Nine cool things to do in Tucson this weekend (April 22-April 23)
- Updated
Some big things are brewing this weekend.
- Updated
Fried food on sticks. Carnival rides. Live music from touring musicians. Farm animals galore.
What's not to like about the Pima County Fair, running Thursday, April 20-Sunday, April 30 at the fairgrounds, 11300 S. Houghton Road?
One of our favorite parts of this annual odyssey of entertainment is the music.
Some examples:
On Thursday, T-Pain and Naughty By Nature will perform.
Country singer Josh Turner will take the stage Saturday.
And the Village People perform on Tuesday with hip-hop artist Lil Yachty next Thursday.
Get the complete details on the Pima County Fair website.
- Updated
International touring act Cirque Du Soleil is bringing one of its latest productions, "OVO" to the Tucson Arena, 260 S. Church Ave., Thursday-Sunday.
From the Cirque website:
OVO, meaning “egg” in Portuguese, is a headlong rush into a colorful ecosystem teeming with life, where insects work, eat, crawl, flutter, play, fight and look for love in a non-stop riot of energy and movement.
When a mysterious egg appears in their midst, the insects are awestruck and intensely curious about this iconic object that represents the enigma and cycles of their lives. It is love at first sight when a gawky, quirky insect arrives in this bustling community and a fabulous ladybug catches his eye – and the feeling is mutual.
The cast of OVO is comprised of 50 performing artists from 12 countries specializing in many acrobatic acts. One highlight of OVO is the stunning Flying Act in which a group of scarabs soar high above the stage, from both edges to the middle landing on a platform.
Tickets can be purchased through the site.
- Updated
How Sweet It Was, the thrift shop that recently moved from North Fourth Avenue to 424 E. Sixth St. (photo above is from the old shop location), is hosting a pop-up shop from Thursday-Sunday, celebrating all things Aloha with Honolulu's Barrio Vintage.
According to the Facebook event page, the shop will feature "Vintage aloha attire, deadstock JAMS for the boys, and whatever other vibrant, fun pieces from thier amazing shop they decide to bring."
DJ Carl Hanni will be spinning at the opening reception from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Thursday.
- Updated
Many of Tucson’s favorite breweries, including Thunder Canyon, Dragoon and 1912, will be at Rillito Park this Saturday participating in the second annual Baja Beer Festival from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
More than 50 breweries will be pouring 200 different beers as tastings at the event, which will benefit the Arizona Craft Brewers Guild as well as Northwest Firefighters Charities.
Among the craft options: Specialty beers made by breweries that have teamed up with firefighters, made exclusively for the Baja Beer fest. The collaborations will be judged at the festival by a panel of celebrity and home-brewer judges, according to organizers.
Local food trucks and vendors providing the eats include American Flying Buffalo, BurgerRito and Haus of Brats.
For $60, VIP guests can come into the event at 4 p.m. (an hour early) with 25 tasting tickets, sit in a VIP area with a private restroom, and will receive a food voucher and VIP bandana.
General admission is $40 and includes 20 tasting tickets. One ticket will get you a 4-ounce beer tasting.
Tickets can be purchased at bajabeerfestival.com
- Updated
Jazz double bassist Charles Mingus was only a baby when his family moved him from the Nogales area, but that hasn't stopped the border town from claiming him as one of their own.
On Saturday, organizers will hold the Ninth annual Charles Mingus Hometown Jazz Festival in honor of what would have been Mingus' 95th birthday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Charles Mingus Memorial Park, 10 W. Western Ave.
The event is free and will feature Brandon Wright, who performs with the Mingus Big Band out of New York City and Latin Jazz Nonet from Tucson. Jazz bands from Rio Rico and Nogales high schools will open.
Latin Jazz Nonet will head to Nogales, Sonora, after the event to perform at the town's annual Tequila Festival from 7 p.m. to 8:30.
More info on the Facebook event page.
- Updated
Kief-Joshua Vineyards in Elgin kicks off the Southern Arizona wine season with its sixth annual Southeast Arizona Wine Growers Festival this weekend.
Call it a precursor to the annual regional wine festival planned in Wilcox next month.
Eighteen Arizona wineries will show off their latest vintages and award-winning wines from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, April 22 and 23, at Kief-Joshua Vineyards. There’s also a professional chili cookoff with cooks coming from as far as Texas for a chance to place in the nationally recognized challenge hosted by the Chili Appreciation Society International. Proceeds benefit the Mountain Empire Rotary Club.
Here’s what you need to know about the festival:
When: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 22, and Sunday, April 23.
Where: Kief-Joshua Vineyards, 370 Elgin Road, Elgin.
Cost: $25 single day, $40 weekend through eventbrite.com; $30 a day at the door.
Participating wineries: Kief-Joshua Vineyards, Alcantara Winery and Vineyard, Keeling Schaefer Vineyards, Arizona Stronghold, Lightning Ridge Cellars, Page Springs Cellars, Zarpara Vineyard and Winery, Callaghan Vineyards, Passion Cellars, AZ Hops and Vines, Burning Tree, SuVino Winery, Pillsbury Wines, Village of Elgin Winery, Golden Rule Vineyards, Sonoita Vineyards, Coronado Vineyards and Carlson Creek Vineyard.
Entertainment lineup:
- Saturday: 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Bisbee’s Cat Daddy; 2 to 5 p.m., Professor James and Dr. T.
- Sunday: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Phoenix’s Top Dead Center Grateful Dead Tribute Band; 2 to 5, “The Voice” contestant Blaine Long.
- Weather forecast: Sunny with highs in the mid-80s.
Part of this weekend’s festivities, which also feature food vendors on-site, tips its hat to the 33rd anniversary of the Sonoita-Elgin region’s designation as an American Viticulture Area. The Sonoita/Elgin Wine Growing Region is among the oldest federally recognized viticulture areas in the United States, according to festival organizer Keif Manning.
- The Willcox Wine Country Festival spring edition will feature 60 wines from 16 Arizona vineyards on May 20-21 at the historic Railroad Park in downtown Willcox. Admission is free; tasting glasses and tickets are $20 to $25. Visit willcoxwines.com for details.
- Cathalena E. Burch
- Updated
Tucson muralist Joe Pagac and videographer Arielle Alelunas are getting married Saturday afternoon.
It’ll be a simple affair with about 120 of their closest friends and family somewhere near Sabino Canyon, followed by a taco-bar dinner catered by a local Mexican restaurant.
But the reception? Not so simple.
They’ve invited Tucson — all of Tucson.
“Even if people don’t know us, it will still be fun to dress up and come down for all the fun stuff without the boring stuff,” the happy groom-in-waiting said last week after he and Alelunas put out a public invite for their Hotel Congress “Happily Ever After Party.”
No need to bring a gift, and you don’t even have to know the happy couple. But more likely than not you are familiar with them in passing if you drive past the Rialto Theatre where Pagac’s handiwork graces the side of the historic venue. He’s the artist who paints brilliant murals of artists set to play the Rialto. The latest mural: The invitation to the reception.
The reception is expected to start at 9 p.m., soon after the wedding party, riding atop an English-style double-decker party bus, arrives flanked by Flam Chen performers and Brazilian-style drummers from the Tucson drumming ensemble Sol Axé.
Admission is $3 at the door. DJs will perform on the patio and in the lobby, and everyone is invited to toast the happy couple with champagne. The bride will toss her bouquet, and the groom will perform the ceremonial flinging of the garter as part of the festivities.
This is not exactly the wedding reception Alelunas imagined when she envisioned her wedding day. It’s better.
“I’ve always loved doing things outside of the box, but I never imagined I would meet a man who would go for it,” said Alelunas, 31.
The Pagac-Alelunas relationship has been one big outside-the-box love story, starting with how they met. Pagac, who also dabbles in party planning at local nightclubs, saw a photo of Alelunas from one of those parties. He was instantly smitten, but soon learned she had a boyfriend.
Fast-forward a couple months: Alelunas stumbled across Pagac’s posting on the free online dating website OK Cupid.
She reached out to him: “Hey, you’re a man about town. What are you doing on a site like this?”
“I’m looking for the right girl,” the 36-year-old Tucson native responded.
They met, started dating and became inseparable.
Pagac said he knew she was the one for him after the couple took a 40-day bike trip late last summer along the U.S.-Canada border.
They biked and camped, and when they returned to Tucson, they still liked each other.
“We got along the whole time,” he recalled. “I thought if we could do this, we can make a life together.”
Last November, the day after they rode in the Tour de Tucson, the couple hiked up Pusch Peak. At the top, he lit a flare, and a handful of their family and friends who had secretly conspired with Pagac, including Alelunas’s twin sister, Lena from Texas, lit fireworks below. As they exploded, he popped the question.
She said yes.
Pagac, whose parties often center on themed dress-ups, hopes to see a sea of women — and men if they so choose — donning wedding dresses for the occasion. But you can also come as you are; no one will be turned away.
“I’m just envisioning that it’s going to be a big group of our friends and family and then a whole lot of people who will show up and not realize it’s a wedding party, and they’ll be surprised,” Alelunas said.
Pagac said he read a survey once that showed that people who spend a lot of money on their weddings don’t stay married as long as folks who take a more frugal route. He and Alelunas are spending just under $6,000, which covers everything from the clothes and rings to renting the wedding hall for the taco-bar buffet.
He said he believes that a key to marital success starts at the reception: The more folks coming out to support a couple, the better the odds of success.
Which goes a long way in explaining why he invited all of Tucson to the special day.
— Cathalena E. Burch
If you go
What: The Happily Ever Afterparty.
When: 9 p.m. Saturday, April 22.
Where: Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress St.
Cost: $3, which includes champagne toast.
Also at Congress on Saturday: Mexico-bred Jenny and the Mexicats perform their fusion of jazz, rockabilly, folk, flamenco, reggae, veracruzano, country and cumbia on the plaza stage at 7 p.m. Tickets are $8 through ticketfly.com
- Updated
The owners of Menlo Home & Garden, 914 W. Congress St., an antique and vintage shop west of Mercado San Agustín, is kicking off a series of free lectures on Saturday that will bring in local experts to talk about specific types of items, their history and how to identify them at thrift stores and estate sales.
This Saturday's topic: Early American pattern glass, starting at 2 p.m.
Calling ahead is recommended as space is limited. 447-0584
- Updated
The University of Arizona will celebrate Earth Day and the 10th anniversary of UA research at Biosphere 2 on Saturday with a day of activities that include hermit crab releases every half hour at the Biosphere ocean, and a sunset concert by Calexico.
Biosphere 2, 32540 S. Biosphere Road in Oracle, about 30 minutes outside Tucson, is adding to its regular tour events special lectures and panel discussions on the future of the Earth, energy, water and food; beach and rainforest tours; and groundbreaking for a vertical farm complex.
The research center also will include a focus on Tucson as the first UNESCO City of Gastronomy. Tucson-based chefs, growers, producers, distillers, ranchers, innovators and advocates will be set up in the main tent on the Biosphere 2 lawn.
More like this...
Fried food on sticks. Carnival rides. Live music from touring musicians. Farm animals galore.
What's not to like about the Pima County Fair, running Thursday, April 20-Sunday, April 30 at the fairgrounds, 11300 S. Houghton Road?
One of our favorite parts of this annual odyssey of entertainment is the music.
Some examples:
On Thursday, T-Pain and Naughty By Nature will perform.
Country singer Josh Turner will take the stage Saturday.
And the Village People perform on Tuesday with hip-hop artist Lil Yachty next Thursday.
Get the complete details on the Pima County Fair website.
International touring act Cirque Du Soleil is bringing one of its latest productions, "OVO" to the Tucson Arena, 260 S. Church Ave., Thursday-Sunday.
From the Cirque website:
OVO, meaning “egg” in Portuguese, is a headlong rush into a colorful ecosystem teeming with life, where insects work, eat, crawl, flutter, play, fight and look for love in a non-stop riot of energy and movement.
When a mysterious egg appears in their midst, the insects are awestruck and intensely curious about this iconic object that represents the enigma and cycles of their lives. It is love at first sight when a gawky, quirky insect arrives in this bustling community and a fabulous ladybug catches his eye – and the feeling is mutual.
The cast of OVO is comprised of 50 performing artists from 12 countries specializing in many acrobatic acts. One highlight of OVO is the stunning Flying Act in which a group of scarabs soar high above the stage, from both edges to the middle landing on a platform.
Tickets can be purchased through the site.
How Sweet It Was, the thrift shop that recently moved from North Fourth Avenue to 424 E. Sixth St. (photo above is from the old shop location), is hosting a pop-up shop from Thursday-Sunday, celebrating all things Aloha with Honolulu's Barrio Vintage.
According to the Facebook event page, the shop will feature "Vintage aloha attire, deadstock JAMS for the boys, and whatever other vibrant, fun pieces from thier amazing shop they decide to bring."
DJ Carl Hanni will be spinning at the opening reception from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Thursday.
Many of Tucson’s favorite breweries, including Thunder Canyon, Dragoon and 1912, will be at Rillito Park this Saturday participating in the second annual Baja Beer Festival from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
More than 50 breweries will be pouring 200 different beers as tastings at the event, which will benefit the Arizona Craft Brewers Guild as well as Northwest Firefighters Charities.
Among the craft options: Specialty beers made by breweries that have teamed up with firefighters, made exclusively for the Baja Beer fest. The collaborations will be judged at the festival by a panel of celebrity and home-brewer judges, according to organizers.
Local food trucks and vendors providing the eats include American Flying Buffalo, BurgerRito and Haus of Brats.
For $60, VIP guests can come into the event at 4 p.m. (an hour early) with 25 tasting tickets, sit in a VIP area with a private restroom, and will receive a food voucher and VIP bandana.
General admission is $40 and includes 20 tasting tickets. One ticket will get you a 4-ounce beer tasting.
Tickets can be purchased at bajabeerfestival.com
Jazz double bassist Charles Mingus was only a baby when his family moved him from the Nogales area, but that hasn't stopped the border town from claiming him as one of their own.
On Saturday, organizers will hold the Ninth annual Charles Mingus Hometown Jazz Festival in honor of what would have been Mingus' 95th birthday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Charles Mingus Memorial Park, 10 W. Western Ave.
The event is free and will feature Brandon Wright, who performs with the Mingus Big Band out of New York City and Latin Jazz Nonet from Tucson. Jazz bands from Rio Rico and Nogales high schools will open.
Latin Jazz Nonet will head to Nogales, Sonora, after the event to perform at the town's annual Tequila Festival from 7 p.m. to 8:30.
More info on the Facebook event page.
Kief-Joshua Vineyards in Elgin kicks off the Southern Arizona wine season with its sixth annual Southeast Arizona Wine Growers Festival this weekend.
Call it a precursor to the annual regional wine festival planned in Wilcox next month.
Eighteen Arizona wineries will show off their latest vintages and award-winning wines from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, April 22 and 23, at Kief-Joshua Vineyards. There’s also a professional chili cookoff with cooks coming from as far as Texas for a chance to place in the nationally recognized challenge hosted by the Chili Appreciation Society International. Proceeds benefit the Mountain Empire Rotary Club.
Here’s what you need to know about the festival:
When: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 22, and Sunday, April 23.
Where: Kief-Joshua Vineyards, 370 Elgin Road, Elgin.
Cost: $25 single day, $40 weekend through eventbrite.com; $30 a day at the door.
Participating wineries: Kief-Joshua Vineyards, Alcantara Winery and Vineyard, Keeling Schaefer Vineyards, Arizona Stronghold, Lightning Ridge Cellars, Page Springs Cellars, Zarpara Vineyard and Winery, Callaghan Vineyards, Passion Cellars, AZ Hops and Vines, Burning Tree, SuVino Winery, Pillsbury Wines, Village of Elgin Winery, Golden Rule Vineyards, Sonoita Vineyards, Coronado Vineyards and Carlson Creek Vineyard.
Entertainment lineup:
- Saturday: 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Bisbee’s Cat Daddy; 2 to 5 p.m., Professor James and Dr. T.
- Sunday: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Phoenix’s Top Dead Center Grateful Dead Tribute Band; 2 to 5, “The Voice” contestant Blaine Long.
- Weather forecast: Sunny with highs in the mid-80s.
Part of this weekend’s festivities, which also feature food vendors on-site, tips its hat to the 33rd anniversary of the Sonoita-Elgin region’s designation as an American Viticulture Area. The Sonoita/Elgin Wine Growing Region is among the oldest federally recognized viticulture areas in the United States, according to festival organizer Keif Manning.
- The Willcox Wine Country Festival spring edition will feature 60 wines from 16 Arizona vineyards on May 20-21 at the historic Railroad Park in downtown Willcox. Admission is free; tasting glasses and tickets are $20 to $25. Visit willcoxwines.com for details.
- Cathalena E. Burch
Tucson muralist Joe Pagac and videographer Arielle Alelunas are getting married Saturday afternoon.
It’ll be a simple affair with about 120 of their closest friends and family somewhere near Sabino Canyon, followed by a taco-bar dinner catered by a local Mexican restaurant.
But the reception? Not so simple.
They’ve invited Tucson — all of Tucson.
“Even if people don’t know us, it will still be fun to dress up and come down for all the fun stuff without the boring stuff,” the happy groom-in-waiting said last week after he and Alelunas put out a public invite for their Hotel Congress “Happily Ever After Party.”
No need to bring a gift, and you don’t even have to know the happy couple. But more likely than not you are familiar with them in passing if you drive past the Rialto Theatre where Pagac’s handiwork graces the side of the historic venue. He’s the artist who paints brilliant murals of artists set to play the Rialto. The latest mural: The invitation to the reception.
The reception is expected to start at 9 p.m., soon after the wedding party, riding atop an English-style double-decker party bus, arrives flanked by Flam Chen performers and Brazilian-style drummers from the Tucson drumming ensemble Sol Axé.
Admission is $3 at the door. DJs will perform on the patio and in the lobby, and everyone is invited to toast the happy couple with champagne. The bride will toss her bouquet, and the groom will perform the ceremonial flinging of the garter as part of the festivities.
This is not exactly the wedding reception Alelunas imagined when she envisioned her wedding day. It’s better.
“I’ve always loved doing things outside of the box, but I never imagined I would meet a man who would go for it,” said Alelunas, 31.
The Pagac-Alelunas relationship has been one big outside-the-box love story, starting with how they met. Pagac, who also dabbles in party planning at local nightclubs, saw a photo of Alelunas from one of those parties. He was instantly smitten, but soon learned she had a boyfriend.
Fast-forward a couple months: Alelunas stumbled across Pagac’s posting on the free online dating website OK Cupid.
She reached out to him: “Hey, you’re a man about town. What are you doing on a site like this?”
“I’m looking for the right girl,” the 36-year-old Tucson native responded.
They met, started dating and became inseparable.
Pagac said he knew she was the one for him after the couple took a 40-day bike trip late last summer along the U.S.-Canada border.
They biked and camped, and when they returned to Tucson, they still liked each other.
“We got along the whole time,” he recalled. “I thought if we could do this, we can make a life together.”
Last November, the day after they rode in the Tour de Tucson, the couple hiked up Pusch Peak. At the top, he lit a flare, and a handful of their family and friends who had secretly conspired with Pagac, including Alelunas’s twin sister, Lena from Texas, lit fireworks below. As they exploded, he popped the question.
She said yes.
Pagac, whose parties often center on themed dress-ups, hopes to see a sea of women — and men if they so choose — donning wedding dresses for the occasion. But you can also come as you are; no one will be turned away.
“I’m just envisioning that it’s going to be a big group of our friends and family and then a whole lot of people who will show up and not realize it’s a wedding party, and they’ll be surprised,” Alelunas said.
Pagac said he read a survey once that showed that people who spend a lot of money on their weddings don’t stay married as long as folks who take a more frugal route. He and Alelunas are spending just under $6,000, which covers everything from the clothes and rings to renting the wedding hall for the taco-bar buffet.
He said he believes that a key to marital success starts at the reception: The more folks coming out to support a couple, the better the odds of success.
Which goes a long way in explaining why he invited all of Tucson to the special day.
— Cathalena E. Burch
If you go
What: The Happily Ever Afterparty.
When: 9 p.m. Saturday, April 22.
Where: Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress St.
Cost: $3, which includes champagne toast.
Also at Congress on Saturday: Mexico-bred Jenny and the Mexicats perform their fusion of jazz, rockabilly, folk, flamenco, reggae, veracruzano, country and cumbia on the plaza stage at 7 p.m. Tickets are $8 through ticketfly.com
The owners of Menlo Home & Garden, 914 W. Congress St., an antique and vintage shop west of Mercado San Agustín, is kicking off a series of free lectures on Saturday that will bring in local experts to talk about specific types of items, their history and how to identify them at thrift stores and estate sales.
This Saturday's topic: Early American pattern glass, starting at 2 p.m.
Calling ahead is recommended as space is limited. 447-0584
The University of Arizona will celebrate Earth Day and the 10th anniversary of UA research at Biosphere 2 on Saturday with a day of activities that include hermit crab releases every half hour at the Biosphere ocean, and a sunset concert by Calexico.
Biosphere 2, 32540 S. Biosphere Road in Oracle, about 30 minutes outside Tucson, is adding to its regular tour events special lectures and panel discussions on the future of the Earth, energy, water and food; beach and rainforest tours; and groundbreaking for a vertical farm complex.
The research center also will include a focus on Tucson as the first UNESCO City of Gastronomy. Tucson-based chefs, growers, producers, distillers, ranchers, innovators and advocates will be set up in the main tent on the Biosphere 2 lawn.
More like this...
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