Scottsdale Blog - Things to do in Scottsdale, Arizona » Things To Do

Celebrate the 28th Annual Orme Dam

Mitchell Tay — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:57:01 +0000

This particularly special celebration for the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation prevented the federal government from building the Orme Dam back in the 1970s. This dam would have been built roughly 25 miles northeast of Phoenix on the Fort McDowell Indian Reservation. If the dam was built, more than half of the reservation would have been flooded along with other historical sites. It took a long 10 years of struggle, protest, and pleading to the government before finally canceling the project. Because of this the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation celebrates its annual Orme Dam Victory Days.

It takes place this weekend November 20 – 22, 2009 at the Fort McDowell Casino.
Activities include a parade, rodeo, performances and more.

Please check website for full schedule of events at http://www.ftmcdowell.org

Come celebrate with the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation Orme Dam Victory Days!

Upcoming Scottsdale Holiday Events 2009

Josh Kenzer — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:27:22 +0000

RAILROAD PARK’S HOLIDAY LIGHTS PROGRAM BEGINS DEC. 11

More than 100,000 lights will adorn trees and displays during McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park’s Holiday Lights event this season. Festivities kick off at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 11 with a tree lighting, entertainment and a visit from . . . Santa! Holiday lights runs from 6:30 to 9 p.m. through Saturday, Jan. 2, excluding Dec. 24, 25 and 31. Santa will be there nightly through Dec. 23. If you would like more information, call (480) 312-2312.

FIREWORKS, SANTA ALL PART OF HOLIDAY HARMONY DEC. 5

Wear your mittens and scarves for Scottsdale’s annual Holiday Harmony. This free, “snowy,” family event will be from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5, at Civic Center Mall, 7380 E. Second St. There will be arts and crafts, entertainment, games, and a visit with Santa! Photos with Santa will be available for $2 with the proceeds benefiting the Scottsdale International Club dance group. A tree-lighting ceremony will be at 6:20 p.m. and the event will be capped off with a fireworks display. For more information, call (480) 312-0217

More Scottsdale Holiday Events

Scottsdale Celebrates “New Moon” Mania

Whitney Willis — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:11:16 +0000

As the highly anticipated “Twilight” movie sequel “New Moon” prepares to debut Nov. 20, Scottsdale resorts make sure the mania is well-celebrated. Stephenie Meyer, author of the extraordinarily popular vampire love saga, interviewed with Oprah at The Boulders Resort & Golden Door Spa on Saturday, Nov. 7. The interview, which was conducted in one of the resort’s luxury villa retreats, is set to air today.

“I am so pleased and amazed and thrilled with what Chris Weitz has done with “New Moon” that I want to talk about it, and to show my support for him. And since I’m only doing one interview, better make it big. Really big,” said Meyer of her recent interview at The Boulders Resort.

To keep the “New Moon” movie craze alive, The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa is celebrating with Girl’s Night Out. Whether guests are looking for a weekend getaway or just a night out with the girls, on Friday, Nov. 20 the Scottsdale resort is offering a weekend inspired by the blockbuster movie. Sip specialty themed cocktails, nosh on hors d’oeuvres and take in a private screening of the latest movie in series. And take home a special “Vampire-Chic” gift bag to complete the night. Tickets are available for $75 per person. Visit www.kierlandresort.com for additional information.

Calling All Classic Car Lovers!

Kelly Tope — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:05:44 +0000

Westworld of Scottsdale presents Goodguy’s 12th Annual Southwest Hot Rod & Custom Car National. This show features over 3,000 hot rods, custom cars, muscle cars & trick trucks thru ‘72. These cars will all be showcased November 20-22 at WestWorld of Scottsdale.

This giant outdoor car show will also include a swap meet, vendor & manufacturer exhibits and more. With fun for the whole family like a Model Car Show and free model make and take, come out and enjoy gorgeous cars and beautiful weather.

Ticket prices start at $17 for adult tickets and $6 for children (ages7-12). For more detailed information on times, parking and tickets purchases please visit www.southwestnats.com or call 925-838-9876.

Green Street Scottsdale is Just Around the Corner!

Kelly Tope — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:55:11 +0000

Part celebration, part art exhibit, part music festival, and all environmentally friendly, Green Street Scottsdale will celebrate the city’s sustainability efforts on Nov. 12. The free event will kick off with a special ArtWalk in the Scottsdale Arts District at 7 p.m. along Main Street and Marshall Way in downtown Scottsdale. The event continues at the SouthBridge and Scottsdale Waterfront districts with a live Latin Jazz concert, organic beer tastings, eco-friendly public art installations and interactive exhibits that highlight Scottsdale’s green projects.

The Green Street Scottsdale ArtWalk will feature artist demonstrations with recycled and reusable materials and live music from local bands. Meanwhile, the SouthBridge and Scottsdale Waterfront areas are set to feature interactive exhibits highlighting the city’s most dynamic sustainability initiatives.

Green Street Scottsdale also will throw some Latin flavor into the eco-friendly mix. The Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts’ free Latin Jazz concert will be at Southbridge and all event participants can “live la vida Locavore” while they enjoy specialty cuisine made with local and organic ingredients from a Scottsdale vendor. An outdoor beer garden on the Marshall Way Bridge will provide samples of some of the world’s tastiest organic brews, courtesy of DRAFT Magazine.

Transportation options will be available to those who take the Valley Metro Light Rail to the Priest and Washington station in Phoenix. From there, the free and eco-friendly Scottsdale Trolley (they run on biodiesel) will pick up attendees to take them to downtown Scottsdale. The trolley will run from 5 to 11 p.m., and there also will be plenty of hybrid taxis from Discount Cab for guests wishing to extend the festivities later into the night.

For more information, maps, featured artists, demonstrators and participating galleries, visit www.greenstreetscottsdale.com. With all this good, clean, green fun, who could resist?

Wearable ArtWalk and Wearable Runway Fashion Show

Josh Kenzer — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:26:43 +0000

Scottsdale Fashion Week has confirmed a Wearable ArtWalk gallery line up that spotlights live body painted models, botanical fashions, fashion hounds, couture jewelry collections, and wearable fiber art.

The celebration kicks off on SouthBridge with the Wearable ArtWalk Opening Presentation and Preview Runway Fashion Show from 6-7p.m. where models will showcase exclusive designs on an outdoor runway.

The show will open with Calvin Charles Gallery’s ‘Living Sculpture’ by Deborah Paswaters who will start the runway action with her live body painted models. Ambiance Fleur Eclectics, exhibiting at Occasions! By Design, will close the show with its collection of live botanicals presented as wearable art on fashion models.

Participating Wearable ArtWalk Galleries

Babette | 7051 E 5th Ave
Wilde Meyer Gallery | 4142 N Marshall Way
Cornelis Hollander Designs | 4151 N Marshall Way
Galina Couture | 4151 N Marshall Way
Naked Horse | 4151 N Marshall Way
Calvin Charles | 4201 N Marshall Way
Jewelry by Gauthier | 4211 N Marshall Way
Palavela Home | 4222 N Marshall Way
Gallery Andrea | 7019 E Main St
Xanadu | 7039 E Main St
Occasions! By Design | 7077 E Main Street
Colores | 7100 N. Main Street

Little Black Dress Wines has created a Wearable ArtWalk Passport that will be available at the SouthBridge presentation and the Wearable ArtWalk galleries. Guests are encouraged to wear their own ‘little black dress’ to the event and collect stamps from Wearable galleries for the chance to win two VIP tickets to Scottsdale Fashion Week on November 6 and 7.

The Wearable ArtWalk is free and takes place from 7-9 p.m. in various galleries on Main Street, Marshall Way and Stetson Avenue in downtown Scottsdale. Full details about gallery shows are at www.scottsdalefashionweek.com/artwalk.asp.

Wearable ArtWalk’s musical entertainment begins at 7 pm and includes pop-rock faves Jay & Ash at the Party Before ArtWalk (near the Stetson fashion stage), plus neoclassical pianist Elijah Bossenbroek, the flute sounds of Flavio, and solo singer-songwriter showcase Soliloquies featuring Jeordie and Teneia Sanders.

Throughout the night ArtWalkers will enjoy complimentary samples from the Little Black Dress Wines, Bacon Restaurant, Crudo Café, and Icelandic Glacial Water.

The 3rd annual event is open to the public and is presented by the Scottsdale Gallery Association in conjunction with the City of Scottsdale. Additional sponsors include Little Black Dress Wines, ShowUp.com, and the Scottsdale Downtowner.

Free parking and trolley or carriage rides are available at all corners of the Arts District. For information about future ArtWalk events visit www.ScottsdaleGalleries.com.

The Bigger and Better Scottsdale Fashion Square

Mitchell Tay — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:03:23 +0000

For those who love shopping Scottsdale Fashion Square is the mall just for that. The mall recently added a new 100,000 square foot extension to the already ginormous mall, now totalling 1.9 million square feet of retail space. If you’re not aware, Fashion Square is the the largest mall in the southwest so make sure to wear your comfortable shoes handy if shopping for awhile. In the newly expanded wing you’ll find the widely-known Barney’s New York anchored at the end of the mall, with other popular stores such as, Forever 21, H&M, Banana Republic, and J. Crew adjacent to it. While the majority of the major stores have already opened there are still a handful of stores waiting to make their debut. And if you love to eat be sure to check out the two restaurants that opened up in the expansion: Modern Ssteak and Marcella’s Italian Kitchen.

Modern Steak is not your typical steakhouse ambiance. It’s light and youthful with very elegant decor, yet still intimate. My colleague, Melissa, raved about the short rib sandwich and peanut butter cup dessert which she said tasted like “deliciousness.” Modern Steak also has a convenient walk-up window for a quick bite on the run called Modern Burger. It has a fairly simple menu with very reasonable prices. Marcella’s Italian Kitchen is also a moderately priced restaurant that’s not too casual or too fancy. My other colleague, Sara, really enjoyed the restaurant’s lunch specials.

A couple other items to make note of is the new underground parking and valet parking options for convenient access to the mall.

Regardless if you’re just visiting Scottsdale or a local, make sure you have enough hours set aside if you love to shop.

Celebrate Spooky Scottsdale Events this Halloween

Whitney Willis — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:45:23 +0000

With Halloween less than a week away, it’s time to start looking at all of the spooktacular events that Scottsdale has to offer.

Start out the Halloween season by visiting the Desert Botanical Garden’s 8^th annual Great Pumpkin Festival Oct. 22-Oct. 25 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day. Experience a weekend festival that brings the true feel of autumn to the desert. The Great Pumpkin Festival comes to life with pumpkins, hayrides, country-western entertainment and carnival games. Don’t miss the hay bale maze and the Arizona Big Train Operators’ interactive exhibit. All activities are included with Garden admission. Prices are $15 for adults, $13.50 for seniors, $7.50 for students ages 13-18 with proper I.D., $5 for children ages three to 12 and children three and under are free.

Halloween Day festivities begin 10 a.m. and continue through 5:30 p.m. as Adelante Gallery at el Pedregal celebrates the Dia De Los Muertos holiday featuring Day of the Dead Art and Imagery by four local artists and festive live music by Louis Castro on the courtyard stage. View unique, hand-crafted works of art such as paintings, custom-made sugar skulls and jewelry showing the holiday’s famous skeletons. Specialty margaritas will be available in addition to homemade “Pan de Muertos” (Day of the Dead Bread) by Chef Christine Wieland. Admission is free.

And to finish off your spooky night, attend The Fairmont Scottsdale’s Haunted Hotel Halloween Ball at Stone Rose Lounge. Starting at 9 p.m. on Oct. 31 Scottsdale’s most sophisticated Halloween event begins featuring music, classic cocktails, celebrity guests and the Valley’s best costume contest with a variety of cash and prizes. The Haunted Hotel Halloween Ball in partnership with 944 Magazine offers a lavish twist on classic Halloween festivities with a decadent “Haunted Hotel” theme hosted by one of Scottsdale’s hottest outdoor nightlife destinations. Fortunetellers and tarot card readers will entertain partygoers throughout the evening along with a surprise live act by performance artists, and the best part is – admission is free!

Calling All Fashionistas; It’s Time to Celebrate Scottsdale Fashion Week

Kelly Tope — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:35:40 +0000

Scottsdale Fashion Week is back for another year of fabulous fashion! This show brings all of the latest fashions to the runway and the hottest celebrities to the front row. This super hip event draws in fashionistas and up and coming designers in large amounts.

Scottsdale’s Fashion Week will take place November 5 – 7 in the super chic setting of downtown Scottsdale. This year brings the return of the famed Wearable ArtWalk, where models will showcase notable one-of-a-kind pieces of ‘art-to-wear’ clothing and jewelry. This part of the event is completely free and takes place in various galleries throughout the Scottsdale Arts District.

The main event will be the runway shows taking place Friday and Saturday evenings on two different runways in the Southbridge/Waterfront area of downtown. Banana Republic, kate spade, Barneys New York, Chinese designer Zhao Bandi and Eva Franco will take center stage on these runways. And be sure to check out iuk, iuk on the Southbridge Runway Friday evening. This designer was hand selected from a design competition in partnership with the nearby Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art.

In total Scottsdale Fashion Week will host over two-dozen runway shows. The Main Runway will showcase leading fashion designers and will be located at the Scottsdale Waterfront on Marshall Way south of Camelback Road. The outdoor SouthBridge Runway will feature up-and-coming designers and will be located across the Arizona Canal.

Tickets for these events range from $25 for general admission and $200 to be treated like VIP. For further information on tickets, shows, locations and times visit www.scottsdalefashionweek.com

Celebrity Chefs Top Off Crave Culinary Experience

Whitney Willis — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:08:34 +0000

The Southwest’s premier gastronomic event, Crave Arizona, returns to downtown Scottsdale Oct. 22-24 featuring 40 restaurants, 200 wineries, classes and celebrity sightings. Get a taste from restaurants like Café Zuzu, Olive & Ivy, Petite Maison and Digestif with their exciting array of menu options. This year Crave brings more attitude, bigger names, wider offerings and an expanded reach to celebrate Scottsdale’s best-of-the-best food choices. What’s exciting about this year is all the attending celebrity chefs. BRAVO’s Top Chefs Stephanie Izard and Sam Talbot, along with Food & Wine magazine’s Best New Chefs Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo of Animal in Los Angeles are slated to attend. These talents will be celebrating the weekend with other top chefs in the Valley like Tracy Demspey, Travis Watson and Douglas Rodriguez.

Crave Arizona takes place at the SouthBridge district in downtown Scottsdale. Tickets are available at www.cravearizona.com or by calling (480) 945-0344.