4 JUNE 18-24, 2026 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | W ® 7 FIGHT FOR THEIR LIVES Trans athletes battle it out to spread self-defense and celebrate community. BY HANNAH METZGER 14 BLAST FROM THE PAST The newly released “Hunting for Fish” — fi lmed in Denver — has only taken 28 years to hit the screen. BY TEAGUE BOHLEN 16 BOLDER IN BOULDER This Michelin-recognized Denver team makes a bold leap with Odd Rabbit. BY SAMANTHA FARMER 19 WINNING POINTS How Denver’s Juneteenth Music Festival grew into one of the nation’s biggest celebrations. BY EMILY FERGUSON 14 Culture 16 Cafe 19 Music CONCERTS/CLUBS ................................... 22 26 Marijuana CANNABIS CALENDAR ............................ 26 HIGH NOTES ............................................. XX VOLUME 49 NUMBER 42 JUNE 18-24, 2026 E D I T O R I A L Editor Patricia Calhoun News Editor Thomas Mitchell Food and Drink Editor Antony Bruno Music Editor Emily Ferguson Culture Editor Kristen Fiore Social Media Editor Katrina Leibee Staff Writers Sage Kelley, Hannah Metzger Senior Contributors Brendan Joel Kelley, Alan Prendergast, Michael Roberts Contributors Gil Asakawa, Teague Bohlen, Justin Criado, Audrey Ferrer, Nick Hutchinson, Karl Christian Krumpholz, Skyler McKinley, Abigail Nueve, Ryan Pachmayer, Kristin Pazulski, Adam Perry, Evan Semón, Amber Taufen, Toni Tresca, Kastle Waserman Music Listings Matthew Jones Cover Designer Monika Swiderski Editorial Intern July Ramirez P R O D U C T I O N Production Manager Michael Wilson Assistant Production Manager Erin Kirk Graphic Designers Caleigh Gearheart, Tori O’Connor C R E A T I V E S E R V I C E S Senior Graphic Designer Allie Seidel A D V E R T I S I N G Senior Multimedia Account Executives Amy Camera, Aaron Lembke Multimedia Account Executives Remy Diamond, Rachel Gilmore, Keith Gordon, Trey Konsella, Kirby Quick, Dalton Wilson, Allison Wissink Operations Manager Carver Hodgkiss Digital Sales Coordinator Anne-Grace Hartman Director of Digital Sales Alan Heath C I R C U L A T I O N Circulation Manager Ty Koepke B U S I N E S S Director of Business and Operations Russell Breiter Financial Accountant Robert Scribner AR Coordinator Stacy Phillips IT Systems Manager Kris Robinson Receptionist Cindy Perez Associate Publisher Tracy Kontrelos Publisher Scott Tobias V O I C E M E D I A G R O U P Executive Editor Chelsey Dequaine-Jerabek Editorial Operations Director Bridget Thomason Director of Membership and Community Development Jennifer Robinson Digital Operations & Audience Strategist Allison Stephenson Audience Strategist Lauren Antonoff Hart Corporate Controller Beth Cook Legal Counsel Steve Suskin Chief Financial Offi cer Jeff Mars Chief Executive Offi cer Scott Tobias V M G N A T I O N A L National Advertising: 1-888-278-9866, www.voicemediagroup.com Senior Vice President of Sales Operations Joe Larkin D I S T R I B U T I O N Westword is available free of charge. Additional copies of the current issue may be purchased for $1, payable in advance at the Westword offi ce. Westword may be distributed only by authorized Westword distributors. No person may, without prior written permission of Westword, take more than one copy of each issue. C O P Y R I G H T The entire contents of Westword are copyright 2026 by Denver Westword LLC. No portion may be reproduced in whole or in part by any means, including electronic retrieval systems, with- out the express written permission of the Publisher, Westword, P.O. Box 5970, Denver CO 80217. Back issues may be purchased for $2 each plus postage from the Westword offi ce (issues older than six weeks subject to availability). The Best of Denver 2025 is $6 plus postage. Story reprints are available for $1 plus postage; call 303-296-7744 to place an order, or check our archives at www.westword.com. Westword (USPS478230) is published weekly by Denver Westword LLC, 1278 Lincoln Street, Denver CO 80203. Peri- odicals postage paid in Denver. Domestic subscriptions may be purchased for $100/year or $50/six months. Postmaster: Send address changes to Westword, P.O. Box 5970, Denver CO 80217. Mailing address: P.O. Box 5970, Denver, CO 80217 Street address: 1278 Lincoln Street, Denver, CO 80203 For general information, call: 303-296-7744 For Editorial, email: [email protected] ON THE COVER PHOTOGRAPH BY EVAN SEMÓN ICYMI T O T H E E D I T O R YOU CAN COMMENT ON ANY STORY AT WESTWORD.COM; SEND LETTERS TO [email protected] Don’t miss a word! The stories in this print edition are just a fraction of the pieces we publish every week on westword.com. For a cheat sheet on all that content, subscribe to our daily newsletter at westword.com/profi le. You can also follow @denverwestword on Facebook, X, Threads, Bluesky, Instagram and TikTok. And it’s all free! DENVER PUBLIC LIBRARY SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, WH2129 T H I S S P U D ’ S F O R Y O U ! Colorado ranks in the top ten states for UFO sightings, with residents reporting everything from unidentifi ed objects over Red Rocks to spaceships leaving behind mutilated cattle to even “fi re in the sky” (thanks, John Denver). But a fl ying potato? Last month, the Department of War started releasing previously classifi ed Unidentifi ed Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) reports, as Presi- dent Donald Trump proclaimed that “people can decide for themselves, ‘WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?’” On June 12, the U.S. govern- ment dumped another load of documents re- garding UAP sightings, including a report from a Colorado sighting in February 2022, when a former Army intelligence offi cer at Fort Carson and four members of his unit spotted a giant “potato” over Cheyenne Mountain. The day was warm, with a “blue bird” sky … and a mysterious object. “The witnesses describe the object as roughly the size of a large jet and resembling an angular, non- symmetrical potato made of uneven panels,” a DOD report noted, adding that the spud “was completely stationary about 300-500 feet above” the mountains. It cast no shadow below, and disappeared within minutes. Two years later, one of the witnesses de- tailed the sighting for the FBI, which called in a forensic sketch artist to draw what he’d seen. According to the heavily-redacted FBI report, the “perfectly still” spud was “made up of what can best be described as articulating fi sh scales or panels that were non-symmetrical, non-overlapping, and irregular shaped,” that shifted “in slow waves starting at different points of origin but at the same time.” The initial UAP dump didn’t include any fl ying food items, but did cite a 12-foot fl oat- ing cylinder in Germany in 1945 and “super hot” hovering orbs in the U. S. in 2025. On “Breakthrough Hours,” a Christian podcast airing May 8, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert of- fered her own assessment of the sightings. “What I’ve seen, I wouldn’t put it as a ‘Marvin the Martian’ kind of thing, but I do believe that this is more spiritual and, if you really want to go there, demonic,” Boebert said. “I don’t think that they are aliens as we have thought for most of our lives.” The government had its own theory for the UAP potato, suggesting that “the posi- tioning of the sun in relation to Cheyenne Mountain would allow for backscattering of sunlight refl ecting off snow-covered ground” and that “refl ection could illuminate low- level clouds in the vicinity.” But it also noted there was “low confi - dence” in that explanation. The truth is out there. So get out the tinfoil for your hat…and wrap up this half-baked spud sighting. – Patricia Calhoun F I N A L L Y , A C O N V I C T I O N The man who shot a Denver musician will fi nally go to prison nearly six years after the murder. On June 11, a Denver jury found 48-year-old Patrick Lee Apostol guilty of second-degree murder in connection with the 2020 death of Zackary Smith, a 34-year- old guitarist for the band Autonomix, after a nearly two-week-long trial. Apostol is the half-brother of Grammy Award-winning bluegrass artist Billy Strings, as Apostol mentioned frequently during a lengthy court process that included another conviction for running a hash lab, which was discovered during the Smith murder investigation. On Sept. 10, 2020, Smith was shot and killed in his car near the intersection of East 17th Avenue and Quince Street, right outside of Apostol’s house. When investigators asked for Apostol’s security camera footage to help look into the shooting, he claimed it was broken. Police soon learned that Smith had been in a relationship with Apostol’s then-girl- friend, Mina Darnell-Strong, and was at Apostol’s house to meet with her while Apos- tol was asleep. During a search of Apostol’s home, police found over 10 illegal fi rearms, a shed used for extracting marijuana and the robe Apostol was wearing the night of the shooting. Gunshot residue was later found on that robe and bullet fragments in Smith’s vehicle matched Apostol’s white handgun. The marijuana extraction lab inspired a federal investigation and Apostol’s eventual arrest in a separate case. He pleaded guilty to a charge of intent to distribute and was sen- tenced in June 2022 to 30 months in prison, serving 14 before being released — and was arrested for Smith’s murder shortly after. He’ll be sentenced on Sept. 14, and could serve up to 48 years in prison. – Sage Kelley
