DISPATCH #6 · TUE, JULY 21, 2026 · NoCo · TUE HIGH 95°
Postcard from NoCo
Hi NoCo families. It's fair week. The Weld County Fair runs free all week, and yes, that includes parking. Saturday morning Loveland rolls out the 143rd fair parade, and Thursday night Windsor flies a drone show over Boardwalk Park. Big week. Pace yourselves it’ll be another warm week. Oh, the places you'll actually go.
JP & Alexis
Where To This Week
THIS WEEK
Fair week: the Weld County Fair runs free through Monday, Saturday doubles up with a parade and the Arts Picnic, and Thursday night there's a drone show over Windsor.
The Weld County Fair, free all week — FREE
Now through Mon 7/27 · Island Grove Park, Greeley
The 108th Weld County Fair is that increasingly rare thing, a fair with no admission charge, no parking fee, and free entry to most events. Livestock shows, 4-H exhibits, and the game yard run all week, and the calendar has treats tucked in: a movie night with Ferdinand and a Front Range Revival concert Wednesday, a free pancake breakfast Thursday 7am to 10am, and Sunday wraps with the VetteFest car show and a free community BBQ. Details →
Ferdinand at the Rialto — $3
Tue 7/21 · 10am and 2pm · Rialto Theater, downtown Loveland
Ferdinand is having a big week in NoCo: three dollars at the Rialto today, then free on a screen at the Weld County Fair Wednesday night. Today's version comes with a real 1920s theater and working AC, and two showtimes to work around a nap. Details →
A free family day in Downtown Loveland — FREE
Wed 7/22 · Kids on the Plaza 12pm to 2pm, concert 6:30pm · The Foundry, downtown Loveland
The Wednesday double feature rolls on. At noon, Kids on the Plaza brings a Zumbini dance party plus science demonstrations from UNC's physics and earth sciences crews, with the splash pad steps away. Come back at 6:30 as Shakedown Street, Colorado's longtime Grateful Dead tribute, plays the free One Sweet Summer concert with the Kids Zone running crafts and games. Kids on the Plaza → · One Sweet Summer →
Lagoon Concert Series finale: Titonic — FREE
Wed 7/22 · 6:30pm to 8:30pm · Plum St & Meridian Ave, CSU campus, Fort Collins
The last one of the summer, so soak it in. Titonic, an eight-piece Fort Collins funk and soul outfit, closes the season with the usual food trucks (Walrus Ice Cream included) and a backpack drive for School is Cool. Construction is still affecting the site and Lot 310, so park free in the Engineering or Morgan Library lots. Details →
Wade the River at Lee Martinez Park — FREE
Wed 7/22 · 9:30am to 12:00pm · Poudre River beach at Lee Martinez Park, Fort Collins
The city hands your kids dip nets and collecting trays and lets them hunt river critters in the Poudre, with biologists standing by to identify the catch. Water shoes and a towel in the car. The city calendar lists the date but not the hour, so check the link before you go. Details →
A drone show over Boardwalk Park — FREE
Thu 7/23 · 6:30pm to 8:30pm · Boardwalk Community Park, Windsor
Windsor's Thursday concert goes big: Crystal Visions plays Fleetwood Mac while Stories in the Sky, a statewide Colorado 150 aerial storytelling tour, puts a drone show overhead. Food trucks, face painting, and cornhole as usual. Bonus for the littles: the Clearview bookmobile parks at the same park 1pm to 2pm with games and STEAM activities, so you could make it a full Windsor Thursday. Concert → · Bookmobile →
More Thursday lawns, town by town — FREE
Thu 7/23 · Loveland 7pm · Greeley 7pm
Loveland's Foote Lagoon gets The Spicy Pickles, a funk and soul dance band with Hannah Rodriguez on vocals. Greeley's Family FunPlex closes its season with the John Mills Orchestra and its timeless jazz arrangements. Loveland → · Greeley →
THIS WEEKEND
Friday is a pick-your-town night, and then Saturday splits the difference: parade in Loveland at 9:30, Arts Picnic in Greeley all day, and markets everywhere.
Windsor's free Friday: rec center by day, Goonies by night — FREE
Fri 7/24 · rec center all day, movie at 8pm · Windsor
The Community Recreation Center throws its doors open free for the day: lazy river, water slide (play features on at 10am), two gyms, and a 23-person hot tub for whoever earned it. Kids 9 and under need someone 16 or older along. Then Boardwalk Park screens The Goonies at dusk. It's PG and a touch intense for the smallest, call it best for about 8 and up. Never say die. Free entry day → · Movie →
Music on the Lawn at Foothills — FREE
Fri 7/24 · 6pm to 8pm · East Lawn at Foothills, Fort Collins
Colorado Swing plays the East Lawn with the Makers Hive vendor market alongside and a play zone run by the Toy, Game, and Puzzle Library, which is exactly the babysitter a lawn concert needs. Lawn chairs, dinner from the vendors, done. Details →
Sounds of Centerra: That Eighties Band — FREE
Fri 7/24 · 7pm to 9pm · Chapungu Sculpture Park, Loveland
Neon, big hair, and every 80s anthem you already know all the words to, plus classic cars and a costume contest before the show. Dress the kids in the loudest colors you own and teach them what a keytar is. Grass seating, bring the lawn chairs and blankets. Details →
Friday Fest: the Arts Picnic Kickoff — FREE
Fri 7/24 · 6pm to 10pm, music around 6:30 · 9th St Plaza, downtown Greeley
Downtown Greeley's street party opens Arts Picnic weekend with Tumbledown Shack's mountainbilly bluegrass and a roving cast of balloon artists, stilt walkers, face painters, and magicians. One honest note for the planning parent: it's also a go-cup district, so the vibe drifts from block party toward bar crawl as the night goes on. Go early, catch the entertainers, and save Lincoln Park for Saturday. Details →
Community Neighbor Nights in Johnstown — FREE
Fri 7/24 · 6pm · Johnstown YMCA grass field
Johnstown's turn, at last: an evening of food vendors, live music, and carnival style games run by the TRPR crew on the YMCA field. The June edition ran 6pm to 9pm with the band at 7:30; the town hadn't posted July's lineup at press time, so expect the same shape. Details →
Family Camp Out at Boardwalk Park — $15, registration required
Fri 7/24 5pm to Sat 7/25 8am · Boardwalk Community Park, Windsor
Windsor sets up the whole first-campout experience a five minute drive from your own bed: campfire, fishing, paddle boats, a dusk movie on the big screen, dinner and a light breakfast included. Bring the tent, sleeping bags, and bug spray. Registration required and this one will fill. Details →
The 143rd Larimer County Fair Parade — FREE
Sat 7/25 · 9:30am · Downtown Loveland
Floats, horses, and 4-H clubs roll through downtown to kick off the 143rd Larimer County Fair (the fair itself opens Friday, see below). Claim shade on Cleveland or Lincoln early, bring the wagon, and let the kids wave at everything. Details →
Greeley Arts Picnic — FREE
Sat 7/25 9am to 5pm · Sun 7/26 10am to 4pm · Lincoln Park, downtown Greeley
The 47th Arts Picnic fills Lincoln Park with 150 plus artist booths, food trucks, two stages, roving circus performers, and a Creation Station tent where the kids make their own art while you browse the real thing. Saturday night there's also a free concert at the Union Colony Civic Center lot, headlined at 8pm by Rootbeer Richie, last seen packing the CSU lawn. Arts Picnic → · Saturday concert →
The Berthoud Market at Town Park — FREE
Sat 7/25 · 9am to 1pm · Town Park, Berthoud
Berthoud's Saturday market with live music and a free weekly kids craft from the Wildfire Arts Center, which has quietly become the move for young market-goers. Pastries for the walk, veggies for the week. Details →
Old-fashioned games at the Milner-Schwarz House — FREE
Sat 7/25 · 10am to 1pm · Milner-Schwarz House, 710 S Railroad Ave, Loveland
The Loveland Historical Society opens the grounds for a morning of old-fashioned lawn games, kids activities, old-time music on the porch, and a Colorado statehood flag raising. Pairs neatly with the parade a few blocks north: parade at 9:30, time travel by 10:30. Details →
Sunday wind-down: read to a dog, or make something — FREE
Sun 7/26 · Fort Collins 3pm to 4pm · Greeley 1pm to 4pm
Two quiet ways to land the week. At Harmony Library, kids in grades K to 5 read to certified therapy dogs and cats (the animals stay about an hour, arrive early). At Greeley's LINC, the Maker Studio runs a drop-in family craft afternoon, supplies included. Harmony → · LINC →
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 Farmers' Market (Sat, downtown) · Fort Collins Farmers' Market (Sun & Wed) · Loveland Library Baby & Toddler Storytime (Tue).
Local Business Spotlight: Spotlight Café & Creamery
Spotlight Café & Creamery, Greeley (@spotlightgreeley)
Coffee tour stop 6 crosses into Weld County. Spotlight sits at 802 9th Street in downtown Greeley, a short walk from Lincoln Park, and it solves the eternal split order: Wander Coffee Roasters espresso for you, Dole pineapple soft serve or a Blue Bell scoop for them. It also shares the building with Stella's Pinball and the Moxi Theater, so a quick cone can escalate into an arcade hour. Consider yourselves warned. Open every day until 10pm, and positioned exactly right for an Arts Picnic Saturday: browse the booths, then follow the ice cream.
Community Corner
The coffee tour crosses county lines next: we're scouting Greeley this week (see the Spotlight), and Windsor and Wellington are still on the list, so hit reply if there's a shop we shouldn't miss. And since it's fair week, a very important survey: what's the one fair food you refuse to skip? 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're waving at parade horses, eating free pancakes at the fair, or watching drones light up Windsor, we hope it's a good one. Know a parent who'd want to know the fair is free? Forward this their way.
Be the parent who somehow always knows about this stuff.
JP & Alexis
Forwarded this from a friend? Get your own free dispatch every Tuesday at theplacesno.co.