The holidays are officially here and what better way to make your spirits bright than by sipping festive beverages at a themed pop-up bar?

In recent years, a growing number of bars have gone the way of Clark Griswold, decking the halls with an almost unfathomable number of holiday lights, endless strands of garland and ornaments that glitter. All the while the bartender shakes and stirs up a plethora of seasonal beverages — both hot and cold — for revelers looking to indulge on holiday cheer.

There are now so many in and around Denver, we broke this year’s down by theme. Here’s where to drink and be merry, whether you’re looking for classic Christmas vibes, a winter getaway or a holiday haunting that would give Scrooge nightmares.

Quintessentially Christmas

miracle, perhaps the best-known holiday pop-up bar, returns to Colorado this season with five locations along the Front Range. Staff at the Terminal Bar at Union Station (1701 Wynkoop St., Denver), The Eddy Taproom & Hotel (1640 8th St., Golden), Rouge Wine Bar & Patio (7939 E Arapahoe Rd., Suite 190, Greenwood Village), Cousin Pat’s Pub & Grill (451 S St. Vrain Ave., Estes Park), and /pôr/ Wine House (701 Main St., Louisville) have decked the halls and stocked the bar for all your holiday needs. In addition to buying festive libations, like the Christmas policy and Snowball Old-Fashioned, guests can purchase thematic glassware they come in. Trust us, these shot-sized Santa mugs are the gifts that keep on

When Paul Edwards left school at 15, he headed to the careers office in Salford, Greater Manchester, to speak to the man behind the glass hatch. The careers officer riffled through his little box of cards, and pulled out two. One card advertised a vacancy for a violin-maker’s apprentice; the other for a precision grinder, which is paid twice as much. Edwards’ mother told him there was no choice. He became a precision grinder.

He must have thought about this fork in the road many times since, because two years ago, at 62, he built a guitar. “And the first thing I thought was: Why didn’t I do this when I left school?”

Instead, he hopped from place to place, following work or girlfriends. “I never really had a career path,” he says. He had worked from the age of 12, painting ships alongside his father in the docks at Old Trafford. “You grow up fast when you’re the oldest of six boys.”

Edwards’ childhood home was full of music. “My mum was singing all the time. I can still hear her now. ‘One day my prince will come … ‘ The radio was always on. We had records.” At 13, Edwards saved his wages and bought a £50 bass on hire-purchase. “It was red, shiny and beautiful.”

He had always been good with his hands, so when the precision grinding didn’t work out, he got a job as a stagehand at the Davenport theater in Stockport – his