Glowing scorpions, a custom arcade and more things to do in Denver this weekend

Butterly Pavilion lights the lights

Friday-Jan. 2. Westminster’s family-friendly Butterfly Pavilion is putting a twist on holiday traditions with its Living Lights Festival, a new, indoor event that opens Friday, Dec. 17, and runs through Jan. 2.

Taking advantage of its vast and unique collection of invertebrates, staffers have cooked up an “enchanted journey to meet the Firefly Princess,” complete with aerial artists and other performers in costume, bioluminescent animals, and “an electrifying kid’s glow-in-the-dark dance party.”

Along with keepsake photos, this could make for a worthy, non-Christmas-specific holiday activity with the kids. 6-10 p.m. Friday-Jan. 2. Tickets: $12 for children, $13 for seniors and $20 for adults. butterflies.org/event/living-lights — John Wenzel

Arcade or art? It’s both!

Sunday-Jan. 30. The folks at the Denver Theatre District’s Understudy knew they were onto something when their Art Claw game gained some buzz shortly after its October 2020 launch at the Dairy Block. The artist-driven machine is now being followed up with a full arcade — or ARTcade, rather — at Understudy’s home base.