Furry Scurry
FAMILY|Touted by organizers as the nation’s largest dog walk, this 2-mile walk and fun run helps the Dumb Friends League raise money to care for as many as 25,000 homeless animals each year.|Registration at 7 a.m. Saturday; race starts at 9 a.m.|Washington Park; $45 registration includes T-shirt; 303-696-4941, ext. 1378; or www.ddfl. org.
It’s Kinetics time
FAMILY/MUSIC|More than 50 teams have entered the 26th Annual KBCO/Miller Lite Kinetic Sculpture Challenge, the beach party and local rite of spring punctuated by a race featuring human-powered land/water crafts. This year’s music headliners are Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Ozomatli.|6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday|Boulder Reservoir; $12 (not including parking or $3 pancake breakfast); Ticketmaster.
Brazilian beats
MUSIC|Acclaimed vocalist Luciana Souza from São Paulo, Brazil, brings her jazz quartet to Denver for a show that includes American and Brazilian standards and original works based on Pablo Neruda’s poetry. There also will be a free Festa Brasileira before the show featuring Brazilian food, music and entertainment.|7:30 p.m. Saturday|Newman Center for the Performing Arts, 2344 E. Iliff Ave.; $25-$40; 303-357-2787 or 303-871-7720.
Halls are alive …
MUSIC|This year marks not only the 40th anniversary of “The Sound of Music,” the film that immortalized their family history. The von Trapps also have embarked on an international tour highlighting European and American folk songs.|7 p.m. Saturday in Denver, 3 p.m. Sunday in Fort Collins|Colorado Convention Center, Ballroom 5, $12-$18, TicketsWest. Second show is at the Lincoln Center in Fort Collins.
Just a little different
CHAMBER MUSIC|The Colorado Chamber Players like to tackle repertoire a little off the beaten path. They conclude their 2005-06 season with “From Budapest to Vienna,” a program including Ernst von Dohnanyi’s rarely heard sextet and Johannes Brahms’ Horn Trio in E flat.|7:30 p.m. Saturday|Broomfield Auditorium, 3 Community Park Road; $18; 866-464-2626 orwww.ticketswest.com.
Company premiere
DANCE|The inaugural performance by the Momentum Dance Company, “Emancipation,” explores an individual’s journey from childhood through independence to self-actualization.|7:30 p.m. Saturday|Cleo Parker Robinson Theatre, 119 Park Avenue West; $15; 720-771-2737 or 303-447-9100.
Cinco de Mayo
FAMILY|Denver’s 18th annual festival is one of the largest of its kind in the country. It includes a parade, rides, music and a miniature version of the Denver Grand Prix where the public can drive race cars and meet NASCAR drivers.|10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday|Civic Center Park; free.
A rare opportunity
ART|This is the final weekend to catch “Santeros y Santeras: Expanding Traditions.” The exhibition offers a rare, large-scale overview of contemporary Spanish colonial art, with more than 175 selections by 40 artists. This style, indigenous to Colorado and New Mexico, has more than a 300-year history.|10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and Saturday, 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday|Foothills Art Center, 809 15th St., Golden; free; 303-279-2922 or www.foothillsartcenter.org.
Classic well done
OPERA|”The Marriage of Figaro” comes as close to perfection as any opera ever created. Combine that with a first-rate cast of singers and winning staging by director James Robinson, and it adds up to a thoroughly captivating cap to Opera Colorado’s season. Just two performances remain.|7:30 tonight, 2 p.m. Sunday|Boettcher Concert Hall, Denver Performing Arts Complex, 14th and Curtis streets; $25-$130; call 303-893-4100 or 800-641-1222, or www.operacolorado.org.
Quartet’s on a roll
CHAMBER MUSIC|Things hardly could be going better for the Jerusalem Quartet. The young ensemble has been featured on two BBC Music Magazine compact discs, and its latest recordings are distributed by the Harmonia Mundi label. Its Denver program will include Antonin Dvorak’s popular Quartet No. 12, “The American.”|7:30 p.m. Monday|Gates Concert Hall, Newman Center for the Performing Arts, 2344 E. Iliff Ave.; $17-$58; 303-357-2787 or www.ticketmaster.com.
Big tale
OPERA|Almost everyone knows the folk story of Paul Bunyan and his big blue ox. But most people don’t know that famed English composer Benjamin Britten wrote “Bunyan,” an operetta based on the tale. Central City Opera offers a preview of this production as part of the Opera 101 Series.|7 p.m. Tuesday|Denver Central Library, 10 W. 14th Ave. Parkway; free; 303-292-6500 or www.centralcityopera.org.
