Denver sees red with “National Velvet”

Earlier this summer, a project that was dedicated as “finished” in 2006 was finally completed. It’s the 16th Street Pedestrian Bridge, by Carter & Burgess, that crosses I-25 and connects the trendy Highland neighborhood to the ultra-trendy Platte Valley. The white-painted steel bridge is handsome enough, even if it’s hardly…

Now Showing

Adam Helms. This solo in the MCA’s Paper Works Gallery is the New York artist’s first museum show anywhere. In his works on paper and in a monumental sculpture that conjures up a shooting blind, Helms explores political themes, especially armed struggle. He takes images of different radical and extremist…

Silver Belles

If you like your holiday shows with a liberal dose of fabulousness, then you’re going to just love tonight’s third annual Holy Shit It’s Christmas program, dahling. “It’s just a typical drag show,” demurs diva Jasmine Rice — who, along with the Ladies of the Lake and other assorted special…

Corner Market

It’s no secret: I love independent retailers. They’re what make a neighborhood a neighborhood — and besides, they’re a gritty and practical-minded bunch with a collective creative streak and an empathetic nose for what makes their customers tick. Their shops and boutiques, sprinkled throughout the city on cheerful, small-time commercial…

Gobblin’ Sans Gobbler

“Vegans, vegetarians and omnivores welcome!” says Mike Stabler of Rocky Mountain Animal Defense’s first-ever Turkey-Free Thursday dinner, taking place today at 1 p.m. at Highlands United Methodist Church, 3131 Osceola Street. Govinda’s Buffet, run by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, will cater the feast. “They worship cows,” says Stabler…

Chocolate Factory

Never has there been a more delicious word combo than “chocolate” and “festival,” so thank your lucky stars that the 19th annual Creede Chocolate Festival starts today. More than seventeen business owners and individuals will offer samples to taste and judge in hopes of winning the Taster’s Choice Award. Typically,…

Living Canvas

Yes, you could go to the Denver Art Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver or Santa Fe Drive for your fine-art fix. But wouldn’t you rather include some live, scantily clad women? After all, what’s better than going out for a night of the ol’ bump-and-grind at Wish Nightclub,…

Into the Woods

To hell with Black Friday. I’m not going to go bust the doors open at the mall tomorrow morning. Nope! And to hell with Turkey Day, too. Bombs away! I’m going to bundle up the family and go shopping today at the massive crown jewel of north Stapleton, that Mexican-game-show-style…

Casa, Sweet Casa

Chef Jamey Fader at Lola, 1575 Boulder Street, likes what happens when people meet over the spectacle of food. That’s evident in his changing menus as well as in the preparation and presentation of his beautiful and delicious everyday dishes. But even with seasonal menus, there’s still a certain strain…

Light It Up

To me, nothing says “holiday season” like lights. Once Daylight Savings ends, nothing keeps my spirits up during these short days and early nights as much as the luminous displays that pop up all over town. And this evening flips the switch on the granddaddy of them all: Downtown Denver’s…

Two’s Company

Date nights are great in theory, but how many dinners-and-a-movie can one couple really enjoy before it becomes a chore? Thanks to Lakewood’s Belmar, we won’t know the answer to that question for another couple of weeks. Date Night at Belmar offers two-for-one ice skating and dining at participating restaurants…

Jibulation Jamboree

It’s time to pull out your gear and wax down your board, because the fifth annual Premature Jibulation happens today. Echo Mountain — located less than an hour from downtown Denver at 19285 Highway 103 in Idaho Springs — hosts the early-season, jam-format jib contest presented by the Rome Snowboard…

Game On

Competitors, get ready: The third annual Colorado Cutthroat Connection Fighter Frenzy tournament is on. To succeed, you’ll need catlike reflexes, quick thinking and the kind of meticulously conditioned thumbs you can only get from years of intensive controller training. A deep, instinctual knowledge of Halo 3, Soul Calibur 4, Super…

Christmas Cheer

After battling the crowds at the stores on Black Friday, even cheery holiday lovers can find themselves bogged down with the bah-humbugs. Leave it to the Denver Center Theatre Company’s annual production of A Christmas Carol — and adjunct events — to help warm your already-weary heart. Directed by Bruce…

Food for Thought

The African American Leadership Institute has a lot to be proud of. “We’ve graduated more than 220 adults and served more than 10,000 youths in our youth program,” says board chair James Ellis. “And we’ve done that with only two employees, which is absolutely incredible, but I think what it…

Sweet Stuff

It’s all over: You came, saw and conquered the Thanksgiving feast — now what? Well, Christmas (and other accompanying holidays) is the obvious answer, so why not head to A Grande Finale Patisserie, 641 Main Street in Louisville, for Desserts Galore? “We tried it a couple of years ago for…

Power for the People

When the Wildlife Experience Museum decides to do something, it does it all the way. So it goes without saying that the venue’s first-ever holiday lighting attraction, Winter WonderLights, also goes a step further. Opening tonight at 5:30 p.m., the fledgling spectacle has both indoor and outdoor components that set…

Trails Blazing

A winter without the Blossoms of Light is like a world with no sun in my book, so I’ll admit I felt a catch in my throat when I heard that parking-garage construction and gardens torn up for irrigation replacement would preclude the possibility of accommodating the light-viewing crowds at…

Dream Big

Since November 4, even the most cynical lefties have been spotted chanting “USA, USA” — un-ironically! — and discussing the American Dream with the kind of gush they would have formerly dismissed as naive platitude. Has a new essence of optimism dawned with the election of what’s-his-’bama, or did liberals…

Variety Meats

With the ongoing Big Bleu Cow 5 Comedy Variety Contest, you never know what you’re going to get. Every week, five acts compete, ranging from improv and standup to sketch comedy. One guy in costume claimed to have traveled through time from the 1800s to field audience questions. He didn’t…

The Petrie Institute of Western American Art lands a new curator

There have been some big changes recently at the Denver Art Museum’s Petrie Institute of Western American Art. Last month, longtime associate curator Ann Daley stepped down after more than twenty years (Artbeat, October 9). And now, Petrie director Peter Hassrick (pictured) has announced his retirement effective next April. Hassrick…