FRIDAY
A cavalcade of lights
PARADE|Want to push all your holiday joy buttons at once? Hit the annual Parade of Lights, a Denver tradition featuring music, floats and, of course, lots of those twinkling electric things. Spots along the 2-mile parade route, which goes from the City and County building up 17th to Arapahoe and back down 15th to Tremont, are free. Grandstand seats in front of the City and County Building can also be purchased.|8 tonight, 6 p.m. Saturday|Civic Center Plaza, 1437 Bannock St.; free along parade route; $12-$15 grandstand seats; 866-464-2626 or TicketsWest.
Candelight walk
CAROLING|Nothing quite captures the holiday spirit like caroling and candles, and the city of Golden knows this. Residents are encouraged to gather downtown tonight for the annual candlelit caroling walk.|6 tonight|15th and Arapahoe streets in Golden; free, all ages,
2hourvacation.com.
SATURDAY
Movie music
ORCHESTRAL SCORES|The works of John Williams, modern film’s most decorated and recognizable composer, will get the orchestral treatment as the Colorado Springs Philharmonic Orchestra take on themes from “Star Wars,” “Saving Private Ryan,” “Superman,” “E.T.” and more. The Colorado Springs Children’s Chorale will also sing songs from “Home Alone.”|8 p.m. Saturday|Pikes Peak Center, 190 S. Cascade Ave.; $12, 866-464-2626 or
TicketsWest.com.
THE WEEKEND
Multicultural
HOLIDAY DANCE|”Granny Dances to a Holiday Drum,” the city’s only multicultural, multiracial holiday dance event, is an impressively wide-ranging celebration
of traditions around the world. Cleo Parker Robinson Dance’s 15th annual production adds a Celtic step-dancing segment to the mix of dance, live music and spoken word spanning Hebrew, Christian, African, Chinese and Caribbean holiday cultures.
|Saturday -Sunday, weekends through Dec. 23|Byron Theatre at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts, 2344 E. Iliff Ave., $25-$38, 303-871-7720, 303-295-1759 ext. 20 or ticketmaster.com.
Christmas tunes
CHORAL MUSIC|The annual assortment of holiday choral concerts begins this weekend with the Alpine Chorale’s “Sing We Now of Christmas.” The 50-voice choir’s program, including brass accompaniment, will range from Anton Bruckner’s “Virga Jesse” to “White Christmas” and “The Christmas Song.”|7:30 p.m. today and Saturday|Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 4500 Wadsworth Blvd., Wheat Ridge; 303-423-4435 or alpinechorale.org.
Fiddles and banjos
BLUEGRASS|Wresting holiday music away from the formal environs of a church, Timothy P. and the Rocky Mountain Stocking Stuffers will present their “Bluegrass Christmas” program for all those banjo- and-fiddle-inclined ears.
|7:30 p.m. today and Saturday|Lakewood Cultural Center, 470 S. Allison Parkway; $16, 303-987-7845, lakewood.org.
Cheek to cheek
TANGO|The popularity of tango has never been higher. Two masters of the style – Daniel Diaz on bandoneon, a kind of accordion with a soulful, sometimes mournful sound, and Joseph Paris on piano – will make two appearances this weekend. They will perform selections by composers Julian Plaza and Anibal Troilo, as well as other dance favorites.|9 p.m. today; 1:30 p.m. Sunday
|Mercury Cafe, 2199 California St.; $12; 303-294-9281.
Classical favorites
SYMPHONIC MUSIC |Beethoven’s celebrated “Eroica” Symphony heads a Colorado Symphony program of classical favorites led by guest conductor Douglas Boyd. Also on the line-up will be Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C major with guest soloist Julie Albers, an emerging young talent.|7:30 p.m. today and Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday|Boettcher Concert Hall, Denver Performing Arts Complex, 14th and Curtis streets; $15-$67.50; 303-623-7876 or coloradosymphony.org.
THE WEEK
Digital salon
ART|Mark Amerika, a professor of art and history at the University of Colorado at Boulder, was named a “Time Magazine 100 Innovator.” He will present a sampling of 15 years of his digital artwork, which as been exhibited worldwide, during what is being billed as a salon. It will consist of a mix of “personal narrative, philosophical inquiry, spontaneous theories and cyberpunk fictions.”|6 p.m. Tuesday|Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, 1750 13th St.; $5 general public and free for Boulder Digital Arts and museum members; 303-443-2122 or bmoca.org.
Big Muddy
SPORT FILM|Cyclocross is the ultimate sport for those who never want to grow up. It’s cross-country biking in the worst of conditions, through water, mud, snow and over obstacles. Competitors may end up carrying their bikes as much as they ride them. A premier of the sport movie “Transition 2: Cross the Pond” in Boulder will benefit young team members learning how to race. |7:30 p.m. Wednesday.|Boulder Theater; $10;
bouldertheater.com or 303-444-2453
