At HOME for the HOLIDAYS It might be the desert, but northern Arizona is still a winter wonderland. By Erika Ayn Finch YES, VIRGINIA, there is more to the holiday season than frantic trips from mall to mall trying to get your hands on this year’s “It” item (Halo 3, perhaps?), scrubbing floors before the in-laws arrive, standing in long lines at the Post Office, and midnight baking marathons. Take a deep breath, grab your coat and gloves, and enjoy yourself! Here are 12 events – most with free admission – guaranteed to take some stress out of the season and put a smile on your face, from singing Christmas carols with your neighbors at Barbara’s Park at sunset to watching the aluminum pinecone drop down the side of an historic hotel to ring in the new year. December in northern Arizona may get a little chilly, but we think you’ll agree there’s no shortage of holiday events to warm a heart. Nov 15 Red Rock Fantasy  FOR a small town, Sedona KNOWS how to light up the holidays. The 17th annual Red Rock Fantasy light display at Los Abrigados Resort and Spa features more than 1 million lights. Each year, families from as far away as California, local businesses, and non-profit groups create whimsical displays, using a maximum of 12,000 lights each, but with no limit on imagination. Entrants are competing for a lifetime vacation ownership at ILX (Los Abrigados’ parent company) properties and other vacation prize packages. After viewing the Red Rock Fantasy displays, each attendee is asked to vote for five favorite displays. Last year’s big winner, A Cowboy Christmas, featured a cactus made out of lights, and silhouetted cowboys and horses surrounding a campfire. The Contestants Choice winner, Happy Holidays from Around the World, included replicas of the Eiffel Tower and Big Ben. Plan to spend at least an hour walking among the displays or, for an extra fee, ride on a carriage or wagon. New this year: kids’ activities and live music.
Red Rock Fantasy Nov 17 World’s Largest Gingerbread Village – Prescott Resort The Prescott Resort isn’t BITING off more than it can chew when it claims to be home to the world’s largest gingerbread village – 100 individual gingerbread houses and a LGB Co. train made up the 2006 village, and this year the resort sweetened the pot by offering gingerbread-house-making classes in October. Each house is at least 51 percent edible and built with goodies including licorice, pretzels, marzipan, fondant, shredded wheat, almonds, and gumdrops. Families, schools, non-profit organizations, and businesses buy “land” for a house ($25 to $50); proceeds go to Yavapai Big Brothers and Sisters. Judges award ribbons to the most creative houses in nine categories. You’ll eat it up – and we dare you not to think about stopping to buy your own gingerbread kit on the way home. World’s Largest Gingerbread Village Dec 1 Grand Canyon Railway’s The Polar Express Dec 1 Chocolate Lovers Walk Dec 2 Songs for a Winter Solstice: Community Sing-Along Dec 7 J.S. Acker Musical Showcase Dec 8 APS Northern Lights Parade Dec 8 Christmas in the Park Dec 8 Festival of Lights Dec 14 Pilgrimage to Bethlehem Dec 15 Santa Comes to Town on the Train Dec 31 Pinecone Drop and Flagstaff Block Party |
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Sedona Gone Hollywood | |
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Sedona Activities | |
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Sedona Snapshots | |
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Dear Diary | |
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SEDONA GUIDE | |
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HAPPENINGS | |
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The classic children’s book, The Polar Express, by Chris Van Allsburg, comes to life in December and January at the Grand Canyon Railway, headquartered in Williams. Children, most decked out in pajamas and slippers, and their parents board “The Polar Express” after dark, enjoying hot chocolate and cookies and listening as the book is read aloud. The train arrives at the “North Pole” where Santa Claus boards while his reindeer wait outside, and gives each child a gift (if you’ve read the book or seen the movie starring Tom Hanks, you can guess what that tinkling surprise might be). Family packages, which include a one-night stay at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel and dinner and breakfast at the railway’s restaurant, are available and sold first – individual tickets are sold after packages sell out for the requested night. 
Since 1988, “Acker Night” has been one of Prescott’s favorite holiday traditions. More than 100 musicians of every age group and genre perform inside and outside 80 downtown businesses while folks wander about, finishing Christmas shopping, drinking hot chocolate, munching on chestnuts and slices of pie, and listening to the music. A trolley picks up at various points around town with drops at the Courthouse Plaza; Whiskey Row is closed to traffic. The event was the brainchild of LaVon Anderson, a local supporter of children’s music, who launched the event in 1988. She named it in honor of James S. Acker, who lived in Prescott in the early 1900s and again in the 1930s. At his death in 1955, Acker bequeathed land to the city for parks and music programs for children. Now, the J.S. Acker Music Park is a non-profit group that promotes music, especially for children. Donations collected during the holiday concerts fund scholarships for area youth and assist music programs at local schools. Naturally, performances by local kids and choirs are a highlight of Acker Night. 
It’s truly a magical moment when the bell tower at Tlaquepaque Arts and Crafts Village chimes 5 p.m. and thousands of people, from children to retirees, longtime locals to first-time visitors, light 6,000 luminarias throughout the Old World village’s cobblestone walkways, courtyards, terraces, and patios. Luminarias, brown paper bags each containing a single candle and weighted with sand, originated in New Mexico as a way to guide the spirit of Christ into homes. Tlaquepaque started its own Festival of Lights 34 years ago. At the event, choirs, jazz ensembles, carolers, dancers, and local musicians play throughout the village, Santa Claus listens carefully to kids’ wishes, and shops keep their doors open late for holiday shoppers. A nativity with live animals will also be on display. Of course, plenty of cups of hot cider are also on hand. Each year, the American Cancer Society sells special luminarias in remembrance of cancer victims and to honor survivors of the illness, with proceeds benefiting research to find a cure. 
FOR three AFTERNOONS In DECEMBER, Tlaquepaque becomes a Bethlehem village of Roman soldiers, shepherds, dancing gypsies, sheep, donkeys, and goats. This year, Potter’s Hand Productions, a Sedona faith-based community theatre organization, stages its fourth annual Pilgrimage to Bethlehem, featuring 100 costumed actors and a market in Plaza del Norte where visitors can “purchase” scrolls, fruits and nuts, flowers and weavings with shekels handed out at the market entrance, or try their hand at ancient games. Don’t be surprised if a beggar, soldier, or shop owner approaches you, speaking “Bethlehemese.” Keep an eye out for Mary riding through the streets on a donkey led by Joseph. Once the market closes, a musical interpretation of the story of the birth of Christ takes place along Calle Independencia with a 30-person choir and living nativity.
Times Square it isn’t, but then again, New York doesn’t have a Pinecone Drop. It takes place at 10 p.m. (for families with kids who just can’t stay awake until midnight) and again at 12 a.m. at the Hotel Weatherford. The first drop took place on New Year’s Eve 1999 and the crowd of spectators has grown each year. The 70-lb., 7-foot-tall ’cone is made of a wire frame, aluminum petals, and lots of lights (originally, it was a garbage can filled with sand and decorated with ponderosa pinecones). It takes about ten seconds for it to descend three stories to the street while a big crowd cheers from below, spraying silly string, blowing horns, and shaking noisemakers. Bands take over Heritage Square starting at 8 p.m. and the restaurants and bars lining Aspen Ave. and San Francisco and Leroux streets fill with college kids, families from all over northern Arizona, and tourists. The streets are closed to cars for the event. And do bundle up; don’t kick off 2008 with a cold!
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