Local Events & Attractions 

The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is a 98-acre zoo, aquarium, botanical garden, natural history museum, publisher, and art gallery founded in 1952. Located just west of Tucson, Arizona, it features two miles of walking paths traversing 21 acres of desert landscape.

The Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block encompasses an entire city block in historic downtown and houses a growing collection of nearly 12,000 works of art spanning over 3,000 years of history. Rotating and permanent collection exhibitions feature original and traveling shows focusing on Art of Latin America, Art of the American West, Indigenous Arts, and Modern and Contemporary, with related docent-led tours, educational activities, community engagement programs, and a Museum Store to delight and educate visitors. 

Sabino Canyon is a significant canyon located in the Santa Catalina Mountains and the Coronado National Forest north of Tucson, Arizona, United States. Sabino Canyon is a popular recreation area for residents and visitors of Southern Arizona, providing a place to walk, hike or ride..

Mount Lemmon, with a summit elevation of 9,159 feet, is the highest point in the Santa Catalina Mountains. It is located in the Coronado National Forest north of Tucson, Arizona, United States.

There are restaurants, cabins, hiking/biking trails and a small ski area. Typically 20 degrees cooler than the valley floor, which is great way to escape the summer heat!

Located on the University of Arizona Campus, Centennial Hall is home to Arizona Arts Live, the University of Arizona’s performing arts presenting series. Arizona Arts Live offers more than 20 performances each year, including classical, jazz, dance, and world performers.

Established in 2009, the March festival is now a community-wide celebration of literature and one of the largest book festivals in the United States.

Free-of-charge, the festival exists to improve literacy rates among children and adults. Proceeds that remain after festival expenses have been paid are contributed to local literacy programs.

One hundred years strong, this annual, six day event held in February, continues to celebrate western heritage with its rich history and ongoing tradition of excellence.

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El Tour de Tucson is Perimeter Bicycling’s flagship event and one of the largest  bicycling events in America. Held annually the Saturday before Thanksgiving, El Tour attracts over 9,000 cyclists of all ages and abilities from around the United States and beyond.  El Tour’s finish line/annual Downtown Expo & Fiesta, brings together cyclists and members of the greater Tucson community for a celebration of charities, community, health and fitness.

Founded in 1974 by folklorist Jim Griffith and his wife, Loma Griffith, Tucson Meet Yourself is an annual celebration of the living traditional arts of Southern Arizona’s and Northern Mexico’s diverse ethnic and folk communities. The free, three-day event features hundreds of artisans, home cooks, dancers, musicians and special exhibits that celebrate and honor beauty in all its diverse, informal, and everyday forms. Tucson Meet Yourself happens annually in Downtown Tucson during the second weekend in October.