New Year's Eve Weekend

2023 Denver New Year's Eve Bar Crawl

WHEN: Dec. 31, 2022; 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.
WHERE: The Celtic Tavern
Why choose one venue when you can visit them all? Dance parties, DJs, live bands and the must-have midnight champagne cheers — the New Year’s Eve Bar Crawl is the perfect place to wrap up 2022 and celebrate the kick-off of 2023 with those you care for the most.
 

Family-Friendly New Year's Activities

A Hudson Christmas: Extravaganza of Lights

WHEN: Thru Dec. 31, 2022 (on select days)
WHERE: Hudson Gardens & Events Center
Hudson Christmas is back after two long years. You'll be enchanted by even more towering trees draped in thousands of colorful lights. A grove of dancing Christmas trees, a multi-colored forest inhabited by giant snowmen, the holiday light tunnel and glowing reindeer will light up Hudson Gardens into an extravaganza of holiday cheer.

Christmas in Color (North)

WHEN: Thru Jan. 2, 2023
WHERE: Water World, Federal Heights
Load up your friends and family into the van (or car, or truck) and experience the holiday season like never before. Drive through acres of more than 1.5 million lights perfectly synchronized to holiday music you'll hear right through your radio. You'll drive by giant candy canes, snowmen, arched pathways and more. It's like being immersed in another world. (Closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.)

Christmas in Color (West)

WHEN: Thru Jan. 2, 2023
WHERE: Bandimere Speedway, Morrison
Load up your friends and family into the van (or car, or truck) and experience the holiday season like never before. Drive through acres of more than 1.5 million lights perfectly synchronized to holiday music you'll hear right through your radio. You'll drive by giant candy canes, snowmen, arched pathways and more. It's like being immersed in another world. (Closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.)

Christmas in Color (East)

WHEN: Thru Jan. 2, 2023
WHERE: Arapahoe County Fairgrounds, Aurora
Load up your friends and family into the van (or car, or truck) and experience the holiday season like never before. Drive through acres of more than 1.5 million lights perfectly synchronized to holiday music you'll hear right through your radio. You'll drive by giant candy canes, snowmen, arched pathways and more. It's like being immersed in another world. (Closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.)

Holiday Lights Mini Golf

WHEN: Thru Jan. 8, 2023
WHERE: Adventure Golf & Raceway, Westminster
During the holiday season, Buccaneer Bay, Adventure Cove and The Lost Continent transform into beautiful holiday-themed light displays with more than 100,000 interactive lights on all three courses!

Downtown Denver Rink

WHEN: Thru Feb. 14, 2022
WHERE: Skyline Park
Bundle up for some free ice skating in the heart of downtown and enjoy special events. 

Bridge of Lights 

WHEN: Dec. 1–4, Dec. 8–11 and Dec. 15–31, 2022 (excluding Christmas)
WHERE: Royal Gorge Bridge & Park, Cañon City
In an experience sure to become a time-honored Christmas tradition, you're invited to drive across the Royal Gorge Bridge, 1,000 feet above the Arkansas River, while it's decked out in thousands of holiday lights. Driving across the Royal Gorge Bridge is not regularly offered outside of pre-arranged car club groups, so this is truly something special! Guests can purchase hot cocoa, coffee or cider in a Bridge of Lights souvenir cup and holiday cookies to enjoy while driving through the light display.

McGregor Skate 

WHEN: Dec. 2–31, 2022; 12–9 p.m. Monday–Thursday, 11 a.m.–9 p.m. Friday–Saturday, 12–6 p.m. Sunday
WHERE: McGregor Square plaza
The magic of winter has made its way to LoDo with McGregor Skate, an ice skating rink for all ages. Skates are available to rent at an on-site skate shop. Enjoy hot beverages from the upcoming holiday pop-up bar: Sleigh Bar at Milepost Zero. Note: The rink is closed on Dec. 24 and 25 and closes early at 4 p.m. on Dec. 31 for The Drop New Year's Eve event. There are special themed dates on Fridays from 6–8 p.m. with a live DJ. Dress up and head out on the ice:

Dec. 2: Santa Theme
Dec. 9: Ugly Sweater Theme
Dec. 16: Santa Theme
Dec. 23: Ugly Sweater Theme
Dec. 30: 80's Apres Ski Theme

Snow Days

WHEN: Dec. 3, 2022–Feb. 17, 2023
WHERE: Children's Museum of Denver at Marsico Campus
Spend your day gliding around the rink, sledding on REAL snow, warming up by a toasty fire and much, much more.

Noon Year's Eve

WHEN: Dec. 31, 2022; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
WHERE: Children's Museum of Denver at Marsico Campus
In conjunction with Snow Days, get all the glitz and glam of New York City's Times Square before bedtime! There will be ball drops at 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m., plus music, tasty treats from The Teaching Kitchen and more.

Featured Events

The Mile High Tree presented by XCEL Energy & Xfinity

WHEN: Thru Dec. 31, 2022
WHERE: Civic Center Park
Join in the free festivities at the Mile High Tree. It’s a brilliantly lit, 110-foot-tall immersive art installation that provides a dazzling lights-and-music show. And, for the first time, you can experience two of Denver's most popular holiday attractions in one place: America’s tallest digital tree and the Denver Christkindlmarket, the city’s only authentic German holiday market. 

Denver Holiday Lights & Sights Tour 

WHEN: Thru Jan. 1, 2023
WHERE: Downtown Denver
This holiday season, embark on a fun-filled, two-hour Denver holiday lights walking tour experience as you take in all of the magic and cheer of this festive time of year in the Mile High City. Enjoy the unique history, architecture and beauty of Denver’s holiday lights and top sights at night during this limited-run Denver holiday lights experience! This experience was designed to give you views and great photo opportunities of Denver’s most beautiful and famous landmarks, magnificently lit up for this cheery time of year. Besides getting the inside scoop on the famous and incredibly lit-up sights, you'll hear about holiday traditions that got their start right here in Denver.

Luminova Holidays

WHEN: Thru Jan. 1, 2023
WHERE: Elitch Gardens Theme & Water Park​
Making its Colorado debut, this family-friend event brings larger-than-life holiday displays and immersive experiences for all to enjoy. It features more than 3 million dazzling lights, a 65-foot-tall Christmas tree, a 25-foot-tall snowman that never melts, a 200-foot-long candy cane tunnel, giant ornaments, a wall of lights, rides on limited Elitch Gardens attractions, train rides for the kids (and the kids at heart), interactive activities like a light-up hopscotch, strolling holiday entertainers, Old Saint Nick and his elves, and more. 

Trail of Lights

WHEN: Thru Jan. 1, 2023; 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. (closed December 25)
WHERE: Denver Botanic Gardens Chatfield Farms, Littleton
Stroll through the Colorado countryside along a winding path glistening with lights. Features this year include singing Christmas trees, two three-sided light tunnels, illuminated antique and model tractors, a children's play area with synchronized music, and warm holiday food and drink for purchase.

Blossoms of Light

WHEN: Thru Jan. 7, 2023
WHERE: Denver Botanic Gardens
This annual holiday lights extravaganza transforms Denver Botanic Gardens into a twinkling winter wonderland. Sip warm drinks and nibble on tasty treats as you stroll.

Light the Lights

WHEN: Thru Jan. 22, 2023
WHERE: City & County of Denver​ Building in Civic Center Park
Each night, at 5:45 p.m. and 6:45 p.m., an eight-minute choreographed light and music holiday show will light up the night. It then goes to a festive, static holiday display until 10:45 p.m. The light and music shows will not play on Mondays because of City Council meetings, but the static light display will still shine. There will be a special light schedule on December 3 to highlight activities as the 9 News Parade of Lights begins in front of the City and County Building. Note: The building will remain completely dark for an annual memorial vigil from 5 to 7 p.m. on December 21, honoring persons experiencing homelessness. The lights will be turned back on after the event is over. 

Zoo Lights

WHEN: Dec. 3, 2022–Jan. 15, 2023; 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
WHERE: Denver Zoo
It's official: Zoo Lights has been making magic, memories and even marriages for more than 30 amazing years! This illuminating annual event transforms Denver Zoo into Colorado's WILDEST winter wonderland. Don't miss this year's historic celebration, with more than a million lights sparkling over 60 acres — animated animal sculptures, Santa and Mrs. Claus visits, animal encounters, exciting entertainment and treats for kids of all ages. 

Music & Performing Arts

Disney’s 'Beauty and the Beast'

WHEN: Thru Dec. 31, 2022
WHERE: Arvada Center for the Arts & Humanities, Arvada
Be our guest this holiday season with a tale as old as time! When a prince is transformed into a Beast by a spell that can only be broken by true love, it’s up to the bookworm Belle to not only accept his love — but truly love him in return. Disney’s "Beauty and the Beast" brings together talking teapots, dancing candlesticks and beloved original songs from the movie classic for an enchanting night the whole family will enjoy.

'Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation'

WHEN: Dec. 7–31, 2022; Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday
WHERE: Garner Galleria Theatre & Bar
From "Frozen" to "Phantom of the Opera" to "Wicked," this all-new fall-down funny, satirical roast of over 30 Broadway hits features outrageous costumes, silly spoofs of the songs you know by heart and madcap impressions by a stellar cast! Newer spoofs include "Hamilton," "Dear Evan Hansen" and "Moulin Rouge."

'Mean Girls'

WHEN: Dec. 20, 2022–Jan. 1, 2023; Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday
WHERE: Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA)
Direct from Broadway, "Mean Girls" is the hilarious hit musical from an award-winning creative team, including book writer Tina Fey (“30 Rock”), composer Jeff Richmond (“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”), lyricist Nell Benjamin ("Legally Blonde") and director Casey Nicholaw ("The Book of Mormon").

The String Cheese Incident

WHEN: Dec. 29–31, 2022
WHERE: The Mission Ballroom
See this Colorado-born jam band at an intimate setting. 

Justin Martin NYE

WHEN: Dec. 31, 2022; 9 p.m. (doors open), 10 p.m. (show)
WHERE: Meow Wolf Denver
See this producer and international DJ perform at an otherworldly venue. It will be a truly magical night. In Martin's words, “expect music with emotional depth combined with raw dancefloor grit.”

'A Night in Vienna'

WHEN: Dec. 31, 2022; 6:30 p.m.
WHERE: Boettcher Concert Hall in the Denver Performing Arts Complex
A Colorado cultural tradition returns featuring your symphony waltzing with you into 2023! Start your celebration in style with the Colorado Symphony’s presentation of A Night in Vienna, a rousing selection of polkas, waltzes, and marches. The festive evening is the perfect sendoff to 2022 and a can't-miss holiday mainstay conducted by your very own Christopher Dragon.

Museum & Gallery Exhibitions

At the Heart of The Flames  

WHEN: Thru Dec. 31, 2022
WHERE: Denver Firefighters Museum
At the Heart of the Flames is made entirely of art created by active and retired Denver firefighters to showcase their creativity. 

Immersive Nutcracker

WHEN: Thru Dec. 31, 2022
WHERE: Lighthouse Art Space
This festive season, treat your family to The Immersive Nutcracker: A Winter Miracle — an unforgettable holiday extravaganza! For nearly 130 years, "The Nutcracker" has enchanted children around the world. Now your family can experience the timeless holiday tale like never before, brought to life on a majestic scale! You will be enchanted by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s sweeping music, including iconic selections like “The March of the Toys” and “The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” as they are immersed in holiday wonder.

Gio Ponti: Designer of a Thousand Talents

WHEN: Thru Jan. 1, 2023
WHERE: Denver Art Museum
Gio Ponti was one of the most inventive Italian architects and designers of his time. For more than 60 years, Ponti’s exuberant approach found expression in public and private commissions from buildings, interiors and furniture to glass, ceramics and flatware, influencing international design for more than 50 years. 

Seeing Red: Botanical Art & Illustration

WHEN: Thru Jan. 1, 2023
WHERE: Denver Botanic Gardens
Featuring work by students and faculty of Denver Botanic Gardens’ School of Botanical Art & Illustration, Seeing Red spotlights the vibrant shades of red found in plants and fungi. From peppers to hibiscus and apples to poinsettias, red is found throughout the natural world. Works in a variety of media feature red flowers, foliage, fungi, fruits and vegetables.

Immersive Monet & The Impressionists

WHEN: Thru Jan. 2, 2023
WHERE: Lighthouse Art Space
From the creators and producers of the original Immersive Van Gogh exhibit, Immersive Monet & The Impressionists showcases more than 500 iconic paintings, brought to life! From Monet’s celebrated water lilies to Degas’s graceful dancers, step inside living art that strives to capture the transient nature of beauty and the timeless beauty of nature.

Frank Lloyd Wright: Inside the Walls

WHEN: Thru Jan. 8, 2023
WHERE: Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art
The exhibition will explore the relationship between Wright’s architecture and decorative art. Wright believed in the concept of “a total work of art,” with the accessories and furnishings of a building complementing the architecture to create a unified whole.

Planet Pioneers

WHEN: Thru Jan. 8, 2023
WHERE: Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum
Composed of 17 hands-on exhibits, Planet Pioneers puts budding astronauts and space explorers to the test as they attempt to source their own food, shelter and solve problems in an unknown world. Colonizing the planet is no trivial task, and visitors should prepare for full-body challenges, including driving a 4-D Surface Exploration Vehicle, flying a virtual drone to solve environmental issues and experiencing G-Force in a spinning capsule.

Front Range Contemporary Quilters - Complements to the Chef

WHEN: Thru Jan. 14, 2023
WHERE: Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum, Golden
Front Range Contemporary Quilters were invited to explore any food-related topic for this unique exhibition: food is grown, harvested, transported, purchased, prepared, cooked, served and eaten. Example include a backyard herb garden, a baby’s face after eating blueberries, a field of corn, a stunning supermarket display, a fancy restaurant setting, a family meal and a simple cup of tea.

Abundant Future: Cultivating Diversity in Garden, Farm and Field

WHEN: Thru Jan. 15, 2023
WHERE: Denver Botanic Gardens
Featuring 40 original botanical illustrations, this exhibition highlights the history and importance of biological diversity in cultivated plants grown for clothing, healing and — most of all — for food. The subjects of these works were discovered on international travels, picked up at the farmer’s market or harvested from the artists’ gardens. The works illustrate the artistry of plant breeding, the challenges of maintaining genetic diversity in domesticated crops, and the potential for rejuvenation found in heirloom and ancient plant revival.

Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel: The Exhibition

WHEN: Thru Jan. 15, 2023
WHERE: Cherry Creek Shopping Center
Rome comes to Denver! Skip the long lines at the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City and view the world-renowned work of Michelangelo close enough to touch God's finger in Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel: The Exhibition. This special collection of the artist’s renowned ceiling frescoes is reproduced in a format that allows viewers to get face-to-face with the masterpieces through 34 artfully displayed reproductions paired with an audio narrative.

'Theater of the Mind' 

WHEN: Thru Jan. 22, 2023
WHERE: York Street Yards
"Theater of the Mind" from Denver Center for the Performing Arts will take audience members through an immersive journey in a 15,000-square-foot historic warehouse within the adaptive reuse campus of  York Street Yards in the Clayton neighborhood. Audiences will explore how they perceive the world through sensory experiments that reveal the inner mysteries of the brain as they are led by a Guide whose stories are inspired by the creators' lives. It's a journey of self-reflection, discovery and imagination, inspired by and grounded in neuroscience, co-created by Talking Heads frontman David Byrne and writer Mala Gaonkar.

Disruption

WHEN: Thru Jan. 23, 2023
WHERE: Denver Art Museum
Works from the Vicki and Kent Logan Collection presents about 50 artworks including paintings, sculptures, photographs, mixed-media works, and several artworks never before displayed at the museum. This outstanding collection features many works by noted North American and international contemporary artists including Kent Monkman, Yang Shaobin, Zhang Dali, Elmgreen and Dragset, Agustina Woodgate, Glenn Ligon, and Jenny Saville.

DALÍ ALIVE

WHEN: Thru Jan. 29, 2023
WHERE: Stanley Marketplace, Aurora
Experience DALÍ ALIVE, an immersive look into Salvador Dalí's life from Grande Experiences, world leaders in multi-sensory art and culture experiences, in cooperation with The Dalí Museum. The exhibit will further redefine the way audiences connect with art and culture, engaging and inspiring guests to explore the life, art and triumphant accomplishments of Salvador Dalí. A powerful and vibrant symphony of light, color, captivating imagery, stirring soundscapes and evocative aromas take you out of your world and immerse you inside the surreal visions synonymous with the renowned artist.

The Dirty South: Contemporary Art, Material Culture, and the Sonic Impulse

WHEN: Thru Feb. 5, 2023
WHERE: MCA DENVER — Museum of Contemporary Art Denver
This exhibition explores the aesthetic legacies and traditions of Black Culture in the African American South as seen through the lens of contemporary Black musical expression. Lauded by critics, it argues for the importance of the American South and Black culture as critical to our understanding of America’s past, present and future. 

You Select: A Community-Curated Exhibition

WHEN: Thru Feb. 12, 2023
WHERE: Clyfford Still Museum
In the culminating exhibition of the Clyfford Still Museum's tenth anniversary year, You Select: A Community-Curated Exhibition hands the curatorial reins to art lovers from the surrounding Denver community and beyond. This exhibit is designed to foster far-reaching engagement and appreciation of Clyfford Still’s art and artistic legacy.

Luis Barragán: A Legacy. New Works Undressing the Mexican Soul

WHEN: Thru Feb. 18, 2023
WHERE: Museo de las Americas
Museo de las Americas presents a new collective exhibition, Luis Barragán: a Legacy. New Works Undressing the Mexican Soul. Curated by Artemio García Uribe from Guadalajara, MX, this exhibition celebrates the legacy of one of the most iconic and well-known Mexican architects of the 20th century. With this exhibit, Museo de las Americas will explore how his influence has manifested in the work of five Mexican artists who will create a mosaic of interpretations of what Barragán and his works mean to them. 

Other People's Pictures

WHEN: Thru Feb. 26, 2023
WHERE: Denver Art Museum
This exhibition of more than 70 photographic works from a collection donated to the DAM in 2018 by Robert and Kerstin Adams explores the reciprocal relationships among artists and their creative exchange of objects. It also examines the themes of collecting, the pleasure of looking, and how diverse points of view interact to shape perspectives.

Memory Mirror

WHEN: Thru March 5, 2023
WHERE: Denver Art Museum
Lares Feliciano's Memory Mirror is an immersive installation that invites visitors to explore their relationship with memory through animation, dioramas and interactive storytelling. Designed to evoke the memory of a relative's living room, this exhibition will transform the museum's Precourt Family Discovery Hall into a surreal domestic den that is both familiar and fantastic.

Her Brush: Japanese Women Artists from the Fong-Johnstone Collection

WHEN: Thru May 13, 2023
WHERE: Denver Art Museum
This exhibition takes a nuanced approach to questions of artistic voice, gender and agency through more than 100 works of painting, calligraphy and ceramics from 1600s to 1900s Japan. Many of these artworks will be on view for the first time to the public. 

Return of the Corn Mothers

WHEN: Thru Sept. 30, 2023
WHERE: History Colorado Center
Return of the Corn Mothers marks a three-year effort to honor 22 new Corn Mothers in 2022. What began in 2007 with a small grant from the Rocky Mountain Women’s Institute and eight local women has now expanded to include more than 70 women. Join in the rich tradition of honoring Southwest women through this revitalized exhibit.

Tony Ortega: Chicanarte de Aztlán  

WHEN: Dec. 9, 2022–Jan. 21, 2023
WHERE: William Havu Gallery
This exhibition marks the 40th anniversary of Tony Ortega’s representation with the William Havu Gallery and will feature new pastels, paintings and prints. On the mezzanine will be new paintings by Lola Montejo.

Sporting Events

Denver Nuggets vs. Miami Heat

WHEN: Dec. 30, 2022; 7 p.m.
WHERE: Ball Arena

Colorado Avalanche vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

WHEN: Dec. 31, 2022; 5 p.m.
WHERE: Ball Arena

Denver Nuggets vs. Boston Celtics

WHEN: Jan. 1, 2023; 6 p.m.
WHERE: Ball Arena

Colorado Avalanche vs. Vegas Golden Knights

WHEN: Jan. 2, 2023; 7 p.m.
WHERE: Ball Arena