Immerse Yourself in the Arts this Holiday Season

The holiday season is here and Denver offers no shortage of fun and festive activities to satisfy even the biggest grouch. Whether you’re looking for a holiday-themed event or something to escape from the holidays, these immersive experiences are sure to ignite your senses. So, set aside the traditional theatrical rendition of the Nutcracker and immerse yourself in the arts this holiday season with these creative experiences. But hurry, they won’t last long!

Immersive Nutcracker

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Immersive Nutcracker. Photo by Margo Hawk.

Where: Lighthouse ArtSpace Denver, 3900 Elati St.

Dates: now through December 31

The Lowdown: See an old classic come to life on the screen in a totally new sensory experience with the Immersive Nutcracker. If you’re not one for a long two-hour ballet performance, then this short yet entertaining, rendition of the Nutcracker is just for you. Feel a part of the story as you watch Christmas magic burst to life with dancing toy soldiers, whimsical characters, larger-than-life candy pieces, “The Dance of the “Sugar Plum Fairy” and a sleigh ride through a Christmas tree. 

This 30-minute experience is perfect for the entire family and friends to enjoy. Set to the orchestral music of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the presentation showcases 500,000 cubic feet of projections composed of over 1 million frames of video that transcends the imagination in this holiday-themed dreamscape.

Camp Christmas

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Image by Amanda Tipton Photography | FB- Amanda Tipton-Photographer | IG – @amandatiptonphotography

Where: Heritage Lakewood Belmar Park

Dates: now through December 24

The Lowdown: While the holidays certainly drum up old traditions and original classics, why not add a little quirkiness to your holidays at Camp Christmas, Denver’s campiest and quirkiest holiday tradition? Camp Christmas, returns for its fourth year with a new VIP experience featuring guided tours. You can’t help but feel cheerful walking through a six-acre winter wonderland of crafty and hand-made decorations, holiday-themed installations and more dazzling lights, reindeer, Santas and sleighs than you can count, all designed by Hanzon Studios. 

Take part in interactive activities, and savor your senses with hot cocoa, food trucks every night and three themed cocktail bars. It’s the true immersive sensory experience where you can see, taste, smell and hear all things Christmas. 

Dalí Alive

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Dalí Alive. Photo provided by Lume Colorado.

Where: Stanley Marketplace, 2501 Dallas St, Aurora

Dates: now through January 29, 2023

The Lowdown: Tap into your subconscious and immerse yourself in a dream-like state with surrealist painter, Salvador Dalí. Grande Experiences — the creators and producers of VAN GOGH ALIVE — have opened their latest immersive exhibition, DALÍ ALIVE, at Aurora’s Stanley Marketplace. Like being inside a dream, the experience showcases a look inside both Dalí’s challenges and triumphs, while animating his works of surrealism. Encompassing over 13 thousand square feet, including full coverage, multi-sensory projection gallery and spatial audio technology, DALÍ ALIVE explores how the artist continually reinvented his world to overcome obstacles. 

Complete your experience at the Stanley Marketplace and let your taste buds run wild with a Sangria-inspired craft seltzer at Cheluna Brewing Co. or sip on a “Dalílychee” Sangria at Chi Lin. Dine on Spanish-inspired menu items, including roasted salty jalapeños or a rotating paella at Comida, and indulge in Madrid-style churros y chocolate at Churreria de Madrid.  

Immersive Monet & The Impressionists

Jessica Hughes, 303 Magazine, Immersive Nutcraker, Theater of the Mind, Camp Christmas, Mile High Christmas Tree, Immersive Monet, Dali alive, Denver, immersive arts

Immersive Monet. Photo by Patrick Hodgson.

Where: Lighthouse ArtSpace Denver, 3900 Elati St.

When: now through January 2, 2023

The Lowdown: If you’re one who admires the flowing brush strokes and soft unblended colors of the 19th-century Impressionist Movement instead, then the Immersive Monet & The Impressionists experience is for you. Explore the world of radical artists that shook up the art world within an encapsulating 500,000 cubic feet of projections composed of over 1.2 million frames of video. Admire the brushstrokes and works of Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt and many more. While most of the other immersive art experiences focus on the lives and works of individual artists, this experience highlights an artistic movement that forged a new path for modern art. 

Mile High Christmas Tree

Jessica Hughes, 303 Magazine, Immersive Nutcraker, Theater of the Mind, Camp Christmas, Mile High Christmas Tree, Immersive Monet, Dali alive, Denver, immersive arts

Mile High Christmas Tree. Photo by VISIT DENVER/Brent Andeck Photography.

Where: Civic Center Park

When: now through December 31; 5 p.m. – 10 p.m. (open every day)

The Lowdown: Denver lights up this holiday season with America’s tallest digital tree, the Mile High Christmas tree. Aside from the tree’s impressive stats, 110 feet tall, 39 feet in diameter and 60 thousand LED lights, the experience will feature light shows choreographed to holiday music. Using pixel-mapping technology, visitors walk through an encapsulating display of lights that will ignite your holiday spirit. Plus, for the first time, you can experience two of Denver’s most popular holiday attractions in one place. The Mile High Christmas Tree and the Denver Christkindlmarket (open November 18 — December 23), the city’s only authentic German holiday market, at Civic Center Park. 

Theater of the Mind

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Annie Barbour in Theatre of the Mind. Photo by Mathew DeFeo.

Where: 3887 Steele St Suite #1221, Denver, CO 80205

When: now through January 22, 2023

The Lowdown: The mind can be a tricky thing. From the creators of artist David Byrne and writer Mala Gaonkar, Theater of the Mind explores the unforgettable journey inside how we see and create our worlds. Using stories from the creator’s own lives to shape the narrative, plus historical and modern lab research insights, this one-of-a-kind experience grabs your attention in unexpected ways. Witness the wonders of your mind for yourself as you follow The Guide through a 15,000- square-foot installation with 16 fellow audience members. Move through sensory experiments that reveal the inner mysteries of the brain and let the Theater of the Mind take you through an immersive journey of self-reflection, discovery and imagination, inspired by and grounded in neuroscience. 

Brought to you by the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Theater of the Mind is held at a historic warehouse within the adaptive reuse campus of York Street Yards in the Clayton neighborhood.