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

About 20 people performed in the two performances of the 2011 Holiday Show on Saturday at Iceland Skating Rink and raised over $1,000 to help repair the large roof, the next project to make the rink a year-round facility once again. This is the first ice show since the March 2010 fire. “The performers have been practicing twice a week since the ice rink opened in November,” said Terrie Kerth, daughter of one of the two co-owners. Janelle Cardoso is the director and choreographer of the show. “All the skaters are very technically sound,” said Cardoso. “Most of them have show skating experience.” Towards the end of the hour-long show Carmen Melissa, who was sitting next to the author, s

The North Sacramento Chamber of Commerce may have thrown its annual holiday tree lighting a 21st birthday party Dec. 8, but even the adults who donned skates, munched cookies and quaffed hot chocolate eschewed the slightest trace of yuletide cynicism in favor of youthful Christmas-morning smiles. Hosted by Iceland, the men and women, boys and girls who laced up courtesy of the venerable Del Paso Boulevard ice rink, barely noticed when the switch was thrown, and pumped current through the strings of multicolored lights that formed the "tree." Those who didn't hit the ice themselves, found plenty of pre-Christmas cheer in picking out rinkside vantage points to watch singles, couples and en

On Nov. 4, a festive Sacramento tradition will continue with the opening of the Downtown Plaza Ice Rink. 2011 marks the rink’s 20th anniversary of bringing locals together to celebrate the holidays on ice. “The rink will bring that New York City ice-skating feel (to) the heart of downtown Sacramento,” said Downtown Sacramento Partnership Marketing Director Lisa Martinez. The rink, located at 7th and K streets, provides locals with the feel of a big city winter. Martinez said that there is a painstaking process to turn St. Rose of Lima Park into a functional ice-skating rink. “It takes about three weeks, as long as the weather permits,” she said. The first step is to lay out a layer of

Iceland's outdoor skating rink is expected to open Saturday after more than two months of delays. The landmark North Sacramento ice rink was all but destroyed by an arsonist last spring. The Kerth family, now operating Iceland as a nonprofit, and volunteers worked to reopen the rink – without a roof and many other amenities – by the facility's 70th anniversary on Nov. 4. The opening was delayed after family members learned they needed a special permit from the city Planning Commission. The Kerths will open a temporary rink at 1430 Del Paso Blvd. this weekend if city building inspectors approve handicapped-accessible ramps Thursday, said Midtown Business Association Executive Director Rob

The opening of the remodeled Iceland skating rink in North Sacramento was approved unanimously by the City Council on Tuesday. The ice skating rink, which an arsonist burned down last spring, could reopen as early as Saturday, or on Christmas at the latest, according to Rob Kerth, the grandson of the couple who founded the rink. He commented on the city permit the City Council approved Tuesday night. “Iceland has the right to operate as an indoor facility at that location,” Kerth said after the council’s vote. “It doesn’t have the right to operate as an outdoor facility. What (the City Council) gave us was a three-year permit to operate as an outdoor facility. Within three years, we eit

One of the options for outdoor ice skating in Sacramento is the Downtown Sacramento Ice Rink on Seventh and K streets next to Westfield Downtown Plaza. There are weekly events (like Family Skate Night on Tuesdays and Ice Skating Lessons on Saturdays), and I stopped by on Thursday (Theme Night) to check out the “Ugly Sweater Party.” People started coming in after 6 p.m., and it was fairly busy, with a good mix of families with young children, middle-aged couples and groups of teenagers. I saw a couple of tacky sweaters out there, but I have no idea if they knew about the theme beforehand or not. Several skill levels were represented on the ice, with the large majority of patrons getting

Midtown might be missing the MARRS ice skating rink from last year, but it will catch a bargain with Winter Rollerland starting Friday night at the Midtown Bazaar's indoor location. Three weeks ago realtor Sabrina Berhane and her associates decided to put together a roller skating rink where the community can enjoy the nostalgia of skating to 80's pop and the glint of a disco ball. So they threw a couple dozen hay bails in a circle, wrapped some faux-snow and tinsel around the parking garage columns, and are hoping for at least 10,000 people to skate through by New Years weekend. Berhane organizes the Midtown Bazaar and is hoping the roller rink will provide some entertainment in the co

Watching a maple leaf float from side to side until, as if in slow motion, it hits the ground. Piles of leaves on the ground making that crunching sound as you walk on it. The smell of wood burning emanating from chimneys. The weather is slowly changing and transforming from summer to fall. In the city of Folsom there is an ice rink that has been put together almost as if overnight. Children skate around the rink that still has a lot of water on the surface but kids on the rink couldn’t care less. They skate very slowly and others are still trying to learn how to skate. A couple of women sat on the edge of the ice rink and watched their children skate. Katie Surritt was there watching he

The magic of Disney meets the excitement of professional skating this month when Disney on Ice comes to Arco Arena. Expect high-energy stories from the worlds of “The Lion King,” “Lilo & Stitch,” “The Little Mermaid” and “Peter Pan.” “Mickey & Minnie’s Magical Journey” is the longest-running Disney on Ice show, premiering in 1995. It has since evolved to include the Hawaiian-themed story of Lilo & Stitch. “I’ve always loved Disney since I was a kid,” said Alex Demetriou, who plays the role of Danny (from “Lilo & Stitch”) and Captain Hook (from “Peter Pan”). “My best friend joined Disney on Ice five years before me, and it quickly became a thing I wanted to do.” With sets ranging from th

Rob Kerth has been getting plenty of Zamboni action the last few nights. Midtown Business Association's executive director has been staying up late and going out in the early-morning dark to use the ice groomer to help create an ice-skating rink that opens at 10 a.m. Friday in Midtown. "It's a tremendous amount of work to put up one of these portable rinks," Kerth said Wednesday. "I've been there until 4 in the morning at least five out of the last 10 days." While most business association leaders might not even know how to spell "Zamboni," Kerth not only knows how to drive one, he owns one. And he has the license to drive it. That's because until last year, Kerth owned Ice Unlimited,