Sunday, December 13, 12 – 5 pm

Various Downtown Arts & Cultural Institutions
http://www.wellsfargo.com

Wells Fargo will present this year's Holiday Lights Family Festival offering the community an opportunity to experience many of Omaha's leading downtown attractions for free. This year's Family Festival will be held Sunday, December 13th, from 12 to 5 pm. A free trolley service will connect the participating venues described below. Each site will offer free admission and family activities. In addition, Opera Omaha will perform at The Durham Museum and Joslyn Art Museum. Omaha Symphony musicians will perform at The Durham Museum, W. Dale Clark Public Library, and Joslyn Art Museum.

The Durham Museum
“Christmas at Union Station” – including Omaha’s largest indoor Christmas tree – will delight visitors at the museum. Holiday Miniatures from the Omaha-Council Bluffs Miniature Guild and Ethnic Holiday Trees will be on display. Guests are invited to tour the Durham’s permanent exhibits and view the extraordinary American Letterpress: The Art of the Hatch Show Print temporary exhibit. Holiday selections will be performed in the museum’s main lobby by Opera Omaha at 12:15 p.m., and by the Omaha Symphony Brass Quintet at 1 and 2 p.m. Wells Fargo will offer a panning for gold activity, scavenger hunt and kids can meet Jack the Dog.

Joslyn Art Museum
Guests are invited to explore Joslyn Art Museum’s galleries including the special exhibitions Fifty Works for Fifty States, featuring art by some of the most thoughtful and experimental artists of our time, and Wizards of Pop, showcasing original art from masterful pop-up books. Guests can also visit the art studio to create a holiday card that “pops to life” and to draw a wintry scene using pastels and an incising technique. Seasonal selections will be performed by harpist, Mary Bircher at 1 and 2 p.m.; TubaChristmas, a 40-piece brass ensemble, at 2:30 p.m., and woodwind group, Orion Trio, at 3:30 and 4:30 p.m. Guests can get their own deck of Wells Fargo playing cards and learn a magic trick from a strolling magician.

Omaha Children’s Museum
Children will have a chance to experience the museum’s 2009 holiday version of lightPLAY: A Celebration of Holiday Magic. Families can enjoy watching a puppet show by Trish Place, whose shows are adapted from familiar children’s stories. Santa and Mrs. Claus will be greeting children and accepting letters. Among other craft activities, children will help build a giant gingerbread house out of magnetic toys. The museum’s newest traveling exhibit, A Garden of Gizmos, may be viewed for the discounted admission of $3. Wells Fargo will offer hands-on holiday craft activities.

Omaha Police Department Horse Barn
Visitors may tour the Horse Barn and learn how police officers care for the animals at the Omaha Police Department Horse Barn. Officers will offer horse demonstrations as guests warm up with Swiss Miss hot cocoa. Among the activites offered at the Horse Barn, the Omaha Citizens Mounted Patrol Foundation will offer face painting, crafts and balloon animals; Wells Fargo will be giving free stage coach rides from 1 to 4 p.m.; and young buckaroos will be invited to decorate their own cowboy hats and other crafts.

W. Dale Clark Library
The library will host a variety of fun activities and acts, including a clown who will create balloon fun for children. The Rose Theater will lead storytelling about Holidays Around the World at 12:30, 1:15, 2, 2:45, 3:30 and 4:15 p.m. The Nova String Quartet will perform holiday selections at 1 and 2 p.m. , and the Duchesne Academy will perform at 3 and 4 p.m. A magician will mesmerize audiences at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. The Wells Fargo activity area will feature cookie decorating and Swiss Miss hot cocoa for the whole family.

Wells Fargo
New to the Festival this year, guests are invited to visit the newly remodeled Wells Fargo banking store. Guests can view the historical mural of Omaha and the life size stagecoach in the lobby; enjoy Orville Redenbacher popcorn; and get pictures taken with “Jack” the dog. Seasonal selections will be performed by the St. Leo Handbell Choir at 1 and 2:15 p.m.; and singers from Creighton University at 3 p.m.

ConAgra Foods Ice Rink
The ConAgra Foods Ice Skating Rink will be open to the public from 1-5 p.m. on the ConAgra Foods campus at 10th and Harney. The public is encouraged to bring donations of non-perishable food items and household goods to drop into collection bins, which will be distributed to families in need by Food Bank for the Heartland. Admission is $5 and includes skate rental. All proceeds from the ConAgra Foods skating rink will also be donated to Food Bank for the Heartland.