Did you miss the parade of lights this year? Are you kind of dreading piling all the kids in the car to drive around brightly-lit neighborhoods in Denver to try to catch a glimpse of a decent holiday light displays? Don’t worry; there is plenty to do in the city especially at the Denver Zoo where they put on an amazing display on more than 38 acres that runs from December 5 all the way until January 4! There are over 150 “moving” illuminated animals leaping and “frolicking” to captivate the hearts of young and old alike.
The Entertainment Continues
As if that weren’t exciting enough, there is the Zoo Lights Lantern Festival in the Toyota Elephant Pavilion running the entire month of December! In addition to these amazing Denver Zoo events, there is entertainment on the calendar for each and every day of the month of December, with the only exception being Christmas Eve and Christmas Day so that the Denver Zoo staff can have those days to celebrate with their loved ones. The entertainment is top notch, too. There is a Kwanzaa Story Teller, accentuated by a talented backdrop of African Drumming and Dancing during the last week in December.
New Year’s Eve in Denver
On New Year’s Eve (Zoo Year’s Eve), the Denver Zoo is providing face painting, a dance party and a magic show to entertain your children and perhaps wear them out by 9, so their parents can take them home and toast the new year with an adult beverage. This is particularly advisable, as Denver just ranked number 2 on Livability.com’s 10 Best Beer Cities list! So, go get your dance on and pick up a wonderful craft beer on the way home. Now that’s entertainment... Denver style!
If dancing isn’t your cup of tea, how do you feel about sitting on a stranger’s lap? Okay, but there’s ice sculpting! The weeks before Christmas offer an Ice Carver, Santa and vocal music provided by various local Denver choirs and organizations. There are even some local hand bell choirs and elementary schools on the roster to perform! Check out the zoo’s events page for more details, dates and times.
What’s the Bottom Line?
So, how much will this entertainment cost the average resident of the Denver Metro? You should be aware that the Denver Zoo’s general admission tickets do not cover the Zoo Lights attractions. The zoo will close its doors to “standard zoo visitors” at 5pm and reopen at 5:30 for the Denver Zoo Lights Exhibit. If you are a zoo member, you will get all this quality entertainment for the bargain basement price of $11 for an adult ticket and $7 for any children you are brave enough to bring with you. If you are not a zoo member, perhaps you should consider it. Because you are going to want to go again and again to see the different exhibits and entertainment stages, and it will cost you a whopping $13 for you and your adult companions and $9 for the neighbor children who snuck into your back seat when you weren’t looking. All these prices can be checked out by vising the Denver Zoo’s website ticket page .


Article by Bryan Jansing
When you think of the most popular states for retired people to live in permanently or take up part-time residency during the winter months, Florida and Arizona are probably the first states to come to mind. However, these two retirement-friendly states didn’t even rank in the top ten for the best states to start your post-employment years in
This year’s Great American Beer Festival promises to have a foray of events. But not all will be centered on the Convention Center and that’s a good thing since tickets sold out in less than 15 minutes. Many events will be attended by brewers, writers, sales reps, industry goers and fans at several peripheries such as breweries, brewpubs and tap houses. The Falling Rock Tap House, a long time hub for event goers and beer fans alike will be packing in it in with several hundred beers being tapped this week, many of which are no longer in existence or are very rare. With some 4,000 breweries statewide, and 300 alone in Denver, you can imagine the party will be grand. The beer will be flowing and if you consider a packed house in each location pouring one pint a minute you’re talking about some 24 million pints an hour. That doesn’t include the Convention Center, the epicenter of this week’s festival.
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