Each October, the Pikes Peak region celebrates Arts Month as a way to elevate the visibility and importance of arts & culture in our community. During Arts Month, you’re encouraged to have at least one new cultural experience with family or friends!

Though #ArtsOctober is coming to a close, there’s still plenty to see and do!

Find more Arts Month details, including resources, event info, and more at PeakRadar.com/ArtsMonth!

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‘Colorado Experience: Fannie Mae Duncan’ Screening
October 23 at 6 p.m. | Stargazers Theatre & Event Center | Free, Registration Required
Join Rocky Mountain PBS for a preview screening of the hour-long documentary “Colorado Experience: Fanny Mae Duncan.” Meet the inspiring Fannie Mae Duncan, an African American nightclub owner who brought the motto “Everybody Welcome” to true meaning at her Colorado Springs Cotton Club despite the volatile Civil Rights Movement of her day.

Colony House
October 24 at 7 p.m. | The Black Sheep | Advanced Tickets: $10.39; Day of Show: $18
Picture the quintessential rock band. Maybe they’re standing on a grimy street corner with their arms crossed, looking tough, or maybe they’re goofing around in a sunlit field. They could be wearing motorcycle jackets or cowboy shirts or feather boas. They might sound austere and angry or epic and stadium-ready. But what they have in common, regardless of aesthetic, is that they stand together, shoulder-to-shoulder, brothers and sisters in arms. A real rock band is a gang. A group of people united by a shared commitment to what matters in the world, what matters in life, and an insatiable need to communicate that sensibility to anyone else out there who might relate.

Emma Crawford Coffin Race & Parade
October 27 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. | Manitou Springs | Free
Manitou Springs celebrates the 24th Annual Emma Crawford Coffin Races & Festival! The parade starts at 12 p.m. followed by up to 70 teams racing coffins down Manitou Avenue for the ultimate victory! Each team consists of one Emma and four runners dressed in costume. The fastest three timed places earn trophies as well as a chance at Best Entourage, Best Coffin, a 2018 Miss Emma will be crowned, and a new team destined to race for the Coffin Cup in Nederland at the 2019 Frozen Dead Guy Days – so come dressed to impress, and race your face off!

Monster Mash
October 26 and 27 at 7:30 p.m. | Pikes Peak Center for the Performing Arts | Tickets start at $26
Join the Colorado Springs Philharmonic for Monster Mash, part of the Philharmonic Pops series. A spooktacular night of scary tricks and musical treats, performed by an orchestra possessed by thrilling classics and the newest movie thrillers. Costumes optional.

Three Nights of Horror Film Festival
October 25 from 6-10 p.m.; October 26 from 6 p.m. to Midnight; October 27 from 4-10 p.m. | Tim Gill Center for Public Media | Free
Local filmmakers will be on site during the festival, which will feature local indie horror short films along with cult classic horror feature films. Films will be shown Thursday, Friday and Saturday night along with the Colorado Springs Zombie Crawl having their annual zombie crawl Friday night. Beer will be available from local breweries with all proceeds supporting the non-profit Independent Film Society of Colorado (IFSOC), helping to support and promote independent film in the Pikes Peak Region.

‘The Postman Always Rings Twice’
October 19-20 and 25-27 at 6:30 p.m.; October 20 and 27 at 2 p.m. | Fountain Community Theater | Tickets start at $9
“The Postman Always Rings Twice” is an adaptation by Jon Jory from the novel by James M Cain. Drifter Frank Chambers accepts a job from the alcoholic owner of a diner in a town he’s hitchhiking through. Frank and Cora – the diner owner’s young wife – quickly start a romance. Cora convinces Frank the only way they can be together is for Frank to kill husband Nick and collect the insurance money, but a botched first plan leaves Nick in hospital. Suspecting nothing about the affair, Nick resolves to sell the diner and take Cora away. Now desperate, Cora and Frank stage an automobile accident. This time Nick is killed. But the District Attorney is suspicious and pits the two of them against each other. And soon, their hopes of being together are shattered.

Originally compiled by Jonathan Toman of the Cultural Office and published in the Colorado Springs Independent Abstractions section on October 23, 2018.