Down and Out in Denver

While Blake spends his holiday on the East Coast, I have the pleasure of spending my first Christmas in Denver. And speaking of the holidays, Denver’s City and County Building is once again shining bright this holiday season. Enormous candy canes, Christmas trees, and even tin soldiers flank its windows. A Nativity scene illuminates the front steps, and virtually every surface is awash in color.

The tradition, which apparently began in 1935 with only a few floodlights, had grown to more than 30,000 lights in 2008. The display is touted as one of the most popular in the Intermountain West, drawing visitors from all over the state and beyond. This year was the first in which the City and County employed LEDs: 1,000 LED spotlights and 2,000 LED rope lights according to reports.

I consider myself an aesthetically inclined individual and it’s thought by many to be a requirement for the work I do. So, admitting that I enjoy the Vegas-like spectacle of this annual tradition, may be damaging to my career. I should be clear, very clear, I could do without the candy canes, tin men, and in particular, the religious imagery… Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I believe in a practice of “less is more.”

Lyon's Festival of Lights

The celebration actually reminds me of Lyon’s Fête de Lumières which takes place every December. I would love to see Denver expand the scope of its “Grand Illumination,” to become more aesthetically pleasing, while also pushing the envelope of experimentation. Safe is sorry. It should also be said that unlike Lyon’s four-day event, where the city’s buildings are illuminated by an array of multi-media, Denver’s Grand Illumination continues for EVERY evening, beginning at 6:00 p.m., from Black Friday to New Year’s Eve AND if that wasn’t enough, again for the duration of the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo in January. It’s just too little for too long and it gets old real fast.

Multi-media projection on the facade of Saint-Jean Cathedral, Lyon.

So, with that final observation the DaOiD boys would like to wish you the brightest of holidays, no matter which you choose to celebrate… or where you choose to celebrate it. As we look ahead to a new year and a new decade our hopes are that Denver will choose the road less traveled. We admit it… Denver has its bright spots and we, as much as I’m sure you do,  look forward to them becoming even brighter.

Happy Holidays.