Halloween Events, an Inflatable Art Walk-In and Film Premieres Fill Denver-Area Calendar

A mix of Halloween gatherings, immersive art and film screenings is lined up across Denver and Boulder in the coming days, with several events free to attend.

Downtown Denver's Lower Downtown and Platte Valley areas have seen a revival in family-friendly programming, if not in visitation, since 16th Street fully reopened a little over a year ago. The newest draws carry a Halloween theme. Leading the way is the 12th annual BOOnion Station at Denver Union Station, set for Thursday, Oct. 29, from 4 to 7 p.m. in the Great Hall. The free event includes trick-or-treating for children, mini-train rides, balloon artists and face painting. Judging for a costume contest begins at 5 p.m., and prizes for first, second and third place will be awarded at 6 p.m. More information is available at denverunionstation.com.

Anyone heading downtown might also visit Larimer Square's free Trick-or-Treat Street on Saturday, Oct. 24, from 2 to 6 p.m. Participating businesses will hand out free candy, and the event also features a costume contest, fall activities and a photo booth. Details are at larimersquare.com.

For adults who want something different from the usual kid-oriented inflatable, the immersive installation "oximoron" opens to the public from Friday, Oct. 23, through Sunday, Oct. 25. Presented as part of the Biennial of the Americas cultural series, the work by artists Pablo Kobayashi and Lucía Aumann is a 27-foot-long, 13-foot-high inflatable sculpture. It will be set up at Glenarm Plaza at Denver Pavilions, 500 16th St., Suite 120.

According to a statement, the project invites visitors to "move through and within the work, becoming part of an environment where the relationship between body, structure and surrounding space continually shifts." An opening party with live music, kids' art kits and drinks, available for purchase at Qué Rico, runs from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday. Admission is free, but reservations are required for a 30-minute guided experience for up to 10 guests. RSVPs can be made at biennialoftheamericas.org/events.

In Boulder, the 14th annual Boulder Jewish Film Festival runs from Sunday, Oct. 25, through Nov. 1 at the Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut St. It begins just as larger festivals, including the Denver Film Festival, which runs Oct. 22 through Nov. 1, get under way. The Boulder lineup explores modern Jewish culture and identity and includes "You Had to Be There," which centers on what the festival describes as a "remarkable moment in comedy history." In 1972, then-unknown performers Gilda Radner, Eugene Levy and Martin Short were cast in Toronto's production of "Godspell."

Each screening includes a post-film talkback with the audience about the film's broader themes and production. Tickets are $20.70 per screening. The full schedule is at thedairy.org/boulder-jewish-film-festival, or people can call 303-440-7826.

On the lighter and stranger side, the indie horror-comedy "UCK" premieres Thursday, Oct. 29, at Mutiny Comics & Coffee, 3483 S. Broadway in Englewood. Directed by Ty Bradford and shot in Globeville, the intentionally B-movie-flavored film follows a carpet cleaner and a mysterious substance in the fictional town of Roswad, with weird and bloody results.

The interactive event starts at 6:30 p.m. Admission to the movie is $18, while a $25 option adds a pre-show "vacuum training" in which the audience learns, tongue in cheek, how to suck alien entities out of the carpet, plus a movie poster, organizers said. Another screening is planned at Boulder's Dairy Arts Center on Nov. 6. Venue details are at mutinycomics.com and tickets at uckmovie.com.