Downtown Denver's Grand Illumination

The city lights up

November 27, 2009

It's that time of the year again! The time when the holiday cheer sweeps through the city as landmark plazas and buildings all over downtown Denver consecutively flip the switch on their holiday lights. The annual tradition, which takes place on Black Friday every year, starts out with two lightings, one at Union Station and the other at The City And County Building with the 9News Light the Lights festivities.

The lighting continues on over from the 16^th Street Mall, The Denver Pavilions, Tabor Center and Skyline Park, with many businesses and smaller buildings adding their own flair to the holiday décor. 

Also just off 16^th Mall in Skyline Park is the Denver Christkindl Market, where European vendors shell out authentic food, crafts, beer and German family recipe Gluvine, happening most days thoughout most of the holiday season

This year, the spectacular display on Capitol Hill initially blacked out due to some technical difficulties after Mayor John Hickenlooper and his family flipped the switch. But the problem was fixed within minutes, and Hickenlooper kept the crowd lively after the black out, remarking with a smirk, "This is not energy conservation here folks, this is a glitch."