City street lights, even stop lights dressed in bright red and green, and purple, and yellow, and orange and, and, and, will dazzle downtown Denver dwellers and visitors beginning with the Grand Illumination at 6 p.m. Nov. 29.

Thousands of sparkling lights and entertainment will ring in the festive occasion from Denver Union Station to the City & County Building across from Civic Center Park, as well as Skyline Park, the D&F Tower, 14th Street and along the 16th Street Mall.

The city’s celebration begins with opening day of the Southwest Rink at Skyline Park, at 16th Street and Arapahoe, beginning at 10 .m. daily through Feb. 16. Skating is free with skate rentals at $2 (skate rental on opening day is free). More information: www.southwestrink.com.

Your Keys to the City, a public piano art program created by the Downtown Denver Partnership, returns along the 16th Street Mall with five winter-themed pianos painted by local artists. The pianos, which will remain along the mall until Dec. 30, are available for free public play from 8 p.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

At 6 p.m. Nov. 29, Denver’s historic D&F Towner will turn on its holiday lights, and more than 550,000 energy-efficient LED lights will illuminate the 16th Street Mall, California Street between 14th and 17th streets and Curtis Street between 14th and 16th streets.

Meanwhile at Union Station, LoDo District Inc. will present a holiday-themed choir, a Children’s Museum craft table, treats provided by LoDo restaurants and a visit from Dinger Claus (the Colorado Rockies mascot in costume).

The City and County Building, lit entirely in LED lights, will be illuminated nightly from 5:45 to 10:45 p.m. through Jan. 26.

Signs of the holidays: The holiday lighting returns on Nov. 29 to the Denver City and County Building through Jan. 26 and the Southwest Airlines ice rink at Skyline Park, below, will open Nov. 29 also and will remain open until Feb. 16. (Photos courtesy of DowntownDenver.com and southwestrink.com)

Eater.com, a national restaurant and food trend website with a dedicated Denver edition, just announced its Eater Awards 2013, as chosen by local editors in 27 cities.

“The winners comprise a diverse group of the finest and most interesting chefs, operators, and characters in the continent that have defined this year in dining. We applaud them. You are hereby instructed to applaud them. So, without further ado—actually, a few quick pre-ambling thoughts … Eater Denver Awards 2013.”

Restaurant of the Year

Finalists: Old Major, Beast + Bottle, Acorn

Winner: Old Major

Chef of the Year

Finalists: Justin Brunson, Jennifer Jasinski, Steve Redzikowski

Winner: Jennifer Jasinski

So Hot Right Now

Finalists: Comida, Session Kitchen, Acorn

Winner: Comida

Bartender of the Year

Finalists: Bryan Dayton, Marcel Templet, Sean Kenyon

Winner: Bryan Dayton

Stone Cold Stunner

Finalists: Izakaya Den, Cafe Max, Root Down DIA

Winner: Izakaya Den

Empire Builder of the Year

Winner: Troy Guard

See the whole story at: http://denver.eater.com/archives/2013/11/18/announcing-the-2013-eater-awards-for-denver.php.

Thrillist Denver writer/photographer/videographer/pontificator Lee Breslouer has made it his journalistic duty to sniff out our state’s best breweries, beers and places to drink them, but now he’s sharing his supreme suds list with all of the Thrillist Nation.

Breslouer did exhaustive and thirst-quenching research to compile The Definitive Colorado Beer Guide, released in Monday’s Thrillist Nation blog.

“Colorado’s most famous beer might be Coors, but it’s impossible to ignore the more than 2,000 other breweries in the state that don’t own and operate ice-cold Love Trains,” Breslouer writes. “That’s why we’re presenting a comprehensive guide to the beer scene in ‘Rado (who calls it that?), including which beers you need to drink even if you don’t live anywhere near Denver, the local breweries that’re primed to become the next big thing, and the taprooms you absolutely have to visit if you’re anywhere close by.

Read the whole guide at http://www.thrillist.com/drink/nation/colorado-craft-beer?utm_content=feature&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Nation&utm_campaign=11.19.13%20NATION:%20An%20Insider’s%20Guide%20to…%20Colorado’s%20Beer%20Scene.

Twenty-five years of in-studio performances will be celebrated with 18 new songs from the KBCO Studio C vault, which will be released on its annual charity CD beginning at 8 p.m. Dec. 7 at all seven Paul’s TV locations inside Furniture Row and Denver Mattress in Boulder.

The CD features music recorded live on the radio from the Boulder/Denver radio station’s performance studio, KBCO Studio C.  97.3 KBCO has hosted thousands of intimate KBCO Studio C sessions with artists and bands from all over the world for 25 years.

The KBCO Studio C 25^th Anniversary CD will feature performances as far back as 1994 with the Dave Matthews Band along with songs recorded over the last year from artists like Imagine Dragons, Phoenix, Capital Cities and Phillip Phillips. The CD will benefit the Boulder County AIDS Project and Food Bank of the Rockies.

Because of high demand, there will be a limit of two CDs per person and the collection will be sold for $12 each.  Traditionally the annual CD release sells out in less than a day, with avid KBCO Studio C fans lining up before sunrise to get their copies of the coveted charity disc.

A complete list of Paul’s TV locations and all additional details are available by visiting www.kbco.com.

Local piano woman Rekha Ohal is spearheading an effort to gather sponsors to buy a turkey dinner with all the trimmings for families in need.

“The sponsor first must get a recipient family’s name from me (rekha.ohal@gmail.com), then goes to the Safeway at E. Mississippi and Peoria (it’s 12200 E. Mississippi to be exact), purchases the dinner for $49.99 and puts the name of the recipient family on the box.  The family comes and picks it up from the Safeway themselves (on Nov. 25),” Ohal said.

She is working with Mission Supports (a nonprofit dedicated to helping folks who are developmentally challenged and have no resources) and Goodwill Programs.  “They have supplied me with names of families who would either have to go to a soup kitchen or go without on Thanksgiving Day,” she said.

Here are the contents of the turkey dinner, which feeds between 6-8 people: a 10-12 pound cooked turkey, two pounds of stuffing, three pounds of mashed potatoes, 24 ounces gravy, 15 ounces cranberry sauce, one dozen dinner rolls and an eight-inch pumpkin pie.

Potential sponsors can e-mail Ohal and get a family name and instructions.

Rekha Ohal is seeking sponsors to help feed families at Thanksgiving. (Rekhaohal.com photo)

All day today all local locations of Anthony’s Pizza & Pasta will donate 25 percent of all the day’s sales (including dine-in, pick-up and delivery) to help Longmont flood victims during a Community Flood Recovery Fundraiser.

Donations will be dispersed to families deeply impacted by the floods in the St. Vrain Valley.

Veteran actor Harry Dean Stanton, in town to receive the John Cassavetes Award during the 36th Starz Denver Film Festival, dining at Beast + Bottle Sunday night.

Harry Dean Stanton was in Denver last week as part of the Starz Denver Film Festival. (HBO photo)

Eavesdropping on Twitter: “Colorado filmmakers talk about their shorts @DenverFilm festival final night.”

Local PR pro Jim Dissett is the lucky winner of tickets for two to Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. performance of the hit musical, “Book of Mormon,” playing through Sunday in the Buell Theatre. Dissett, a longtime subscriber, will be sitting pretty in aisle seats seven rows back from the stage.

Thanks to all of our loyal subscribers, and keep reading for more prize drawings. Also, thanks to Roger Hutson and his posse at the Colorado Oil & Gas Association (one of our valued advertisers) for the generous donation.

If you’d like to donate a subscriber prize, please contact me at penny@blacktie-llc.com.