Events and Activities

Poster thumbnail image for The Space Program with Playground Ensemble - 9:00pm

The Space Program with Playground Ensemble - 9:00pm

Friday, Oct. 27
9:00 p.m.
Gates Planetarium
$20 Member, $25 Nonmember
 
Space and astronomy have fascinated humans for centuries, but one of the distinguishing characteristics of the 20th century was humanity’s journey into that great unknown made possible by NASA’s space program and others like it across the globe. Our desire to know more about the universe and our place within it touches all aspects of our culture, from music and movies to pop-culture and beyond. In this fully immersive and boundary pushing performance, Playground Ensemble closely collaborates with uniquely trained video artists and audio engineers to explore how space exploration and discovery has influenced today’s contemporary classical composers. The program includes pieces by George Crumb and Annie Gosfield, as well as four new compositions by Colorado-based composers Conrad Kehn (in collaboration with film maker Nicole Esquibel), Nathan Hall, Monica Bolles and David Farrell. Visualizations of space on the Gates Planetarium dome provide the backdrop for this inspired event. 
There are two performances this night, please note that this page is for the 9 p.m. performance.
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Admission
Special Ticket Required
Designed For
Adults
Accessibility
Wheelchair Accessible
Poster thumbnail image for The Space Program with Playground Ensemble - 7:00pm

The Space Program with Playground Ensemble - 7:00pm

Friday, Oct. 27
7:00 p.m.
Gates Planetarium
$20 Member, $25 Nonmember
 
Space and astronomy have fascinated humans for centuries, but one of the distinguishing characteristics of the 20th century was humanity’s journey into that great unknown made possible by NASA’s space program and others like it across the globe. Our desire to know more about the universe and our place within it touches all aspects of our culture, from music and movies to pop-culture and beyond. In this fully immersive and boundary pushing performance, Playground Ensemble closely collaborates with uniquely trained video artists and audio engineers to explore how space exploration and discovery has influenced today’s contemporary classical composers. The program includes pieces by George Crumb and Annie Gosfield, as well as four new compositions by Colorado-based composers Conrad Kehn (in collaboration with film maker Nicole Esquibel), Nathan Hall, Monica Bolles and David Farrell. Visualizations of space on the Gates Planetarium dome provide the backdrop for this inspired event. 
There are two performances this night, please note that this page is for the 7 p.m. performance.
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Admission
Special Ticket Required
Designed For
Adults
Accessibility
Wheelchair Accessible
Poster thumbnail image for Cloudspotting with The Cloud Appreciation Society

Cloudspotting with the Cloud Appreciation Society

Thursday, October 5th

7:00pm

Infinity Theater

$15 Member / $18 Nonmember

If you find yourself with your head in the clouds, wishing you knew more about the wispy wonders all around, then cloudspotting is made for you!

Gavin Pretor-Pinney, founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society, takes you on an illustrated and enlightening tour of the sky. In this entertaining talk, find out why clouds look the way they do and how the unique qualities of water allow them to appear and disappear, as if by magic! See how clouds reveal the invisible movements of our atmosphere and how cloud identification can help you forecast the weather.

Through photos taken by Cloud Appreciation Society Members around the world, you’ll learn how to recognize the many varied and dramatic cloud formations-- from the fair-weather cotton tufts of Cumulus, to the flying-saucer shaped Lenticularis, to the fleeting undulations called Fluctus.

Experience the creative influence of clouds throughout the history of art and discover why cloudspotting is the perfect antidote to the pressures of the digital world. Just a few moments each day with your head in the clouds can help keep your feet on the ground... Looking up will never be the same!

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Admission
Special Ticket Required
Designed For
Everyone
Accessibility
Wheelchair Accessible
Poster thumbnail image for "Walking with Gorillas" with National Geographic Explorer Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka

Tuesday, Oct. 3

7-9 p.m. 

Infinity Theater

Museum Members: $20

Nonmembers: $25 

Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka's groundbreaking approach to conservation has literally saved the critically endangered mountain gorillas of East Africa. She has pioneered a dynamic model of conservation work that places a priority on how humans and animals can coexist sustainably.     
 
Dr. Kalema-Zikusoka is the founder and CEO of Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) and the author of "Walking With Gorillas," a powerful memoir that accounts her journey in becoming one of the world’s leading conservationists. Following her talk, attendees will have the opportunity to meet Dr. Kalema-Zikusoka and get a signed copy of her book.

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Admission
Special Ticket Required
Designed For
Adults
Seniors
Accessibility
Wheelchair Accessible
Captioned Videos

Satisfy your science curiosity in a safe environment during our SCFD Free Days and Free Nights. Explore exhibitions, catch a Planetarium show or see a special performance or activity.

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Poster thumbnail image for DMNS Fall Break Camps

Fall Break Camps
9 a.m.-3:30 p.m., daily
Grades K–1, Grades 2–3, & Grades 4–5
$185 member, $205 non-member

3-day Camps
November 20–22

Looking for something amazing for your kids to do during school breaks? At the Museum, your child will experience fun and wonder, see planetarium shows, and explore the marvels of our temporary exhibitions. Each day will be something new as we bring together our favorite camp themes and activities for 2023 fall break camps! 

Online enrollment for Fall Break Camps is coming soon! Scholarship registration is by phone only, call Guest Services at 303.370.6000, 9 a.m.–5 p.m.

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Admission
Special Ticket Required
Designed For
Juniors (3-8)
Children
Poster thumbnail image for DMNS Winter Break Camps

Winter Break Camps
9 a.m. – 3:30 p.m., daily
Grades K–1, Grades 2–3, & Grades 4–5  
$305 member, $335 non-member

5-day Camps
December 18 – 22

Looking for something amazing for your kids to do during school breaks? At the Museum, your child will experience fun and wonder, see planetarium shows, and explore the marvels of our temporary exhibitions. Each day will be something new as we bring together our favorite camp themes and activities for 2023 winter break camps! Camps offered for grades K – 1, 2 – 3, and 4 – 5.

Online enrollment for Winter Break Camps is coming soon! Scholarship registration is by phone only, call Guest Services at 303.370.6000, 9 a.m.–5 p.m.

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Admission
Special Ticket Required
Designed For
Juniors (3-8)
Children
Accessibility
Wheelchair Accessible
Poster thumbnail image for Bones, Bats, Boo! Family Overnight (Ages 5-Grade 8 with adult)

Friday, Oct. 20

6 p.m.-9 a.m.

$85 member adult, $75 member child/junior, $100 nonmember adult, $90 member child/junior

Spend an enchanting night experiencing the magic of the Museum with your whole family! Wear your costumes while participating in Halloween hands-on science, crafts and more. Snuggle up for Storytime and enjoy a show in the Gates Planetarium. After a night of fun, sleep among the animals in our world-famous diorama halls. Ticket includes a pizza and salad dinner, evening snack and hot breakfast the next morning. It will be a ghostly good time for little monsters and mummies!

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Designed For
Families
Accessibility
Wheelchair Accessible
Poster thumbnail image for Outer Space Tiny Tots

Outer Space Tiny Tots

Friday, November 3rd

9:30am Members/Public Performance

10:45am School Groups Performance

Southeast Atrium

 

Blast off on a musical journey into outer space in this Tiny Tots Orchestra Performance for toddlers and early elementary students! From take-off with the orchestra, to melodies that fly you around the solar system, to a smooth landing back into the concert space, you and your young listeners will enjoy a musical journey unlike any other! Tiny Tots programs, brought to the Museum by Inside the Orchestra, are 45-minute immersive, interactive concerts for kids seven and under (and their adults) to get truly “inside the orchestra.” Attendees are seated on the floor and encircled by the 30+ piece orchestra. The orchestral performance is followed by a meet and greet opportunity with the musicians and performers. Visit the Space Odyssey Exhibition for more space-based fun before or after the concert! 

 

General Admission or membership is required in addition to ticket price. School Group Tickets Still Available! For group tickets call 303-370-6000.

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Admission
Special Ticket Required
Designed For
Families
Accessibility
Wheelchair Accessible
Poster thumbnail image for Eclipse Extravaganza

Eclipse Extravaganza!

Saturday, October 14, 2023

9am-1pm

This special combo ticket includes General Admission for Saturday October 14th, 2023 AND a pair of dated eclipse glasses. Join us to observe and enjoy the Annular Solar Eclipse with maximum coverage at 10:36am. Enjoy hands-on crafts and activities to discover the wonders of the sky with us! Gaze into our solar telescopes to get up close and personal with the sun! Join in on all of the above fun from 9am-1pm - included in General Admission! You will receive your solar glasses after presenting your ticket for entry. Valid on Oct 14th, 2023 only.

Need to purchase Solar Glasses only? Stop by the Museum Shop or order online!

Click here for tickets to learn more about Eclipses from Dr. KaChun Yu, our Curator of Space Sciences in the Planetarium.

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Designed For
Everyone
Poster thumbnail image for Members-Only “After the Asteroid” Screening and Q & A

Wednesday, Oct. 4
6:30 p.m.

In 2016, Associate Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology, Dr. Tyler Lyson made an extraordinary discovery at the Corral Bluffs site in the arid wilds of near Colorado Springs, Colorado. Hidden in the rocky terrain, he uncovered hundreds of fossils of animals and plants, all dating to between 66 and 65 million years ago – precisely the crucial million years after the asteroid impact that extinguished over 75% of all life on Earth.

Join us for this exclusive members-only event where we’ll screen “After the Asteroid,” a new documentary film that follows Dr. Lyson and his team as they work to discover the origins of the animals and plants that inhabit our planet, how life rebuilt itself after the asteroid and why some species survived while others did not. Film dubbed in English.

An open forum Q & A with Dr. Lyson and his team will follow the 90-minute film.

Tickets required: $10 adult member, $8 senior member, $8 youth (ages 3–18)

  • Please enter through the main entrance on the north side of the building.
  • Doors will open at 6 p.m.
  • Please bring your member card for Museum entrance and your ticket to the Infinity Theater film.
  • Concessions and a bar will be available for purchase.
  • All sales are final unless the Museum cancels the event.

No walk-up tickets available; event subject to selling out. Only the Infinity Theater will be open during the event; the rest of the Museum will be closed.

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Admission
Special Ticket Required
Designed For
Everyone
Accessibility
Wheelchair Accessible
Poster thumbnail image for Hollywood Favorite: Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit 2D

Saturday, Sept. 30
7-8:30 p.m.

Join us at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science for an unforgettable cinematic experience as we present the Hollywood Film Series, starting this month! Immerse yourself in iconic movies, such as the heartwarming A Bug's Life and the hilarious and action-packed Men in Black, among many others. Come share in the timeless joy and wonder of film as you relive Hollywood magic at our state-of-the-art Infinity Theater. Renovated earlier this year, the Infinity Theater provides the Denver Museum of Nature & Science’s giant screen experience you’ve come to know and love, but improved with brand new finishings, a new laser projector and new surround sound system, and much, much more. Come down and get some popcorn to enjoy this truly immersive, larger-than-life classic Hollywood movie experience you do not want to miss!

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit 2D

Wallace and his loyal dog, Gromit, set out to discover the mystery behind the garden sabotage that plagues their village and threatens the annual giant vegetable growing contest.

Please click here for wheelchair-accessible tickets.

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Admission
Special Ticket Required
Designed For
Everyone
Accessibility
Wheelchair Accessible
Captioned Videos
Poster thumbnail image for Hollywood Favorite: Shaun of the Dead 2D

Saturday, Oct. 7
7-8:40 p.m.

Join us at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science for an unforgettable cinematic experience as we present the Hollywood Film Series, starting this month! Immerse yourself in iconic movies, such as the heartwarming A Bug's Life and the hilarious and action-packed Men in Black, among many others. Come share in the timeless joy and wonder of film as you relive Hollywood magic at our state-of-the-art Infinity Theater. Renovated earlier this year, the Infinity Theater provides the Denver Museum of Nature & Science’s giant screen experience you’ve come to know and love, but improved with brand new finishings, a new laser projector and new surround sound system, and much, much more. Come down and get some popcorn to enjoy this truly immersive, larger-than-life classic Hollywood movie experience you do not want to miss!

Hollywood Favorite: Shaun of the Dead 2D

The uneventful, aimless lives of a London electronics salesman and his layabout roommate are disrupted by the zombie apocalypse.

Please click here for wheelchair-accessible tickets.

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Admission
Special Ticket Required
Designed For
Adults
Seniors
Accessibility
Wheelchair Accessible
Poster thumbnail image for Hollywood Favorite: An American Werewolf in London 2D

Saturday, Oct. 14
7-8:40 p.m.

Join us at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science for an unforgettable cinematic experience as we present the Hollywood Film Series, starting this month! Immerse yourself in iconic movies, such as the heartwarming A Bug's Life and the hilarious and action-packed Men in Black, among many others. Come share in the timeless joy and wonder of film as you relive Hollywood magic at our state-of-the-art Infinity Theater. Renovated earlier this year, the Infinity Theater provides the Denver Museum of Nature & Science’s giant screen experience you’ve come to know and love, but improved with brand new finishings, a new laser projector and new surround sound system, and much, much more. Come down and get some popcorn to enjoy this truly immersive, larger-than-life classic Hollywood movie experience you do not want to miss!

Hollywood Favorite: An American Werewolf in London 2D

Two American college students on a walking tour of Britain are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists.

Please click here for wheelchair-accessible tickets.

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Admission
Special Ticket Required
Designed For
Adults
Seniors
Accessibility
Wheelchair Accessible

Museum open until 9 on most Fridays

Can't make it to the Museum during the day? Come for an evening visit during Friday Evening Hours! The Museum is open until 9 p.m. and admission prices remain the same. As always, admission is free for our members. We look forward to kicking off the weekend with you.

 

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Designed For
Everyone
Accessibility
Wheelchair Accessible
Poster thumbnail image for Denver Arts Week Free Night at the Museum

Saturday, Nov. 4
5 p.m.-10 p.m.

FREE GENERAL ADMISSION

Embark on an evening of art experiences at the Museum as we join many of Denver’s cultural institutions in a free evening celebrating the arts for Denver Arts Week! Whether or not you consider yourself artistic, this evening will be full of fun. Enjoy programming from local artists, visit our temporary exhibition Mysteries of the Ice Ages, catch a film at the Infinity Theater and more! We'll see you there. 

If you have questions, please email [email protected].

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Admission
Free
Designed For
Everyone
Accessibility
Wheelchair Accessible
Poster thumbnail image for OUT! At the Museum

OUT! At the Museum

Sunday, October 15

9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Museum Admission is free on this day. 

Join us for SCFD Free Day “OUT! AT the Museum” on Sunday, October 15 for a fun and welcoming atmosphere with LGBTQ partners. In addition to FREE admission to the Museum, this event will include performances and activities for the whole family. 

 


The Scientific & Cultural Facilities District is a voter-approved special district in the seven-county metro area that provides a stable source of supplemental funding to more than 300 scientific and cultural organizations inside the district's boundaries. The SCFD collects a one-tenth of 1 percent sales-and-use tax (or one penny on every $10 spent), providing approximately $40 million each year to area cultural attractions both small and large. 

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Designed For
Everyone
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