Happy holidays planned across the nation

Christmas in Las Vegas

The Las Vegas Strip is planning a half-million-dollar New Year's Eve fireworks display that organizers hope will rival East Coast celebrations and help mark Sin City's 2004 centennial.

The production will feature a five-minute warm-up to a midnight countdown and a computer-controlled pyrotechnics display blasting 65,000 fireworks from 10 hotels along the Strip.

"We're definitely going head-to-head with New York City," said Terry Jicinsky, a top Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority marketing official.

Tourism officials hope the event, dubbed "America's Party: Las Vegas New Year 2004," will draw 300,000 visitors to Las Vegas this year. They said last year's event drew 285,000 people to the city.

On New Year's Eve, thousands are expected to jam the downtown Fremont Street Experience, where live acts will entertain from stages on a pedestrian walkway between casinos.

Christmas in Chicago

If you're headed to Chicago for the holidays, the Windy City offers plenty to do.

"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" is the theme of this year's animated window display at the famed Chicago department store, Marshall Field's. Down the street, the Goodman Theatre hosts "A Christmas Carol" through Dec. 27; call 1-312-443-3800 for details.

The annual Christkindlmarket, through Dec. 22 at Daley Plaza, is modeled after a traditional German Christmas market. An illuminated 85-foot-tree, a carousel, food and holiday shopping are all part of the festivities.

At the Navy Pier, a Winter Wonderfest, Dec. 12 through Jan. 4, offers a rock-climbing wall, craft area and live entertainment, while the Chicago Children's Museum hosts its annual Gingerbread Fantasy Factory through Jan. 11, where kids can make and decorate their own cookies.

Elsewhere in Illinois, one million twinkling lights illuminate 50 holiday displays in the East Peoria Festival of Lights, through Dec. 31. Belleville's annual Way of Lights Christmas Display features electronic light-and-glass sculptures depicting the Nativity at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows.

And Frank Lloyd Wright's architectural gem, the Dana-Thomas House in Springfield, is decorated with old-fashioned holiday splendor through Dec. 31, including a silent tour on Dec. 21 when 850 candles will be lit throughout the home. Call 1-217-782-6776 for details.

Christmas at LEGOLAND