Sick of the summer heat? Already dreaming of fresh powder, cooler temps, snow days and holiday parties?
You may have to suffer the snowboarding jones a bit longer, but next week’s happy-hour series over at Dazzle Restaurant and Lounge (930 Lincoln St.) will give you a tiny taste of what you’re missing. During “Christmas in July” at Dazzle, chilled cocktails, cool jazz, holiday decorations and a yule buffet will set the scene for three festive evening fundraising events Tuesday-Thursday.
“We’re going to decorate the whole place up like Christmas,” said Vince Karr, special events manager at Dazzle. “And we’ll have a mix of holiday music and regular sets. We thought it would be good little gimmick to get people in to help out the kids.”
The kids in question are unplaced foster-care children from Maple Star Specialized Foster Care. Dazzle will collect toys, donations, and gift cards for immediate distribution to children up to age 18, and in exchange it’ll offer a complimentary holiday buffet ($5 without a donation).
Even those not in the holiday spirit can take advantage of the drink specials: The price of your first Peppermintini, Crantini, or Budweiser draft will be equal to the temperature outside (90 degrees equals 90 cents). You can learn how to mix the perfect holiday cocktail during the Christmas Cocktail classes, play Christmas Twister, or help create holiday-inspired chalk art on the sidewalk outside.
Jazz vocalist and pianist Rekha Ohal will perform on Tuesday to kick off the series; drop in all three days from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. to get in the spirit.
Fatter Tuesdays
Spill Lounge (1410 Market St.) has a different sort of holiday vibe happening every Tuesday. Fat Tuesdays offers up a weekly Mardi Gras theme complete with $3 hurricanes and rum runners starting at 9 p.m., but it’s not necessarily the cocktails that are bringing in the masses.
“Tuesdays are now the best night to go out during the week,” said J.C. Granger of Powerhouse Entertainment, who promotes the Fat Tuesdays events. “I bring in a professional photographer, and sometimes we’ll have models in doing shoots and sometimes we’ll open it up to everyone.
“They’re not magazine photos, but they’re not just digital snapshots either, and we put them up on an enhanced photo site for people to download for free. It’s gone so well we’ve tripled the crowd.”
The Mardi Gras theme and photo shoots are a huge hit, but it can’t hurt that Spill’s rooftop deck just opened in late June, offering an additional full bar, three VIP cabanas, and room for 150 additional revelers.
Mini-golf tourney
Gather a team for this summer’s most unusual bar crawl: The Puttin’ Pub Crawl takes place Saturday Aug. 18 at nine downtown bars and lounges. The nine-hole mini golf tournament places one hole at each location, with teams of four competing for the top score, along with the kitschy “most creatively dressed” award.
The crawl will start at 12:30 p.m., hitting Front Porch, Tryst, Pat’s, Nallen’s, Lure, Martini Ranch, Spill, Le Rouge and the soon-to-be-opened Pi on Larimer Square, before the winning team can claim its trophy at 8 p.m. at Martini Ranch. Registration is $25 per team to benefit Freedom Service Dogs; registration closes on July 28.
Luck o’ the Irish
The 13th annual Colorado Irish Festival hits Clement Park in Littleton this weekend, starting with tonight’s 6:30 performance by Under a Blood Red Sky, a local U2 tribute band.
On Saturday and Sunday the fest runs from 10 a.m to 10 p.m., with over 25 Irish rock and folk bands rolling out everything from traditional reels to “jig punk,” including headliners Eileen Ivers & Immigrant Soul, plus David Munnely Band, The Prodigals, Potcheen Folk Band, and Colcannon. A special History of Irish Rock exhibit examines Irish rock from 1950 through today. Details and tickets at.
Kat Valentine writes about nightlife
Fridays in 7Days. Reach her at kat@kingproduction.com or call 303-954-1568.
