Sep 29, 30 Live Music: Canyonlands by Night & Day- Nanites

Sep 29 Live Music: Blu Pig- Sapphires Garden

Sep 30-Oct1 Live Music: Blu Pig- Columbia Jones

Sep 30 Live Music: Canyonlands by Night & Day- Nanites

Not only are there plenty of natural wonders to see in Moab, there’s also lots of fun entertainment available right downtown. Moab hosts a thriving music scene. If you’re looking for something totally different, there’s the Moab Backyard Theater, located right in the heart of downtown. It’s open to all ages and great fun for grown-ups and kids alike. In September, shows return to 7 pm, offering an easy school night activity.

The Backyard Theater is one of the only open-air entertainment venues in the west, a throwback to the old west days when traveling shows entertained culture-starved pioneers on the dusty streets of the frontier towns. Located just a half-block off Main street in downtown, The Backyard Theater features Magic and Music four nights a week. The stage sits beneath a giant cottonwood tree that is older than the town itself. In its fifth year of operation, the theater has entertained thousands of people from all over the world. They come to see an old-fashioned type of American entertainment that has all but vanished in the rest of the country.

Every Wednesday, traditional bluegrass music returns to the theater. The band Quicksand Soup performs old-time standards and unique originals starting at 7pm. The free show has become a downtown fixture over the last few years and it’s common to see both locals and tourists alike tapping their toes.

Thursday, Moab’s own honky-tonk fusion outfit, Juniper Drive takes the stage for a free show. Saturdays, Moab’s Magic show returns with the award-winning magic of Rick Boretti. Rick’s hilarious routine changes constantly, but always involves lots of wisecracks and mystifying magic tricks. Folks have been known to return year after year for the show. Kids love Rick’s magic, but adults are often amazed at how much they love it too. If you haven’t caught a real magic show in a while, then you might have forgotten how fun they can be. Shows start at 7pm. Music is always free. Magic Prices are 10 dollars for folks over 12 and 5 dollars for kids over 3 and under are free. Allows outside food and drink as well. It is located just behind Zax at 56 W. 100 South.

The 107th annual Fruita Fall Festival in western Colorado will take place September 23-24, with lots of fun things to see and do, including opportunities to listen to live music performed outdoors both Friday and Saturday.

Other activities include a baking and canning contest, cornhole tournament, farmers market, and parade. There will also be a cupcake eating contest, kids’ art show, street dancing, as well as a Fruita history fair. There will be various vendors, including food trucks.

Stroll along the Artwalk to meet an array of Grand Valley artists, from Fruita to Palisade, who will be showing and selling their works, Saturday, from 4-8 p.m. Artwork will include woodwork, paintings, photography, metalwork, and more.

Additionally, there will be a Brew Fest, which will take place Friday evening. Festivalgoers may purchase tickets that will allow them to taste beers from various local breweries from throughout the Grand Valley.

Mike Ritter, Fruita Chamber of Commerce marketing and communications manager, said the “outhouse race” on Friday afternoon is particularly “fun to watch.” Local businesses compete to see who can be the first to push their outhouse-on-wheels over the finish line. Four people do the pushing, while one person sits inside the outhouse. Most of the competing businesses build their own outhouse, although one year someone entered an actual porta-potty, Ritter said.

Men and women with beards (real and fake) may want to join the sixth annual Grand Valley Beard Rally, which happens at 4 p.m. on Saturday. Last year’s entries included a beard made from Legos, and another created with whipped cream.

The free live music starts Friday at 7 p.m. with the group Wave 11 – a five-piece band that blends rhythm and blues, reggae and funk, followed by the group 40 oz. to Freedom, a Sublime tribute band, beginning at 8:30 p.m. to close out the evening.