EVENTS IN TUCSON Always Something to Celebrate! SIGNATURE TUCSON EVENTS January: Tucson Jazz Festival >> Jazz aficionados, the first Tucson Jazz Festival will swing into town for 13 days in January. In Tucsons urban core, Club Congress, the Rialto, the Fox and other joints will be jumping with living legends and up-and-comers—from opening act Joey DeFrancesco Quartet with special guest Jimmy Cobb and the Tucson Jazz Institute Ellington Band, to Burt Bacharach and his 11-piece ensembles grand finale—and a free Jazz Fiesta trumpeting Dixieland, swing, blues, and R&B. January 16-28, 2015 Jan/Feb: Tucson Gem, Mineral & Fossil Showcase >> The biggest show of its kind in the country, this two-week marketplace draws everyone from expert mineralogists to casual collectors seeking gems, minerals, fossils, meteorites, beads, art, jewelry and more as well as museum-quality exhibits from around the globe. It includes dozens of shows at about 40 different locations, including the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show®, the show that started it all in 1954. Most shows are free and open to the public. January 31 to February 15, 2015 Jan/Feb: Tucson Desert Song Festival >> While the rest of the country is shoveling out from under yet another snowstorm, you can be pretty sure the sun will shine on the Tucson Desert Song Festival. Each winter, under sky and stars, local performing arts groups join vocalists and other musicians from Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Arizona Opera, Tucson Chamber Artists, the UA School of Music, Ballet Tucson and more. January 16 to February 1, 2015 Jan/Feb: MLS Preseason Training in Tucson >> Pro soccer warms up in sunny Tucson, a favorite winter training capital of athletes everywhere. Watch elite soccer players—teams include Colorado Rapids, Houston Dynamo, New England Revolution, Portland Timbers, Real Salt Lake, San Jose Earthquakes, Seattle Sounders, Sporting Kansas City, Vancouver Whitecaps FC—prepare for the regular season at Kino Sports Complex during eight Desert Friendlies and the 12-match FC Tucson Desert Diamond Cup, on select days from January 31 through February 28, 2015 February: Tucson Rodeo & Parade (La Fiesta de los Vaqueros) >> Tucson celebrates its Old West heritage at the Tucson Rodeo Grounds with the first major outdoor-event of the annual Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association circuit. Events attract more than 650 competing cowboys and cowgirls. At the Tucson Rodeo Parade Museum more than 150 horse-drawn vehicles and other pioneer-days artifacts are on display. The 90th annual Tucson Rodeo & Parade takes place February 21 to March 1, 2015 March: Tucson Festival of Books >> Since its debut in 2009, the Tucson Festival of Books has more than doubled in size to well over 100,000 attendees, establishing Tucsons already rich literary scene as the Book Capital of the Southwest. Set up on the UA mall against a backdrop of Tucsons amazing spring weather, TFOP presents hundreds of top writers from around the country, literary events for readers of all ages, childrens activities, gifts, a host of fabulous local eateries, and, of course, lots and lots of books. March 14-15, 2015 March: Tucson Winter Chamber Music Festival >> The Arizona Friends of Chamber Music presents a week of musical activity at Leo Rich Theatre, featuring a world-class array of chamber musicians and performances of standard repertoire as well as more eclectic and exceptional chamber music works. Introductory talks and the chance for audience members to talk with the musicians are hallmarks of this critically acclaimed festival. March 15-22, 2015 March: Tucson Classic-PGA TOUR Champions Tour >> Watch and learn as pro golfs old masters at the top of their game show how practice makes perfect. The PGA TOUR Champions Tours new Tucson Classic features a whos who of golfs legends strutting their stuff on the accessible and walkable Catalina Course at the Omni Tucson National Resort. See everyones favorite pros in a no-cut competition. March 16-22, 2015 March: 4th Avenue Spring Street Fair >> The Fourth Avenue shopping and dining district is always a step outside the ordinary, but twice a year, the draw is not just the shops and restaurants that line 4th Ave but the hundreds of artisans, vendors and food booths that fill the street itself. Entertainers perform on stage and in the streets as 200,000 to 300,000 people meander their way through tents filled with fine art, handmade soaps and salves, crafts, novelties, musical instruments, jewelry and more. March 20-22, 2015 April: Tucson International Mariachi Conference >> The award-winning La Frontera Arizona Tucson International Mariachi Conference is a model for mariachi festivals nationwide with a week of student workshops followed by a Participant Showcase, Espectacular Concert and Fiesta de Garibaldi featuring many of the worlds best mariachi musicians and talented folklorico dancers. April 8-11, 2015 May: Tucson Folk Festival >> Before there was MTV Unplugged, the Tucson Folk Festival was taking music to its roots with live music under open skies. Today, the annual Tucson Folk Festival, presented by the Tucson Kitchen Musicians Association, is one of the largest free festivals in United States, featuring 400+ local, regional and national musicians performing live acoustic music on five stages in downtown Tucson for more than 10,000 fans. May 2-3, 2015 October: Tucson Meet Yourself >> This celebration of Tucson & Southern Arizonas ethnic and cultural diversity began 1974 and has grown every year since. Today, for three days every year, the festival takes over 60 acres in downtown Tucson as more than 100,000 residents and visitors revel in traditional music, dance, arts, crafts and food not just from Mexican and Native American heritage, but also African, Czech, Polish and other cultures all around the planet. October 9-11, 2015 October: Tucson Festival of Films >> Cinematic highlights from eight different Tucson film festivals shown over four days at varied locations. Festival includes location tours and panel presentations by day, and open-air screenings, special events, and parties by nights as well as films of diverse genres, ranging from global issues, art house, and underground to films with themes related to Jewish, Mexican, and Native American cultural experiences. October 15-18, 2015 October: 5th Annual Loft Film Fest >> Started in 2010, the Loft Film Fest has been described by Filmmaker Magazine as geared truly toward cinephiles of nearly every stripe. Each year, five days of programming showcases the best of independent, foreign and classic films from established as well as emerging talents, including selections from Cannes, Sundance, SXSW and other leading film festivals around the world. Interspersed with the Fests carefully curated films, mixers with writers, directors and actors give film buffs a rare chance to talk shop with some of the industrys most luminous stars. October, 2015 November: All Souls Procession Weekend >> What started as one womans remembrance in 1990 has grown to an event thats been called one of the most diverse, inclusive and extraordinary celebrations in the country. Each year on the first Sunday in November, more than 35,000 people find their way to downtown Tucson to walk two miles together in the All Souls Procession, inspired by Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead celebrated in many parts of Latin America. Some construct elaborate floats, some create fantastic costumes, some paint their faces in traditional masks and many simply come as they are and witness the giant urn that is filled with messages and prayers from the community and hoisted by crane to be set afire high above the crowd at the close of the event. November 7-8, 2015 November: El Tour de Tucson >> El Tour de Tucson is Southern Arizonas premier bicycling event and one of the top cycling events in the country, attracting more than 9,000 cyclists from around the world on the Saturday before Thanksgiving every year. As a major fundraiser for groups like Bens Bells, Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, El Tour has routes ranging from a quarter mile to 100+ miles, some hilly, some flat, all fun. Parties and other activities throughout the city make the day an event for cyclists and non-cyclists alike. November 21, 2015 December: 4th Avenue Winter Street Fair >> Hundreds of thousands of holiday shoppers start and complete their shopping lists each year at Tucsons biggest arts and crafts celebration, featuring block after block of tents showcasing handmade and artisan goods, including jewelry, fine art, toys, apparel, decor, candles, coffees, soaps and more, banked on either side by the bohemian shops, cafes and restaurants of Tucsons year-round 4th Avenue shopping and dining district. December 11, 12, 13, 2015
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 04:30:03 +0000