In Brief: Holiday activities and family fun

Music

PARAGUAYAN HARPIST
PLAYS 'SILVER STRINGS'

Concerts and courthouses don't usually go together.

Today is the exception, however, as Paraguayan harpist Mariano Gonzalez presents "Silver Strings" at noon at downtown's federal courthouse.

Gonzalez's 45-year career as a harpist, composer and harp maker has taken him around the world - from his South American homeland to Japan to his current hometown, Las Vegas - and into a variety of musical genres. (He's a regular with showroom veteran Tony Orlando.)

But the "guarania" folk music of Gonzalez's native Paraguay has brought him solo recognition from, among others, the Kennedy Center and the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., where he performed two September concerts sponsored by the American Folklife Center.

He performs today at noon performance in the Jury Assembly Room at the Lloyd D. George Federal Courthouse, 333 Las Vegas Blvd. South.

Part of the city of Las Vegas' Downtown Cultural Series, the concert is free and open to the public. For more details, call 229-3515.

Family fun

SKI RESORT STAGES
HOLIDAY CELEBRATION

If you're looking for a real-life winter wonderland, it's as close as the Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort, which hosts its first Holidays on the Mountain Saturday afternoon.

For one day only, visitors can take advantage of photo ops with none other than Santa Claus, who will be spreading cheer throughout the resort. Other options: hitting the slopes, taking lessons at the resort's Ski & Snowboard School and checking out the menu at the newly remodeled Bighorn Grill.

Holidays on the Mountain will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Las Vegas Ski & Snow Resort, 6725 Lee Canyon Road.

For more information, call 385-2754 or go online to www.skilasvegas.com.

Holiday activities

ARTS CENTER, MUSEUM
CELEBRATING KWANZAA

Christmas and Kwanzaa share the holiday spotlight this weekend, with a variety of seasonal activities planned.

The Lied Discovery Children's Museum, 833 Las Vegas Blvd. North, continues its Multicultural Holidays activities and workshops.

Today marks the conclusion of the museum's weeklong Christmas focus, offering kids the chance to create a holiday wreath - or their very own Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Starting Saturday, museum visitors can learn about Kwanzaa traditions and make a woven mat (one of the holiday's seven symbolic items), a pine-cone Christmas tree or a Hanukkah dreidel.

The museum is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today, 10 to 5 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday; it will be closed Monday and Tuesday (Christmas Eve and Christmas Day) and will reopen from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday.

Programs are free with regular admission ($8.50 for children and seniors, $9.50 for adults); for more information, call 382-5437 or go online to www.ldcm.org.

At 3 p.m. Saturday, the West Las Vegas Library Theatre, 951 W. Lake Mead Blvd., will host a Kwanzaa celebration featuring dance and spoken-word performances relating to the holiday's seven core principles: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.

Graduates of "Rites of Passage" mentoring workshops, for students 10 to 16 years old, will receive certificates for their participation in a "Crossing Over" ceremony; community elders also will be honored.

Admission is free but tickets are required and may be obtained in advance at the West Las Vegas Arts Center, 947 W. Lake Mead Blvd., or by calling 229-4800.

Family fun

ICE ARENA EXPANDS
PUBLIC SKATING HOURS

Ice is nice at the Fiesta Rancho's SoBe Ice Arena, which has extended skating hours for families during winter break.

Today, the rink will be open for public skating from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. and 7 to 11 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday hours: 1 to 6 p.m. and 7 to 11 p.m. On Monday (Christmas Eve), the rink will be open from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. and 7 to 11 p.m. Christmas Day hours Tuesday will be from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m.

From Wednesday through Dec. 28, the rink will host public skating from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. and 7 to 11 p.m.

Rounding out the holiday schedule: 1 to 6 p.m. and 7 to 11 p.m. Dec. 29-30; 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. and 8 to 11 p.m. Dec. 31-Jan. 4; 1 to 6 p.m. and 8 to 11 p.m. Jan. 5; and 1 to 6 p.m. Jan. 6.

Admission is $7 per person (for up to four hours on the ice); children 3 and under are free. Skate rental is $3.

The arena is located at the Fiesta Rancho, 2400 N. Rancho Drive, North Las Vegas. More information is available by calling 638-3785 or going online to www.sclv.com.

- By CAROL CLING