Here are some of the top events in the Colorado Springs area this weekend and beyond:

FRIDAY-SUNDAY

– It’s absolutely a kids’ touchy-feely weekend. Pretend you’re on a construction site in a cement mixer truck, put your hands on a SWAT vehicle, be a pretend firefighter or go “vroom vroom” sitting inside a race car. It’s Touch-a-Truck weekend, one of the area’s most popular family events and a benefit for Junior League’s community projects. Friday is a special sensory-friendly evening from 5-7 p.m for kids on the autism spectrum or others needing a quieter time away from sirens or horns. Other hours: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at Freedom Financial Services Expo Center, 3650 N. Nevada Ave. Tickets: $20 for family of five, $5 individual tickets, free for children under 2, jlcoloradosprings.org.

SATURDAY

– These crossword-puzzle aficianadoes aren’t waiting until Sunday morning to work their 30-down, seven-across New York Times brain twisters. Fifty will be putting pencil to paper Saturday in the second annual Pikes Peak Library District Crossword Challenge from 9 a.m. to noon at Library 21c, 1175 Chapel Hills Drive. Their challenge: unpublished New York Times puzzles. Want to try it? Registration ends at noon Friday, 634-1698.

– Fruitcakes the world over shed candied tears of joy this month when it was announced that The Great Fruitcake Toss would return to Manitou Springs after being canceled in 2014. The event runs noon-3 p.m. at Memorial Park, 502 Manitou Ave., Manitou Springs. It’s free, with suggested nonperishable food item donation. More info here.

– Sons of Monument are set to shine Saturday, when local celeb-turned-“America’s Got Talent” finalist Miguel Dakota performs a benefit concert at Pikes Peak Center to support the Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA), in honor of 9-year-old Charlie Richardson. The concert is at 8 p.m. at the Pikes Peak Center, 190 S. Cascade Ave. More info here.

– Bluegrass night Saturday at Stargazers. Whitewater Ramble brings its self- described “High-Octane Rocky Mountain DanceGrass” and joining in the fun is local favorite Grass It Up. Get ready for an active evening of music at 8 p.m. Tickets: $10, stargazerstheatre.com

SATURDAY-SUNDAY

– Guess who’s visiting Millibo Art Theatre, (sort of) straight from the pages of Aesop’s Fables: Country Rat and City Mouse. The MAT! takes a little silly poetic license with this Kids First Series feature at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday and Feb. 7, 1 and 3 p.m. Sunday and Feb. 8. $12, 465-6321, 1626 S. Tejon St., themat.org.

MONDAY

Keo Motsepe, a former South African Latin Dance Champion and member of the “Burn the Floor” world tour, is now on tour with “Dancing With the Stars: Live!” He and six other dancing stars will be in Colorado Springs. 8 p.m. Monday, Show starts at 8 p.m. at the Pikes Peak Center, 190 S. Cascade Ave. More info here.

TUESDAY

– How about this for an evening of interesting conversation: ChitChat – Hip Hop & Chocolate. It’s the second in a series of ChitChats, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the UCCS Gallery of Contemporary Art, 121 S. Tejon St. Idris Goodwin, a hip hop performer/poet/playwright on the Colorado College faculty, will deal with the music side of things; the Niswonger family will fill everyone in on Patsy’s Chocolates & Candies and everything else chocolate. Tickets $11.54, $6.27 for members, tinyurl.com/pulefja. Note: Goodwin releases his full-length album “Rhyming While Black” at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at The Mezzanine, 20 N. Tejon St., alley entrance, and it’s free.

TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY

– They’re back, so get prepared for a wild, wild evening. It’s the always popular Blue Man Group performing at Pikes Peak Center, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday. Lots of noise and action, not a word to be heard. Just very blue people. $37.50-$60, tinyurl.com/nb8rhxg, 520-7469, 190 S. Cascade Ave.