As always, Sacramento steps up to the plate with holiday events of all sorts. At Sacramento365.com, we see a lot of events come through the site every day. Though there are myriad options in our Holiday Event section, we've narrowed down the list to 10 to get help you pick your Christmas Eve & Christmas Day festivities. Christmas Eve Events: Sure, the night before Christmas should be spent snuggled in bed waiting for Santa Claus, but why not get out and about during the day. Here are some options to keep you entertained around town: 1. Free Admission at Fairytale Town & Sacramento Zoo: FTT 10am-2pm; Zoo 10am-1:30pm Treat the kiddies to a day out while both Fairytale Town & the Sacramento

Some secrets should be told, especially those surrounding child abuse. Reaching past the headlines in the newspaper, The Lisa Project has visitors experience the life of an abused child. The Lisa Project is an interactive experience that educates visitors about the continued plight of child abuse, and the exhibit is now open to the public for the month of April, free of charge, at St. Rose of Lima Park. Visitors walk into the exhibit, where they are handed iPods and introduced to Lisa (via the iPod), who narrates the tour and tells stories of other children, much like herself, who have suffered from abuse. Breaking her narration, voices of other children and their abusers are heard makin

Sacramento's holiday ice-skating rink opened downtown Friday with fanfare and free skating. About 120 screaming school kids joined Mayor Kevin Johnson, Assemblyman-elect Roger Dickinson and Downtown Sacramento Partnership Executive Director Michael Ault at a noon ceremony to welcome the Westfield Downtown Ice Rink back to St. Rose of Lima Park. The capital's outdoor winter skating rink was built in Midtown last year during a $4.5 million renovation of the park at Seventh and K streets, the 700 block of K Street and a light rail platform relocation. "I think the ice rink is back where it belongs," Dickinson told the crowd shortly before he, Johnson and Ault cut a big red ribbon at the ri

Summer 2010 is circling the drain, while a new fountain at St. Rose of Lima Park remains dry. An interactive fountain, also known as a “sprayground” or “splash park,” was scheduled to begin operating earlier this summer at the renovated park at Seventh and K streets. The park's remodel was part of a $4.5 million project to help transform a blighted block of K Street Mall, and was expected to be completed in November 2009. The fountain could be fully operational. But concerns about waterborne diseases and water conservation – and a resulting conflict between city and county regulators – appear to have kept it from being turned on. The fountain’s grand opening was expected in June, then d

Vive Cocina Mexicana and Ultra Lounge has replaced Three Monkeys on K Street. Vive Cocina opened last month at 723 K St., next to St. Rose of Lima Park, according to a restaurant manager. The opening had been scheduled for December, then January, said Felipe Olvera, one of the owners. Juan Ayalagarcia, who operated Playa Azul Night Club on Auburn Blvd., is partnering with Olvera and four or five others in the venture, according to Olvera and records from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. A Franchise Tax Hold was issued against the liquor license March 8. However, Vive Cocina has had an active license since Nov. 23, said Lori Ajax, administrator of the Sacramento A

The Midtown Business Association is expected to decide Wednesday whether to take on the financial risk to keep Sacramento's holiday ice-skating rink tradition alive this year. The association is considering building an outdoor rink in Midtown this year to temporarily replace the seasonal rink at St. Rose of Lima Park at 7th and K Streets. That rink won't be built this year due to conflicts with a park renovation. Neighborhood input is welcome as the MBA board is expected to vote on the matter during its Monthly Board and Community Meeting, which is always open to the public, said Rob Kerth, executive director of the Midtown Business Association. The meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. at t

More than a century after the Grand Electric Carnival lit up the streets of downtown Sacramento, a new event called the Carnival of Lights will set downtown shimmering again for the 2009 holiday season. The light carnival being arranged by the Downtown Sacramento Partnership (DSP) will mark the grand re-opening of St. Rose of Lima Park and the 700 block of Seventh Street. Both are currently undergoing renovations that are expected to be finished one week before Thanksgiving. The Carnival of Lights will make the intersection of Seventh and K streets glow starting on the Friday after Thanksgiving. The event is timed to coincide with the Christmas Tree lighting held at the entrance to Westf

Despite temperatures that soared past 100 degrees, construction crews worked hard this week to help K Street get its groove back. Sacramento Regional Transit supervisors have been on-site daily to inspect, while crews selected by general contractor Otto Construction dug trenches and laid electrical conduit for a new light rail stop and handicapped-accessible "mini-high" platform on Seventh Street. The roughly $4.5 million first phase of the K Street makeover includes a facelift for St. Rose of Lima Park, a light rail platform relocation and a streetscape renovation for the 700 block of K Street Mall. The city and Sacramento Regional Transit are partnering on the project. The long-term go