Mile High Holidays

Mile High Holiday Events
Just some of The Mile High City’s exciting festivities include:

Fun with Santa:
December 2 – 3
The “Santa Claus Special” steam train arrives every 20 minutes at the Colorado Railroad Museum.  Free rides on Santa’s special train included with admission price.
www.crrm.org

December 9, 10, 16, 17, 21 – 24
Enjoy a delicious breakfast buffet at Downtown Aquarium with a scuba-diving Santa
Claus, Sharkey and Java. www.downtownaquarium.com

Magical Lighting Displays & Events
November 24
To kick off the holiday season, beautiful lighting displays will be turned on with special ceremonies at the City & County Building, Larimer Square, Denver Pavilions, Union Station, Skyline Park, the 16th Street Mall and the historic D&F Tower.  Ceremonies begin at 5:30 p.m. www.downtowndenver.com

November 24
17th Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony at Cherry Creek Shopping Center includes musical concerts and more.  5:30 p.m. www.cherrycreekmall.com

November 24 – January 21, 2007
The largest lighting display in Denver comes on nightly at 6 p.m. at the City & County Building, where 20,000 floodlights deck the neo-classical building.  The bell tower plays carols nightly.

November 24 – January 2007
Denver’s mile long pedestrian promenade, the 16th Street Mall, is decorated with more than a million white lights.  Horse drawn carriages ride up and down the Mall nightly from 6 p.m. on, creating a special way to view the display. www.downtowndenver.com

November 26
A Southwestern holiday celebration with farolito lighting with luminaries, carols and more on the grounds of The Fort Restaurant.www.tesorofoundation.org

December 1 – 2
9News Parade of Lights is the largest holiday celebration in the Rocky Mountains with floats, gigantic balloons, marching bands, colorful characters and thousands and thousands of lights parading through the heart of downtown Denver. www.downtowndenver.com

December 2 – January 21
The 26 acres of the Denver Botanic Gardens becomes the Blossoms of Light with fantastic lighting displays, many of which depict flowers with holiday themes.
www.botanicgardens.org

December 8 – 31
The Denver comes alive for the holiday season with Zoo Lights, a magical display of animals and holiday themes decked with millions of colorful lights.  Music, entertainment and more. www.denverzoo.org

December 8
Luminarias de Santa Fe.  The Arts District on Santa Fe celebrates the holiday season by decorating the street with hundreds festiv, glowing luminarias (paper bags filled with a candle).  Santa Fe Drive between 10th and 6th. www.artdistrictonsantafe.com

Special Holiday Events
November 2 – December 24
Warner Bros. Pictures new film Happy Feet comes to life with interactive exhibits from the movie, animated snow globes and more at Cherry Creek Shopping Center. www.cherrycreekmall.com

November 9 – 12
20th Annual Denver Holiday Food and Gift Festival is rated one of the top 25 shows in the nation. Highly decorated, this Christmas shopping festival features over 475 vendors from more than 25 States offering clothing, jewelry, crafts, soaps, art, home decor, gourmet food and more! Santa also makes his first appearance in Denver at the show.  Colorado Convention Center. www.hfgf.com

November 23 – December 31
The Denver Performing Arts Complex in the heart of the Theatre District is transformed into a Theatrical Wonderland for the holidays with festive lighting and colorful characters and performers.  www.artscomplex.com

November 24 – December 22
The Seventh Annual Denver Christkindl Market will take place at Cherry Creek Shopping Center with some traditional German holiday spirit. You will find quality merchandise from the Old Country as well as food and drink, including Glühwein. As a special treat, the Nuremberg Christkindl will make her very first Denver appearance at the opening ceremony on November 25. There will be demonstrations of crafts such as a German glassblower and shows by local entertainers. www.denverchristkindlmarket.com

December 2 – 3
An old-fashioned Colorado Christmas at the oldest home in Denver at Four Mile Historic Park. www.fourmilepark.org

December 2
Jingle Jazz and Reindeer Festival (Noon to 4 p.m.), Writer Square. www.writer-square.com

December 2 – 22
Enjoy a Victorian Holiday High Tea at the beautiful home of “Unsinkable Molly Brown.”
Molly Brown House Museum. www.mollybrown.org

December 3 – 31
Ice + Snow holiday event, Museum of Outdoor Arts
Samson Park and Fiddler’s Green Circle, (Coors Amphitheatre) in Greenwood Village. www.moaonline.org

December 24
Enjoy a traditional Southwestern Christmas eve with Las Posadas in the Courtyard of The Fort Restaurant. www.tesorofoundation.org

December 31
Ring in the New Year with Denver’s annual New Year’s Eve Fireworks with view points along the 16th Street Mall in Downtown Denver. www.downtowndenver.com

January 6 – 21, 2007
The holiday season keeps right on going into January when the National Western Stock Show gallops into town with exciting rodeo action, horse shows, Old West Shows and more. National Western Complex. www.nationalwestern.com

Holiday Musical Concerts
December 8 – 10
A Denver tradition is the Colorado Symphony Orchestra performing the Messiah in Boettcher Concert Hall. www.coloradosymphony.org

December 10
Hundreds of tuba players turn out for the Tuba Christmas Concert in Larimer Square.
www.larimersquare.com

December 10, 15 – 17
The Denver Brass performs‘Twas the Brass before Christmas,” a concert of holiday music at Bethany Lutheran Church. www.denverbrass.org

December 14 – 17
The Colorado Symphony Orchestra performs:  A Colorado Christmas Present --  Home for the Holidays – at Boettcher Concert Hall. www.coloradosymphony.org

December 19
An Nollaig – An Irish Christmas, performed by the Colorado Symphony Orchestra in
Boettcher Concert Hall. www.coloradosymphony.org

December 22 – 23
“Too Hot to Handel” is performed by the Colorado Symphony Orchestra in
Boettcher Concert Hall. www.coloradosymphony.org

December 31
“A Night in Vienna” is performed by the Colorado Symphony Orchestra in
Boettcher Concert Hall. www.coloradosymphony.org

December 31
Ring in the New Year with the Denver Brass at the Newman Center for Performing Arts. www.denverbrass.org

Holiday Performing Arts, Theatre & Dance
November 10 – December 31
Town Hall Arts Center presents, Cinderella. www.townhallartscenter.com

November 16 – December 23
The Denver Center Theatre Company presents:  Season’s Greetings, Alan Ayckbourn’s funny black comic hit about a Christmas gone wrong.www.denvercenter.org

November 24 – December 24
The Denver Center Theatre Company presents the holiday classic, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. www.denvercenter.org

November 25 – December 24
The Colorado Ballet’s annual presentation of the timeless holiday classic,
The Nutcracker.  Ellie Caulkins Opera House. www.coloradoballet.org

December 1 – 18
Denver’s own Cleo Parker Robinson Dance presents Granny Dances to a Holiday Drum. University of Denver, Newman Center, Byron Theatre. www.cleoparkerdance.org

December 5 – 17
The popular Broadway musical Sweet Charity comes to Denver. Denver Center Attractions. www.denvercenter.org

December 10
A variety of holiday stories read live on stage makes Making Merry a new Denver holiday tradition. Denver Performing Arts Complex. www.storiesonstage.org

December 20 – 31
Combining all-time favorite Elvis Presley songs with a surefire rock’n’roll story, All Shook Up tells the romantic tale of how a young girl’s dream comes true when a guitar-playin’ roustabout rides into a square state and turns the town upside down with his hip-swivelin’, lip-curlin’and sexy song singin’. Denver Center Attractions. www.denvercenter.org

About the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau
Founded in 1909, the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau is a nonprofit trade association that contracts with the City of Denver to market Denver as a convention and leisure destination, increasing economic development in the city, creating jobs and generating taxes.  Tourism is the second largest industry in Denver, generating $2.4 billion in annual spending and supporting 65,000 jobs. For more information on Denver call
800-393-8559 or visit Denver’s official Web site at Denver.org.