Holiday Happenings
  • A light coating of snow blankets Newtown, Conn. Tuesday, Dec. 25, 2012. The town is dealing with the aftermath following gunman Adam Lanza's shooting spree at the Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday, Dec. 14, that killed 26, including 20 children, before he killed himself.  (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

    Newtown celebrates Christmas and remembers victims

    December 25, 2012

    Newtown celebrated Christmas amid piles of snow-covered teddy bears, long lines of stockings and heaps of flowers. The expansive memorials throughout town have become a gathering point for town residents and visitors alike. A steady stream of residents, some in pajamas, relit candles that had been extinguished in an overnight snow storm.

  • Judge Frank Sullivan poses with Catalina Maciel and her children after an official adoption proceeding at family court Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012. The family officially adopted four more children for a total of eleven children. The father is not pictured due to his position as a state investigator.

    Home for holidays: A ‘forever family’ in time for Christmas

    December 25, 2012

    It was a day full of adoptions in Judge Frank Sullivan’s courtroom. Thursday was one of a few days set aside toward the end of the year by the Clark County Family Court judge for signing off on adoptions. On this occasion, the jovial Sullivan wore ruby red robes and a Santa Claus hat, and every kid who walked through the doors to his courtroom received a lollipop. One family put an especially large dent in Sullivan’s candy bowl.

  • Pope Benedict XVI celebrates the Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on Monday, Dec. 24, 2012.

    At Christmas Eve Mass, pope urges space for God

    December 24, 2012

    Pope Benedict XVI marked Christmas Eve with Mass in St. Peter's Basilica and a pressing question: Will people find room in their hectic, technology-driven lives for children, the poor and God? The pontiff also prayed that Israelis and Palestinians live in peace and freedom.

  • A Christmas tree, right, is surrounded by makeshift memorials that are multiplying by the day in the Sandy Hook village of Newtown, Conn., the site of a shooting massacre last week, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012.

    Despite tragedy, Christmas spirit lives on in Newtown

    December 24, 2012

    Christmas is everywhere here, yet Christmas is nowhere. The official town Christmas tree sparkles with lights as it stands stoic and beautiful in a pasture, facing a cemetery dotted with new graves. Wreaths with festive red ribbons seem to grace every door, even of the churches that have held so many funerals. Candles glow in the windows of warmly lighted homes, including those whose occupants are in mourning.

  • Increase in holiday parties bodes well for Las Vegas’ economy

    December 22, 2012

    Ray Esposito has never had a Christmas season as busy as this one. Esposito runs Superior Event Services, a Las Vegas off-site catering company that opened in 2005. Business is booming this year because more companies are throwing holiday parties. Esposito said he has catered 460 events so far this month, more than double than during the depths of the recession.

  • Superdry is located on the first floor of the Fashion Show Mall.

    Shopping spectacles: Las Vegas displays add glitz, glamour to holidays

    December 22, 2012

    Las Vegas offers a shopping experience like few other places in the world, and that's by design.

  • Joanna Herrera looks up at her father Lenny Herrera as he receives a gift card worth $500, thanks to the largess of an anonymous "Secret Santa" who donated $1 million for families in southern Nevada Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012.

    Secret Santa strikes again: $1 million gift blesses lives of local needy

    December 21, 2012

    Some smiled, some were shocked, some cried when the news was told to them. Most people were speechless. On Thursday, 2,000 people in need were told that they could afford Christmas, thanks to donated Visa cards worth $500.

  • Addison Gerber, 2, reacts with excitement while checking out the gingerbread houses with her friend, Sohayla Henry, 4, right, at the "We Knead the Dough" festival at Faith Lutheran School campus Saturday, December 8, 2012.

    Dining guide: Christmas 2012

    December 21, 2012

    At restaurants both on and off the Strip, enjoy all your seasonal favorites without the hassle of cooking or cleaning.

  • Nevada School of Dance students rehearse Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker," which will be performed Dec. 21 and 22, 2012, at Faith Lutheran Performing Arts Center.

    Photos: Young talent shines in Nevada School of Dance’s ‘Nutcracker’ this weekend

    December 21, 2012

    The Nevada School of Dance will bring "The Nutcracker" to life today and Saturday with Las Vegas’ only full-length professional production featuring an all-youth cast.

  • Crowds watch and react to the fireworks display above the strip on New Year's Eve, Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011.

    By the numbers: A look at New Year’s Eve in Las Vegas

    December 20, 2012

    After 14 years, Las Vegas residents may take fireworks over the Strip on New Year's Eve for granted. But plans for this year's "America's Party" fireworks show have been in the works since the sparks settled from New Year's Eve 2011.

  • After arriving by helicopter, Mountain View Christian School scholarship recipient Daniel Reyes (front row, third from left) celebrates with his classmates and Papillon pilot Frank Lockwood at Eldorado Canyon Mine as part of the In12Days '10 Lords A-Leaping' celebration Saturday, December 15, 2012.

    Scholarship through In12Days helps Southern Nevada student’s dream come true

    December 18, 2012

    Daniel Reyes, 10, gaped out the window of the helicopter as it made its way through the jagged El Dorado Canyon on Saturday afternoon, unaware of what was to come. He had been looking forward to this day since Dec. 7, when the nonprofit charity In12Days granted his prayers, giving him a scholarship to Mountain View Christian School. All he knew was his gift would be presented to him with the theme “10 Lords A-Leaping” to signify the 10th of 12 days of gift-giving that match the song “12 Days of Christmas.” He was excited to learn that he’d get to ride in a helicopter, but that was nothing compared to what he saw next.

  • New Nutcracker: No more painted mural backdrop for Nevada Ballet Theatre.

    The Nutcracker

    December 12, 2012

    With a new set, new costumes and more, this is a whole new Nutcracker.

  • What is he saying? Tell us in the December Smithereens Cartoon Caption Contest.

    Here’s your Christmas cartoon caption contest

    December 12, 2012

    Welcome to the final Smithereens Cartoon Caption Contest of 2012! Here's your last chance to fill in the blank on a Mike Smith cartoon for the year.

  • The parking lot surrounding the Galleria at Sunset mall in Henderson is filled with cars during the holiday shopping season.

    With street robberies rising, Metro urges holiday shoppers to be aware of surroundings

    December 13, 2012

    As holiday shoppers survey merchandise to satisfy wish lists, police say crooks are doing the same — scanning crowds to find potential robbery victims. Street robberies have increased roughly 6 percent since last year, prompting police to urge shoppers to be more aware of their surroundings, said Lt. William Scott of Metro Police’s robbery section.

  • Twelve drinks of Christmas for your holiday party

    December 15, 2012

    In the mood to mix it up during the holiday party season? Here are a dozen colorful cocktails you might enjoy that were published during the last year as part of the Las Vegas Weekly's "Cocktail of the Week" feature.

  • Sibliings Preston Balmer, 3, and Aly, 15 months old, work together to decorate their gingerbread man at the "We Knead the Dough" festival at Faith Lutheran School campus Saturday, December 8, 2012.

    Gingerbread-themed event raises ‘dough’ for Rape Crisis Center

    December 8, 2012

    Rape Crisis Center Executive Director Hannah Brook was tired of dinner fundraisers. She wanted to do something fun and family-oriented. That’s when chairwoman Janice Wolf came up with the idea of a gingerbread-themed event: the first "We Knead the Dough" fundraiser.

  • People stroll through Opportunity Village's Magical Forest Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2012.

    Events guide: Community holiday events 2012

    December 6, 2012

    This holiday season, get in the spirit with a number of festive events for the whole family.

  • Romeo Salango, 4, looks over his presents at the checkout line during an annual Shop With A Cop event at the Target store at 2189 W. Craig Rd. in North Las Vegas, Wednesday, December 5, 2012.

    NLV’s ‘Shop with a Cop’ puts smiles on kids’ faces

    December 5, 2012

    Later in the day Junaisy Vargas would be back at the hospital for her 15th chemotherapy session, but Wednesday morning the 5-year-old girl had the chance to just be a kid, clothed from head to toe in pink, her favorite color, as she patrolled the aisles of Target looking for toys and pants. Her parents, Antonio and Glenda Vargas, heard of the annual “Shop With a Cop” event put on by the North Las Vegas Police Department through the Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation. It was an opportunity to have $250 to spend on their daughter, who 10 months ago was diagnosed with sarcoma on her pelvis.

  • Seniors watch children from the Sandra & Stanley Mallin Early Childhood Center perform during L'Dor V'Dor at Temple Beth Sholom in Las Vegas on Tuesday, December 4, 2012. L'Dor V'Dor is a Hebrew saying that means "from generation to generation" and is an event which provides entertainment and a hot kosher meal to Las Vegas homebound and facility bound seniors.

    Generations gather to mark approach of Hanukkah

    December 5, 2012

    There was singing, dancing, and lots of latkes Tuesday morning at Temple Beth Sholom as nearly 300 seniors from around the valley gathered to eat, socialize and celebrate the approaching Hanukkah holiday.

Holiday Archives