Weekend Arts Roundup: Ugandan children’s choir, taco shoot-out and more

Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2014, this TED-style gathering brings together thought leaders from around the globe to present their ideas on such topics as health, creativity, robotics, biotechnology, climate change and education.

25 restaurants compete to be known for serving Denver’s best taco and margarita. The inaugural event also includes a tasting featuring two dozen tequilas and live music from Brazilian reggae band Sambadende.

This venerable African vocal ensemble, comprised of children who have suffered the loss of their parents either through war or disease in Uganda, presents performances around Colorado including original music, dance routines and personal stories.

This free, self-guided tour gives art lovers the opportunity to meet and tour the studios of more than 60 local artists.  A preview exhibition, including sample artwork by each artist, runs through July 5 at The Lincoln Center Art Gallery.

Held each year since 1972, this staple of Denver’s cultural calendar celebrates the Japanese American heritage and culture of the Front Range. This year’s event features “The Awakened Spirit,” a traveling exhibit of contemporary Japanese calligraphy, and Japanese drumming group Denver Taiko.

A Scandinavian tradition that celebrates the summer solstice. The 2014 Festival features Scandinavian food, live music, an arts and crafts fair and a Viking encampment re-enactment by the Fjellborg Vikings of Colorado.

The Colorado painter displays more than 30 new portraiture and still life paintings that aim to blur the line between realism and abstraction.

Grammy Award-winning, West African native Angélique Kidjo mixes funky, vocal-driven dance music with the rhythmic and percussive sounds of her homeland.

In her live presentation, Boulder psychic entertainer and magician Erica Sodos demonstrates and teaches about the history of intuition, intention and ESP while answering audience members’ questions by looking into her crystal ball.

This six-week-long musical event features opera, bluegrass, gypsy jazz, classical and other performances throughout the Gunnison Valley.  

Filmmaker Heather Dalton’s “Neal Cassady: The Denver Years” is a documentary based on the autobiographical accounts of 1950s counter-culture figure Neal Cassady, his troubled youth in Denver and the crucial role that it played in the germination of American beat culture.