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Attractions, Music, Arts, Sports, Outdoors, Night Life in Greater Phoenix

By Judy Hedding, About.com Guide

If you can't find something to do in the metro Phoenix area, then you haven't looked past your front door! Educational experiences, outdoor adventures, spectator sports, performing arts, visual arts, culinary delights, family entertainment -- we've got it all in Greater Phoenix.

Annual Festivals & Events
Celebrate the Holidays
Movie Theaters
Pools, Amusement Parks, Water Parks
Gardens and Zoos
Go to the Game: Professional Sports
Take a Behind-the-Scenes Tour
Museums

Theatre, Music & Dance
Art Festivals and Events
Entertaining Visitors (and Your Family)
Find a Golf Course
Dining Out
Night Life / Night Clubs
Home and Garden Shows, Trade Shows
Popular Day Trips & Weekend Getaways

Annual Festivals & Events

These are family friendly events (unless otherwise noted) that are held every year in the Greater Phoenix area. Aside from the calendar, you'll also find details here about the most popular events in the Valley of the Sun.

Celebrate the Holidays

Holidays are often time for families and fun. Many of the communities in Greater Phoenix have holiday celebrations throughout the year.

Movie Theaters

With hundreds of screens in the Greater Phoenix area, there's sure to be several within a short distance of where you live or where you are visiting.

Pools, Amusement Parks, Water Parks

We don't have Disneyland or Six Flags in Arizona, but we do have some places where kids (and adults) can swim, play games and enjoy rides all day long.

Gardens and Zoos

For about eight months of the year, Phoenix is a great place to enjoy the outdoors. The Sonora desert's flora and fauna are very different from what you might find elsewhere in the country!

Go to the Game: Professional Sports

Phoenix has become a major sports town in the past 25 years, and not many professional leagues are missing from the area. All year long there's some team or professional athletes playing something!

Take a Behind-the-Scenes Tour

There are places around town where you can take a behind-the-scenes tour. Some are free and some are not, but they all give you a different perspective about what happens there.

Museums

Any kind of museum you could be looking for--and some that you'd never think of--can be found in the Greater Phoenix area.

Theatre, Music & Dance

Whether you are interested in opera, heavy metal, youth theater, ballet, salsa or jazz, there's something for everyone when it comes to musical and theatrical entertainment in the Valley of the Sun.

Art Festivals and Events

People travel to Phoenix and Scottsdale from all over the country to attend art festivals and enjoy the fine art galleries.

Entertaining Visitors (and Your Family)

These ideas for things to do when friends and family visit will work at any time of the year. During the winter months, however, you'll find that friends and family have a tendency to visit. Of course, they are here to see you, but it doesn't hurt that they can escape their snowy state to enjoy Arizona.

Find a Golf Course

If you are a golfer, you've come to the right place. There are many public gold courses in the Phoenix area, for all levels of golfers and all thicknesses of wallets.

Dining Out

There's no lack of options when it comes to eating out in Greater Phoenix. Cheap restaurants, expensive restaurants, chain restaurants, independent restaurants, ethnic restaurants--you name, you'll find it here.

Night Life / Night Clubs

You've had a busy day of fun in Phoenix, and a fine meal at a local restaurant. It's time to go home and go to bed, right? Wrong!

Home and Garden Shows, Trade Shows

If your idea of a good time is visiting hundreds of booths of companies selling their wares, than the Greater Phoenix area is the place for you! We have great trade show venues here, so naturally there are lots of trade shows. The Home and garden Shows are especially popular.

Popular Day Trips & Weekend Getaways

There are a variety of fascinating day trips and fun places to visit that are just a couple of hours away. Consider some of these day trips and weekend getaways when you are looking for a change of pace.

Phoenix