May Highlights
The Trolley Opening for its 42nd Year
The Fort Collins trolley opening for the season is special every year as it is a sign of sunny days and exploring the nostalgia of early transportation! Opening day is Saturday, May 2nd. We can't wait to see you out there on the tracks!
Art Week Fort Collins
Come see Downtown Fort Collins come to life with art from all over the city! FC Mural Project presents: Art Week Fort Collins, happening Friday, May 1 through Saturday, May 9. Get ready as our lively arts and culture scene comes to life all across Downtown. From vibrant, year-round public art to hands-on experiences that spark your creativity, this is your chance to explore, experience, and create something of your own. To see the whole list of activities, click here! Don't miss the finale, a 10x10 Exhibition with music and a silent auction on May 9th.
Run your way to the Colorado Marathon
Welcome to the Colorado Marathon, one of the most stunning races in the country, happening on May 3rd! This annual marathon is held in the verdant Poudre Canyon, nestled in the picturesque Rocky Mountains, just outside of the beautiful city of Fort Collins. The Colorado Marathon has qualified roughly 16-18% of all Boston qualifiers entrants each year, so this is sure to be an epic race. There is also options of a half marathon, 10K and 5K races. Visit their website for more information and cheer on the runners!
Odell's Small Batch Weekend
Odell Brewing Co.'s Small Batch Weekend is back and for three days (May 29-31)! They will be pouring over 50 different Odell beers showcasing unique flavors brewed up across their three amazing brewhouses. The music lineup will be bigger than ever with 12 bands. Plus, the hand-crafted wines and speciality spritzes from The OBC Wine Project! There will be food trucks all weekend long - so get out there and enjoy one of Fort Collins' most iconic annual festivals!
Global Sounds
Bohemian Live Music presents Global Sounds on Saturday, May 30th. This yearly event celebrates music from around the world on two stages: Old Town Square and Linden Street. The one day event is FREE to attend and open to the public. Live music kicks off at Noon and will end at 6:30 PM. This incredible lineup features performances by The Wailers, Dengue Fever, Ritmo Cascabel, Los Mocochetes, Tropical Kaoba and Beasts of No Nation.
The Return of Outdoor Music Series
Everyone's favorite Tuesday night activity, the FoCo Food Truck Rally, starts back up on May 12th and running through September 15th! The event in City Park from 5:30pm to dusk has live music and the best local food trucks. Grab a bite, listen to tunes, and enjoy the beautiful weather!
Bohemian Live Music's Thursday Night Live concert series at the Old Town Square debuts on May 28th at 7 pm.
Mishawaka Amphitheatre's Sunday Summer Series is a free concert series that occurs almost every Sunday at the Mishawaka outdoor stage from 2 p.m.-5 p.m. These events are free, but you can RSVP via their website. You'll be able to sit outside while enjoying the beautiful views of the Poudre Canyon, grab some food from the Mish's outdoor grill, and drink from the bar too. You're encouraged to bring chairs, blankets, and shade. Find the lineup of artists here.
New Belgium announced its "Music at the Mothership" live music lineup for Friday nights starts on May 1st and runs through Oct. 2nd! With a can't miss stage, front lawn area, and world famous beer, this event is tough to beat!
Colorado State University Commencement
Turn your stop in Fort Collins for Colorado State University's graduation (May 16) into a vacation! We created can't miss itinerary stops you can pick from (or do them all) based on your graduate's college. Mix and match if you're feeling fancy and take this time to enjoy where your graduate has been spending their time the last few years!
Live Music
Meet me at The Mish
The iconic Mishawaka Amphitheatre—affectionately known as "The Mish"—is a bucket-list venue nestled in the pristine Poudre Canyon. Although it plays music inside, the outdoor stage comes alive this time of year! One of the first marquee evening shows of every year is Head for the Hills: 20th Annual Pickin' on the Poudre on May 16th. Three days of The Disco Biscuits starting Friday, May 22nd, is always a popular ticket. Don't forget about the Sunday Summer Series on Mother's Day, May 10th, featuring Sasha Stone Band from 2-5 p.m. There are Sunday shows on May 17th and May 31st as well. For a full lineup, see their schedule page here!
Tunes at Washington's and The Armory
Washington’s is a historic 900-person venue in Old Town Fort Collins and regularly hosts big names. The Fretliners kick off May's lineup with a bang on May 2nd. Shows from Unknown Mortal Orchestra, That Eighties Band, and Tab Benoit fill out their calendar.
The Armory is a more intimate 200-person capacity venue with state-of-the-art acoustics. The two shows in May are Jake Xerxes Fussell (May 7th) and Robert Lester Folsom (May 22nd).
Check out the full line up for both venues at the Bohemian Live Music website.
Rock Out at the Aggie
The historic Aggie Theatre, a live music institution in Fort Collins for over 100 years, plays host to several great shows this month. The venue has an ultra active month with 13 shows! American singer-songwriter, Langhorne Slim starts the month off on May 1st. A Fort Collins all-star type lineup plays on May 22nd as The Crooked Rugs with Jesus Christ Taxi Drive, Slow Caves, and Bitchflower, preform on stage! Check out their website for upcoming shows.
Other Ways to Tune In
Sound Bar, winner of the 2025 FoCoMA Peer Awards' Best Venue, has emerged as a community hub for live music and nightlife in the heart of Fort Collins. The venue's May lineup showcases its commitment to diverse indie, rock, metal, and alternative acts, making it a go-to spot for discovering emerging artists and underground sounds in Northern Colorado's vibrant music scene. Check out their schedule here.
Magic Rat, located in Old Firehouse Alley adjacent to The Elizabeth Hotel in Old Town, offers swinging sounds on tap weekly for free. For seven days of the month, 830 North combines bowling and music for an enhanced visit to the lanes. Check out their Blues Behind Bars fundraiser on May 2nd! Avogadro's Number is another popular spot that routinely books local talent. With a combination of free and paid shows, you're sure to find something you like! Remember to check out our 20+ breweries as they also host smaller live shows!
Performing Arts: Theater, Film, Comedy
The Lincoln Center
There’s no shortage of great performances planned at the Lincoln Center this month, starting with "The Odyssey", performing from May 1st through the 16th. The 2025-26 dance season comes to an end with a spring dance recital, "At The Movies" on May 27-29. The Contemporary Dance Academy presents Let it Go: A Tale of Two Sisters on May 16th. For tickets and more information on shows, visit their website!
The Comedy Fort
Hosting regular open mic nights and nationally renowned comedians, The Comedy Fort is Fort Collins's only comedy club and home to events all month long that you can find here. Be sure to catch Erica Rhodes (May 1-2) from America's Got Talent, Joshua Emerson from Netflix is a Joke, Shane Torres from The Lake Show, and more great comics! Specialty nights on the docket this month also include The Fort Showcase (April 29-May 6), Moms Unhinged! (May 3), and The Gateway Show (May 13).
Bas Bleu
Bas Bleu Theatre, located in the historic Giddings Building in downtown Fort Collins, offers a charming and versatile venue for a variety of events. With its intimate stage and elegant gallery space, it’s the perfect setting for performances, weddings, receptions, and more. In May, catch the Comedy Brewers on May 10. If an intimate music setting is your jam then try The Listening Room, a singer-songwriter's showcase, on May 26. Check out the full line up at Bas Bleu here.
The Lyric
The Lyric is a locally owned eclectic community hub that generates, distributes, and exhibits creative arts. The Lyric boasts three indoor movie theaters and a towering outdoor movie screen. Aside from the refreshed cycle of Indie movies rolling, the Lyric has themed events like Drag Brunch, Wild Card Wednesday where the movie is free but random, Trivia, free Weekend 'Toons, karaoke, story swap, and more! The Loud Frame Film Festival, a three-day film festival based in Colorado celebrating the fusion of cinema, sound, and live performance, blasts into town May 22-24th.
Dining & Shopping
The Fort Collins Foodie WalkTM happens the 3rd Friday of every month, which will be May 15th. The Foodie Walk gets you into businesses that provide food or food related products, like spices, cooking supplies, cheese, and olive oil! It's a great way to discover new recipes, products you can't live without, and new places to patronize. This free event runs from 5pm to 8pm and features interactive opportunities and seasonal flavors all in an exciting tasting experience!
Looking to bite off a little bit more to chew? Check out the Old Town Food Tour, which stops at 4-6 restaurants, an adult beverage add-on, a chance to meet chefs, and more! If you are looking to add attributes to your own cooking chops, then be sure to check out the cooking classes offered by Ginger & Baker and Farm Fusion. Speaking of Ginger & Baker, they have their Mother's Day Market a week before the holiday on May 2nd. Similarly, Maxline Brewing's Holiday Market is May 3rd. On the other side of town, Breckenridge Brewery has a Mother's Day Floral Class for mom's to make a bouquet!
One of the town favorites, the Larimer County Farmers' Market, has its opening day on Saturday, May 16th! The Fort Collins Farmers Market, which occurs on Sundays, starts on May 3rd and goes through November 8th. They'll add a Wednesday to their event, but not until June. New this year is the Summer Farmers Market inside Foothills Mall on every second Saturday of the month, starting with May 9th!
For International Compost Awareness Week, the Compost Queen has partnered with Music City Hot Chicken - North for a Brunch, Plant Swap, & Compost Class: We Love The Hot Mess.
Art & Museums
Put your walking shoes on and head out on the Downtown Fort Collins First Friday Art WalkTM on May 1st! The First Friday Art Walk is a free monthly, self-guided tour that celebrates creativity, culture, and community in Downtown Fort Collins. With 30 participating businesses all over the downtown area, art walk showcases a spectrum of artistic styles to entertain and engage amateurs and art aficionados of all ages, interests and backgrounds.
Art Week Fort Collins returns from May 1-9th with activations all across the city to explore, experience or create! For a full list of the activities, check out the website here.
The Avenir Museum of Design and Merchandising has a new exhibit called ImagiNation: Fashioning A Nation, which is about how the American fashion set itself apart after its split from Britian. The Global Village Museum of Arts & Cultures has a few programs including a Mother's Day Chocolate Tasting and a Stories from the Trail, which is about the Camino de Santiago. The 22nd Annual Masks Fundraiser & Exhibition at the Museum of Art Fort Collins goes through June 5th. Over the past 22 years, 4,000 Masks have been created and over $2.2 million raised by this extraordinary fundraiser and community art project.
Sports, Wellness & Outdoors
Outdoors & Fitness
Rafting season is upon us! Many of the local outfitters are having their opening day this month. A Wanderlust Adventure starts on May 7th, Mountain Whitewater on May 8th, Rocky Mountain Adventures on May 9th, and A1 Wildwater on May 15th.
One of the most scenic marathons in the country happens right here in Fort Collins on Sunday, May 3rd. The Colorado Marathon, which starts up in the Poudre Canyon, has participants running alongside the Poudre River from the canyon into town!
Do you want to learn take your fishing skills to the next level? St Peter's Fly Shop has a Row School class on May 1st, but also other instructional opportunities throughout the month.
Goat Yoga at Foothills Mall (May 2, May 9, and May 16) is good for the soul, no doubt. For a deeper yoga event, try the Exploring the Chakras: Yoga Workshop & Herbal Tea Ceremony at The Fox Den on May 2nd.
Bird lovers should make it over to the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program on May 9th for their Spring Open House. Meet live Educational Ambassadors, get a glimpse behind-the-scenes at our facility, and learn about raptors.
The annual Fire Hydrant 5K & Expo at Spring Canyon Park is set for May 30th and will be a wagging good time this NOCO Human Society sponsored event has the cutest and fittest pups around!
Colorado State University
The collegiate sport calendar is coming to a close and so is the opportunities to see the Rams at home! The CSU Softball team has its last home series against Grand Canyon (April 30-May 2). Over at the Jack Christiansen Track, the championship caliber Track & Field program has the Doug Max Invitational on May 2nd.
