Nightlife

The Colorado Springs entertainment scene spreads throughout the metropolitan area. Pikes Peak Center, the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, City Auditorium, Colorado College, and various facilities at the U.S. Air Force Academy are all outstanding venues for the performing arts. The city also supports dozens of cinemas, nightclubs, bars, and other after-dark attractions. Downtown is the major nightlife hub, but Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs also have their fair share of interesting establishments.

Weekly entertainment schedules appear in the Friday Gazette. Also look at the listings in the Independent, free entertainment tabloids. A good online resource for information on events and nightlife is www.peakradar.com.

Tickets for many major entertainment and sporting events can be obtained from Ticketmaster (tel. 719/520-9090; www.ticketmaster.com).

The Performing Arts 

Among the major venues for performing arts is the 8,000-seat Colorado Springs World Arena, 3185 Venetucci Blvd., at I-25, exit 138 (tel. 719/477-2100; www.worldarena.com). The area’s newest entertainment center, it presents big-name country and rock concerts and a wide variety of sporting events.

Other major facilities include the handsome Pikes Peak Center, 190 S. Cascade Ave. (tel. 719/520-7469 for the ticket office, or 719/477-2100; www.pikespeakcenter.org), a 2,000-seat concert hall in the heart of downtown that has been acclaimed for its outstanding acoustics. The city’s symphony orchestra and dance theater call the Pikes Peak Center home, and top-flight touring entertainers, Broadway musicals, and symphony orchestras appear here as well.

The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, 30 W. Dale St. (tel. 719/634-5581 for general information, or 719/634-5583 for the box office; www.csfineartscenter.org), is a historic facility that includes a children’s theater program, a repertory theater company, dance programs and concerts, and classic films. Recent productions have included The Producers and An Ideal Husband. At the historic City Auditorium, 221 E. Kiowa St. (tel. 719/385-5969; www.springsgov.com, follow links), you can often attend a trade show or big-name concert -- Willie Nelson has performed here -- or drop in at the Lon Chaney Theatre for a dramatic production. There are also several active performing-arts venues on the campus of Colorado College (tel. 719/389-6606; www.coloradocollege.edu) in Armstrong Hall and other buildings.