Attractions, Music, Arts, Sports, Outdoors, Night Life
By Judy Hedding, About.com Guide to Phoenix
If you can't find something to do in the Greater 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 Theatres
- 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.
- Monthly Event Calendars
- Cactus League - Spring Training Baseball
- Arizona State Fair
- PF Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Marathon
- Maricopa County Fair
- Arizona Renaissance Festival
- Barrett-Jackson Classic Car Auction
- FBR Open PGA Golf Tournament
- Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show
- Arizona Fall League Baseball
- Aloha Festival
- Tempe Festival of the Arts
- Ostrich Festival
- Glendale Chocolate Affaire
- Culinary Festivals
- Luke Days at Luke Air Force Base
- Fiesta Bowl
- Insight Bowl
- Spring Break
- Ironman Triathlon
Celebrate the Holidays
Holidays are often time for families and fun. Many of the communities in Greater Phoenix have holiday celebrations throughout the year.
- Martin Luther King Day
- Valentine's Day
- Mardi Gras
- St. Patrick's Day
- Easter
- Cinco de Mayo
- Mother's Day
- Memorial Day
- Father's Day
- 4th of July
- 9-11 Anniversary
- Halloween
- Thanksgiving
- Christmas/Chanukah/Kwanzaa
- New Year's Eve
Movie Theatres
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.
- Movie Theaters in Phoenix
- Movie Theaters in Scottsdale
- Movie Theaters in Mesa and Gilbert
- Movie Theaters in Tempe and Chandler
- Movie Theaters in Glendale, Peoria, Avondale, Goodyear
- Movie Theaters in Casa Grande
- Discount Movie Theaters and Drive-Ins
- Big Screen Movies and IMAX
- Where To See Foreign Films
- Phoenix Film Festivals
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.
- Public Swimming Pools
- Castles and Coasters
- Enchanted Island Amusement Park
- Phoenix Water Parks
- Amazing Jake's
- Stratum Laser Tag
- Wazee's World Laser Zone
- Jeepers! Amusement Paradise
- Mini Golf Paradise
- Imagination Avenue
- Bowling
- Rawhide Western Town
- Take a Little Train Ride
- Splash Pads & Spray Pads
- More Amusement Parks
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!
- Boyce Thompson Arboretum
- Japanese Friendship Garden
- Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch
- Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Area
- Superstition Farm
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!
- Arizona Diamondbacks Baseball
- Phoenix Suns Basketball
- Arizona Cardinals Football
- Phoenix Coyotes Hockey
- Spring Training Baseball - Cactus League
- Arizona Fall League Baseball
- Arizona Team Mascot Picture Gallery
- Arizona Team Logo Gallery
- FBR Open PGA Golf
- Phoenix LPGA International (formerly Safeway International)
- Tour the PING Golf Factory
- NASCAR at Phoenix International Raceway
- AVP Tour Pro Beach Volleyball
- Phoenix Mercury WNBA Basketball
- Fiesta Bowl Football
- BCS Championship Football
- Insight Bowl Football
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.
- Heard Museum
- Phoenix Art Museum
- Arizona Science Center
- Arizona Challenger Space Center
- Children's Museum of Phoenix
- Deer Valley Rock Art Center
- Mystery Castle
- Bead Museum
- Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West
- Hall of Flame Museum of Firefighting
- More Museums
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.
- Concerts and Shows - Monthly Calendars
- Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre
- Get Discount Tickets at ShowUp
- Buying Tickets Through Ticketmaster in Arizona
- Jazz Clubs
- Hard-To-Find Tickets
- Arizona Opera
- Ballet Arizona
- Phoenix Symphony at Symphony Hall
- Chandler Center for the Arts
- Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
- Del E. Webb Center for the Performing Arts
- Gammage Auditorium at ASU
- Mesa Arts Center
- Tempe Center for the Arts
- Peoria Center for the Performing Arts
- Dodge Theatre
- Jobing.com Arena
- US Airways Center
- Celebrity Theatre
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.
- Scottsdale Art Walk
- First Friday in Phoenix
- Downtown Chandler Art Walk
- Mesa Riverview ArtWalk
- Tempe Festival of the Arts
- Scottsdale Arts Festival
- Arizona Fine Art Expo
- Celebration of Fine Art
- Litchfield Park Fine Art & Culinary Festival
- Native American Arts Festival
- Pueblo Grande Museum Indian Market
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.
- 15 Best Things To Do
- Road Trips
- Activities With Kids
- Activities For People Who Aren't Active or Can't Walk Much
- Activities For Active People
- Factory and Behind-the-Scenes Tours
- Concerts and Shows
- Vacation in Your Own Arizona Backyard
- Free or Cheap Things To Do in Scottsdale
- Things To Do on Christmas Day
- Average Phoenix Holiday Temperatures
- 5 Great Motorcycle Rides in Central 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.
- My Favorite Golf Courses
- Golf Courses To Impress Your Friends
- Best 'Bang For Your Buck' Golf Courses
- Budget/Cheap Golf Courses
- Short/Executive Courses
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.
- Find a Restaurant Near You
- Read My Restaurant Reviews
- Read Visitor Restaurant Reviews
- Submit a Mini-Review of Any Restaurant in Phoenix
- Best Restaurants in Greater Phoenix
- Best Wine Lists
- Culinary Festivals
- Best Sunday Brunches
- Restaurant Coupons and Discounts
- 15 Restaurants Offering Discount Certificates
- Inspection Reports - Which Restaurants Scored the Best
- Vegan and Vegetarian
- Pizza Places / Pizzerias
- Kids Eat Free
- Buffet Restaurants
- Chinese Restaurants
- Greek Restaurants
- 24 Hour Restaurants
- Great Restaurants for Kids
- Ice Cream Parlors
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!
- Hot Night Clubs in Phoenix and Scottsdale
- Sports Bars
- Live Jazz
- Visitors Review Local Night Clubs and Bars
- Great Scottsdale Happy Hours
- Submit a Mini-Review of a Local Night Club or Bar
- Coffee and Live Music
- Local Bands
- Brew Pubs and Irish Pubs
- Arizona Liquor Laws
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.
- Arizona Home & Building Expo
- Arizona Home and Garden Show
- Arizona House Beautiful
- Arizona International Auto Show
- International Sportsmen's Expo
- Kidsfaire
- Maricopa County Home and Landscape Show
- Mens Luxury Toy Expo and Auction
- Metro Design Expo
- Phoenix Home Improvement and Garden Show
- Scottsdale Home and Garden Show
- Southwest Flower and Garden Show
- More Garden and Trade Shows
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.
