If our warm temps and sunny skies are putting a damper on your holiday spirit, the Westin Kierland Resort has a little holiday festivity for you — and, if you can believe it… there’s snow! What I miss most about living in the MidWest is the seasons (especially winter’s snow fall), and as Christmas time approaches, I find it’s harder to get into the holiday spirit when I’m surrounded by temperatures worthy of short-sleeved shirts and dry, desert landscapes.
The Westin Kierland resort decided to create the season with their new holiday experience, PaintScaping — a free holiday event taking place every night until New Year’s Eve. The north side of the resort is transformed into a Winter Wonderland with super-cool lighting technology that creates the illusion of snow here in the desert, as well as festive elves dangling from their balconies.
I took my family out to experience the show (it’s free for resort guests and non-resort guests, but if you’re hungry – and the food here is delicious – you’ll have to pick up your own tab). We were all really impressed by the technology and how real the light show looks.
Cozy up with your loved ones around one of their fire pits or pick a table if you’re ordering a lot of food – be sure to dress warm because the show is just off their lawns and it can tend to be quite chilly. If you’re thirsty, order up a festive, holiday-themed cocktail or a hot chocolate and share some bites with friends from Waltz & Weiser Whiskey Bar & Cantina (the Beef Nachos are ginormous and addictive, and their Shrimp Cocktail is also very, very good).
Shows begin nightly at 6:30pm – we stayed long enough to be able to enjoy the show twice while we ate and drank. The PaintScaping show is short, but there is so much to see. My daughter (3 years old) loved watching the elves climb the building and seeing Santa pass by at the end while “snow” fell. If you’re able, stay long enough to see it twice (or even a third time) and you’ll catch things you missed on the first round.
Preview the PaintScaping show here and plan a night out with your family and friends for a little Christmas cheer. Sometimes a little “snow” is all you need to get into the holiday spirit!