“It’s a festival of hope.“ Sam Shaw and his wife, Rita, came with friends to watch Richmond’s 24th Annual Grand Illumination at the James Center, and he wasn’t disappointed.

Weekend is looking for open-to-the-public New Year’s Eve events to publish Thursday, Dec. 25.  If you’re hosting a whoop-it-up party or a family-friendly celebration that’s open to all, e-mail the details by noon of Dec. 15 to Pat Row at .

See glowing reindeer at the James Center, take a free carriage ride in Shockoe Slip and shop the Bizzare Bazaar.

We have reached the season of the year when we must peer deep into our souls and ask ourselves a question of great magnitude: What do we do with the leftover turkey? My answer is simple: Eat it. I’m perfectly happy to graze at the open refrigerator door and pick off whatever I need. Or better yet, make one of those Thanksgiving dinner sandwiches that Dagwood might concoct if using Thanksgiving ingredients.

This year, you can plan your Thanksgiving travel to avoid the worst traffic, thanks to an online tool from the Virginia Department of Transportation. Find out more about this interactive program.

Lights flashed and sirens blared as police and emergency vehicles made their way down England Street in downtown Ashland yesterday afternoon—signaling the beginning of the Ashland Olde Time Holiday Parade and with it, the holiday season.

The James River Singers chamber choir is presenting its fall concert “Words and Music” on Saturday and Sunday.  The program includes music that spans more than 250 years and explores the interaction of words and music. It features composers including Franz Josef Haydn, Johannes Brahms, Samuel Barber and George Gershwin, among others.

Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is a sanctuary of great beauty that naturally looks its best when the sun is shining.  So, it is worthy of note that the garden attracts some of its biggest crowds in the dead of winter and dark of night.

• SLIDESHOW: 2007 GardenFest

We’ve waited a long time for “A Tuna Christmas,“ the 1989 sequel to “Greater Tuna” written by the creators of the original show, Jaston Williams, Joe Sears and Ed Howard. Williams and Sears have long kept the show to themselves for seasonal tours, but at last Swift Creek Mill has secured the rights to show us what happens in Texas’ third-smallest town at holiday time.

“Woodland Heights Artists in Residence Holiday Show” will offer holiday arts and crafts produced by artists in the Woodland Heights neighborhood from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 13, 2008.

After a slow year at the box office, Hollywood is looking to the holiday movies for salvation. The next “Harry Potter” film has been pushed back to next summer, but the following are pictures that might prove popular, or at least are pictures that people talk about.

For Craig Ramsay, his first visit to Berkeley Plantation was a learning experience yesterday. “There’s always something new to learn. Wherever you are, you can discover all kinds of things,“ said Ramsay, who recently moved to Hanover County from Idaho. Yesterday, Ramsay and hundreds of others witnessed a re-enactment of what many consider to be the first Thanksgiving service in America, at the historic property about halfway between Richmond and Williamsburg.