Recently in Celebrate Category

I'll admit it: I love Thanksgiving. I love the food, I love spending time with family and friends, and I love a good parade too. And when it comes to Thanksgiving parades, the Windy City has one of the best. The McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade will be held on Thanksgiving morning, November 27, 2008, with marchers of all stripes parading down State Street to the delight of nearly half a million onlookers. Naturally there will be plenty of marching bands, local politicians, Santa Claus, and a flying Elmo, but this year marks the 75th anniversary of the parade, so be on the lookout for a few special guests as well. The mega-sized horses known as the Budweiser Clydesdales, for example, will clip-clop along the pavement towing a draft wagon, while Barefoot Hawaiian will bring their unique brand of Polynesian entertainment - ranging from hula dancers to musical ensembles - to the streets of Chicago. Here's hoping the Hawaiians get to go first, because I'd hate to have to walk barefoot behind a bunch of big horses. Starwood has more than a dozen properties in and around Chicago, including the nearby Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers.

Seattle has long been a forward-thinking city when it comes to the environment, leading the country in recycling programs and wise stewardship of the land, but a major show in one of the city's most cutting-edge galleries is putting an artistic spin on the low-impact ethos. Reclaim, at Drop City Gallery, is a collection of sculptures made entirely of reclaimed materials from the South Lake Union neighborhood. Local artists John Fleming and W. Scott Trimble give unused and discarded materials new life, as they repurpose what was once a foundation for industry into an inspired vision of the city's artistic future. Wooden pallets, tiles, and other scraps are reborn as blocky towers, undulating waves, and serpentine paths. And in one of the highlights of the show, a collection of disused street signs is rearranged into a collection of colorful flags (pictured) in an amusing take on color and shape. It's one of the the most dynamic shows of contemporary art in Seattle, and it's convenient to several Starwood properties, including the nearby W Seattle. The show runs through November 29, 2008.

It's a short drive from the Westin Mission Hills Resort and Spa to the town of Indio in the heart of Southern California's Coachella Valley, which will host its annual record-breaking Indio International Tamale Festival on December 6 and 7. Featured on the Food Network's All-American Festivals program, the Tamale Fest offers both a hearty tribute to corn masa in its infinite varities as well as a lively look at how the Mexican-American culture is still vibrantly alive in this community through music, art and dance. It has also made two appearances in the Guinness Book of World Records. It first nabbed the honor of presenting the "World's Largest Tamale" with a 40-foot long tamale in 1999, and came back the following year with a crowd of 120,000 and were certified to be the "World's Largest Tamale Festival." Launched in 1992, it is a highlight of every winter season in this area. But don't be fooled into thinking this is some sort of prelude to a White Christmas; it's still normally an average of 79 degrees outside during this weekend, so one might easily be fooled into thinking it's actually summer.

The stars are about to come out in northern Florida. Beginning on November 22, St. Augustine will become a warm-weather winter wonderland as the city celebrates Night of Lights, an annual festival that hearkens back to the Spanish tradition of displaying a lighted white candle in the home during the Christmas holidays. Every year, millions of brilliant white lights line the historic streets and ancient buildings of St. Augustine, the oldest continuously-occupied, European-established city in the United states, and how you experience it is up to you. Storytellers wearing period clothing give nighttime walking tours of ancient buildings and inns, while train and trolley rides let visitors kick back as they cruise the city's narrow brick streets. Special art walks on the first Friday of December and January feature more than 30 art galleries with free holiday refreshments to help you get in the spirit. And for those who crave cold-weather holiday traditions, there's ice skating, an ice slide, sleigh rides, and an elf village. Since we take advantage of any opportunity to get out on the water, we'll be climbing aboard the schooner Freedom for a two-hour sunset cruise through Matanzas Bay, which features breathtaking views of the ancient city's skyline, lit up by a sea of twinkling lights. St. Augustine is a short drive from the nearby Sheraton Jacksonville Hotel.

[image via Coastal Living]

When a Belgian cartoonist named Peyo introduced the world to a village of little blue people called Les Schtroumpfs back in 1958, he had no idea of what he had just unleashed. The Smurfs went on to become a cultural phenomenon, with millions of people around the world enjoying the comic strip, television shows, and immensely popular miniature dolls. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Smurf franchise, the Belgian Comic Strip Center in Brussels is hosting a special exhibit entitled "Smurf for All, All for Smurf," which includes original artwork and documents that reflect the origins of the Smurfs and their rise to prominence. The Smurf exhibit runs through November 16, 2008, but the museum is a pleasure to visit at any time. It's the only museum of its kind exclusively dedicated to comic strip art, and a stroll through its fantastical exhibits of oversized sculpture and anthropomorphic creatures just might make you feel like you're in a comic strip world yourself. Starwood had four hotels in Brussels, including the nearby Le Méridien Brussels.

When it comes to livestock shows, they just don't get bigger than this. The 2008 North American International Livestock Exposition will take place in Louisville, Kentucky November 8-21, bringing some of the country's most prized animals to the Kentucky Exposition Center. It's the largest all-breed, purebred livestock exposition in the world, with ten different species of livestock including Boer goats, llamas and alpacas, mules and donkeys, and horses. The purebred beef and sheep events are the largest of their kind anywhere, drawing interest from around the globe from ranchers and urban cowboys alike. As if the livestock expo wasn't enough to keep people entertained, there's also the North American Quarter Horse Show and North American Championship Rodeo, which is bound to bring enough hootin' and hollerin' to last until the expo rolls around again. Guests at the Sheraton Louisville Riverside Hotel might appreciate this enjoyable look at the animals that populate the vast ranches of the west.

[image via Sanders Ranch]

From November 7-16, 2008, Toronto will celebrate the bounty of the Canadian harvest at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, the largest combined indoor agricultural fair and international equestrian competition in the world. Now in its 86th year, the fair welcomes thousands of visitors to the Exhibition Place on the shores of Lake Ontario to watch growers, breeders, and special exhibitors compete for prizes, while enjoying delicious farm-fresh food and local spirits. Competitions categories include beef, livestock, and agricultural competitions as well as equestrian competitions and a good old fashioned Canadian-style rodeo. I'm partial to the "black and white" category, a class of dairy cattle that exhibit those perfect spots that make herds so recognizable. In between the competitions, be sure to sample a few locally-produced wines from vendors across Ontario. It's a good way to stay warm as the cold weather descends on the great white north. The fair is convenient to several Starwood properties, including the nearby Westin Harbour Castle, Toronto.

It's time once again for the ING New York City Marathon, the world's biggest marathon and one of the greatest sporting events you'll ever witness. On Sunday, November 2, 2008, nearly 40,000 amateur and professional runners will start out in Staten Island and race through all five boroughs to determine the fastest runners in various categories. The race unfolds over a punishing 26.2 mile course that features hills, bridges, long straightaways and hairpin turns, culminating in a dramatic finish in Manhattan's Central Park. Certain sections of the course - such as the northern stretch of Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn - maintain a carnival atmosphere that at once encourages the runners and entertains the many spectators, with jazz and rock bands playing live music on street corners and vendors selling food, beverages, and souvenirs. It can be quite moving to witness a sea of determined runners rush by before your eyes, especially when you realize that every one of them has their own motivation and inspiration for the journey. Starwood has hotels throughout New York City, including Le Parker Méridien New York, a short walk from the finish line.

Asheville, North Carolina has a population of fewer than 100,000 people, but it punches well above its weight when it comes to movies. Every November, the charming city welcomes more than 10,000 actors, directors, and film buffs to the Asheville Film Festival, where world premieres, workshops, lectures, and parties mark one of the most influential film fests in the south. In just four years, the festival has grown from an obscure gathering of film geeks to a venue for more than 300 filmmakers and their works, with appearances by actor Rance Howard (Ron Howard's dad), director Ken Russell (Tommy, Crimes of Passion), and actress Jennifer Tilly (Bullets Over Broadway, Bound). This year's festival (November 6-9, 2008) promises several surprise guests and future film classics, as venues such as the Diana Wortham Theater and Fine Arts Theater provide an elegant setting for silver screen magic to unfold. The best part? Everything takes place in historic downtown Asheville, with an abundance of nearby bars and restaurants and a backdrop of gorgeous fall colors. Guests at the Four Points by Sheraton Asheville Downtown might enjoy a screening or two at this inspiring tribute to a classic art form.

[image via romanticasheville.com]

With film festivals being held year-round in fabulous locations across the country, it's surprising how few video festivals are out there, but here's one to look out for if you find yourself in Dallas this November 6-9, 2008. The Dallas Video Festival was founded in 1986 when film makers Bart Weiss and Melissa Berry curated a show entitled "Video as a Creative Medium," and it has grown over the past two decades into one of the premiere showcases of cutting edge new videos by both traditional directors and avant-garde video artists. This year's schedule includes an eclectic assortment of comedy, drama, and documentary videos, including Raiders of the Lost Ark: the Adaptation, a shot-by-shot adaptation of the original film by three inspired twelve-year-olds in 1981, and Guest of Cindy Sherman, a chronicle of one videographer's interactions with the legendary narrative photographer. The films are presented at the Angelika Film Center, one of the city's greatest venues to experience such a wealth of video excellence. Guests at the nearby Joule, Dallas or any of Starwood's Dallas properties might enjoy this enlightening collection of video art and film.