THORNTON, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 23, 2026--
Anythink Libraries, Adams County’s public library system, will once again bring free live music into local parks and public spaces this summer through its annual Community Concert Series. The three-concert series will feature internationally acclaimed and Colorado-based musicians performing world music, Latin rock and cumbia-inspired sounds in Northglenn, Arvada and Thornton from July through September.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260623372958/en/
"Music has a unique ability to bring people together across backgrounds, generations and experiences," said Mark Fink, Executive Director of Anythink Libraries. "The Community Concert Series reflects our commitment to creating opportunities for people to connect, celebrate culture and experience the arts in accessible and meaningful ways."
Designed to create opportunities for connection through music, the Community Concert Series transforms neighborhood gathering spaces into welcoming destinations for families, friends and community members of all ages. Guests are encouraged to bring blankets and lawn chairs and enjoy free performances in partnership with local municipalities and community organizations.
The 2026 Community Concert Series lineup includes:
Blessing Chimanga
7 p.m. Thursday, July 9
Northglenn Arts, Festival Lawn: 1 E. Memorial Parkway, Northglenn, CO 80233
An internationally celebrated musician from Zimbabwe, Blessing Chimanga is known for his electrifying stage presence and mastery of the marimba, mbira and percussion. His performances blend traditional African music with contemporary influences, creating an engaging experience that invites audiences to dance, participate and connect.
iZCALLi
7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 6
Clear Creek Valley Park: 3700 W. 58th Place, Arvada, CO 80002
Featuring some of Denver’s premier musicians, iZCALLi is a high-energy Latin rock band known for blending powerful rhythms with themes of resilience, identity and cultural pride. Their music celebrates the immigrant experience while bringing audiences together through a shared love of live performance.
Ritmo Cascabel
5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 3
Anythink Thornton Community Center: 2211 Eppinger Blvd., Thornton, CO 80229
Closing out the series is Denver-based Ritmo Cascabel, whose distinctive sound blends cumbia, western and rock and roll influences. Known for their infectious energy and danceable performances, the group offers a fresh take on traditional Latin American sounds.
All concerts are free and open to the public. No registration is required.
For additional information, visit https://www.anythinklibraries.org/anythink-community-concert-series/.
AboutAnythink Libraries
Anythink, an award-winning public library system, serves the residents of Adams County, Colorado via its seven branches, a bookmobile and an upcoming Nature Library in Thornton and Express Library in Reunion. With a mission to “Open Doors for Curious Minds,” Anythink is a catalyst for innovation and provides comfortable spaces, accessible resources and hands-on programming for all ages. Guided by values of creativity, optimism, compassion and lifelong learning, the library system is committed to representing the diversity of Adams County and creating a sense of belonging for everyone. Anythink’s digital resources are available 24/7—including Anythink World, the library’s custom virtual experience platform in the metaverse. The library’s customer experience also extends to specialty spaces and hands-on programs like The Studio, the Nature Library and mySummer. Whether you're exploring a new topic or mastering a skill, discover something new at Anythink. Learn more: anythinklibraries.org.
Denver-based Ritmo Cascabel will perform as part of the Anythink Community Concert Series on Sept. 3 in Thornton. Known for blending cumbia, western and rock and roll influences, the band delivers an energetic sound designed to get audiences on their feet.
Denver-based Latin rock band iZCALLi will perform as part of the Anythink Community Concert Series on Aug. 6 at Clear Creek Valley Park in Arvada. Known for blending Latin influences with rock, the band creates powerful songs exploring identity, resilience and the immigrant experience.
Internationally acclaimed Zimbabwean musician Blessing Chimanga kicks off the Anythink Community Concert Series on July 9 in Northglenn. Known for his mastery of the marimba, drums and vocals, Chimanga blends traditional Zimbabwean music, Afro-jazz and contemporary rhythms into an interactive live experience.
PARIS (AP) — France recorded its hottest day ever on Tuesday amid an exceptional early heat wave across Europe, the national weather agency said.
It said France’s national thermal indicator — an average of temperatures measured at 30 weather stations— hit a new record of 29.8 C (85.6 F). The previous record of 29.4°C (84.9°F) dated back to heat waves of August 2003 and July 2019.
Daytime highs above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) were also recorded in many individual weather stations, Meteo France said.
France has recorded 40 fatalities from drowning in the past week as people seek relief from the searing heat. The national weather service, Meteo France, placed 54 departments, about half the country, under a red heat wave alert.
The heat wave is also hitting other parts of Europe, exposing tens of millions of people to extreme high temperatures. And it's far from over. Italy, Spain, and Britain also have been hit.
Human-caused climate change is tied to increasingly extreme weather, and U.N. climate agency projections say the next five years should shatter more heat records.
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said that the 40 people who died by drowning since last Thursday were mainly young people.
In a country without widespread air conditioning, schools, public transportation and sporting events have been impacted. In Paris, the Eiffel Tower adjusted its operations to the scorching weather, closing in the afternoon instead of late at night as it usually does. The Louvre museum said it would close two hours earlier than normal from Wednesday through Saturday.
“Although parts of its historic building are naturally resilient, the museum remains vulnerable and is not sufficiently adapted to climate change,” it said. “Heat buildup is greatest toward the end of the day and is further intensified by high visitor numbers.”
Extreme conditions are expected to last at least until the end of the week, with daytime highs above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in many towns.
“Further record-breaking temperatures are expected, including some that could surpass all previous records, regardless of the time of year,” Meteo France said.
The heat wave is exceptionally intense, coming very early in the summer, “but with a still uncertain duration,” the weather service said. It has already been compared to the August 2003 heat wave, when the highest temperatures in over half a century caused an estimated 15,000 deaths, many of them among older people in apartments and retirement homes without air conditioning.
Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. Over the last four years, more than 200,000 people across Europe died from heat-related causes, and most of those deaths were preventable, the World Health Organization’s Europe office said this month.
The above-average temperatures can cause heat exhaustion and life-threatening heat stroke.
Across the English Channel from France, hundreds of British schools say they are shuttering or closing early this week because of expected record heat, while many train services have been reduced to avoid heat-related problems on the rail lines.
The Met Office, the U.K. weather agency, issued a red extreme heat warning for Wednesday and Thursday, with forecasts suggesting June’s all-time daily temperature record could be broken.
Temperatures of around 37 degrees C (98.6 F) are expected in southern England, with up to 35 C (95 F) in southeast Wales. The peak of the heat wave is now forecast for Wednesday and Thursday, when highs could reach 39 C (102.2 F) in London or southern England. Conditions are expected to ease by Friday, the Met Office said.
On Tuesday, multiple train operators across the United Kingdom, including the express train serving London Gatwick Airport, said they were canceling or reducing services this week. Railway operators urged people to “only travel if absolutely necessary” on Wednesday and Thursday.
Further south on the continent, Spain is facing a heat wave across various parts of the Iberian Peninsula.
Spain’s national weather service, Aemet, issued red alerts Tuesday for temperatures of 44 C (111 F) in southern Andalusia as well as warnings of thermometers hitting 40 C (104 F) in the normally temperate Cantabria and the Basque Country regions along its northern Atlantic coast.
Aemet meteorologist Rubén del Campo said Spain, which has experienced increasingly torrid summers of late, is only going to get hotter because of climate change as heatwaves become more frequent, longer and appear outside the traditional window of July and August.
Of the dozen heatwaves Aemet has recorded in June since it started tracking them in 1975, half have occurred since 2015, del Campo said.
Human-driven climate change is heating up the atmosphere, both above Spain and in the surrounding sea waters, he said.
Copernicus, the EU monitoring agency, found that in Europe and globally, 2024 was the hottest year on record and the continent experienced its second-highest number of “heat stress” days.
Scientists warn that climate change is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of heat and dryness, especially in southeastern Europe, making the region more vulnerable to health impacts and wildfires.
The name of the body of water between France and the U.K. has been corrected to the “English Channel.”
Associated Press journalists Sylvia Hui in London and Joseph Wilson in Barcelona, Spain, contributed to this report.
People swim in an outdoor swimming pool in London, Tuesday, June 23, 2026 as a heat wave is predicted across Britain.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Tourists use umbrellas to shelter from the sun as they visit the historical Spanish steps in Rome, Tuesday, June 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
A man drinks on Westminster Bridge in London, as a heat wave is predicted Tuesday, June 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
A man keeps his legs dry as he cycles through standing water in London, as a heat wave is predicted Tuesday, June 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
An African penguin cools off in a basin in Kronber zoo, near Frankfurt, Germany, Tuesday, June 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
A man keeps his legs dry as he cycles through standing water in London, as a heat wave is predicted Tuesday, June 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
People cool off in a water spray at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
A family walks through a cooling water spray at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
A man shields himself from the sun with a scarf as he walks in the garden of the Palace of Versailles, outside Paris, during a heat wave with temperatures soaring above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Tourists with an umbrella take a photo in Paris, as France is enduring a grueling heat wave with temperatures soaring above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena )
A drugstore sign shows the temperature 43 degrees Celsius (109,4 degrees Fahrenheit) in Rennes, western France, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeremias Gonzalez)
