytime (Tue).
Local Business Spotlight: Wolverine Farm Publick House
Wolverine Farm Publick House, Fort Collins (@wolverinefarm)
Coffee tour stop 5 is the one where the coffee comes with a bookstore. Wolverine Farm sits on Willow Street in the River District: good coffee and tea up front, Perelandra Books to wander, a letterpress studio in the back, and food when the kids declare snack emergency. It's a nonprofit, so every dollar you spend funds their literature and arts programming. They're also home base for Saturday's WonderCrawl, so go early, caffeinate, and stay for the puppet parade.
Community Corner
A reader-worthy freebie: every Poudre Libraries branch is running a Colorado baby animals scavenger hunt all July, a drop-in hunt you can tack onto any library run, no sign-up needed. And the coffee tour keeps heading your way: Windsor, Greeley, and Wellington shops are still on the list, so hit reply with the one we shouldn't miss. We read every single one.
Got a family event on your radar? Add it at theplacesno.co/submit-event and it might land in an upcoming dispatch.
That's the week, NoCo. Whether you end up in the foam, at the puppet parade, or just at a free pool tonight, we hope it's a good one. Know a parent who's still deciding what to do Saturday? Forward this their way.
Be the parent who somehow always knows about this stuff.
JP & Alexis