All About Tucson
Guide Sections
Cultural life in Tucson, by and large, reflects the ethnic and social diversity of the city, ranging from the conservative retirement communities at the outskirts to the progressive artist community downtown. To find out what's happening in the arts and who's coming to town, read the entertainment pages of the Arizona Daily Star and the Tucson Citizen, especially the "Caliente" section in the Friday edition of the Star, or grab a free copy of the Tucson Weekly.
Performing Arts
Thanks to continuous cultural sponsorship, Tucson has managed to support both an opera and a symphony orchestra for several decades now without without interruption. Both the Arizona Opera and the Tucson Symphony Orchestra usually perform at the Tucson Convention Center Music Hall, the main venue for high culture downtown.
If you are culturally more in tune with the progressive camp, check out the Borderlands Theatre or the Invisible Theatre for avant garde political productions and light comedy. For laughs, take yourself and your family to the Gaslight Theatre, Tucson's only dinner theater, where you can munch on sandwiches and ice cream cones while watching Western dramas with lots of music, slapstick and practical jokes.
Nightlife
The variety of Tucson nightlife defies stereotypes about the kind of entertainment a Western town has to offer. In fact, most clubs offer alternative rock instead of country and western music. The blues is very much alive in Tucson, with local acts taking turns at the Boondocks Lounge, Berky's Bar, Margarita Bay and various other clubs. Check weekly listings in the papers for details. Venues for live jazz are rarer; try the Cafe Sweetwater on 4th Avenue on Friday and Saturday nights, or the Cascade Lounge at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort for light dinner jazz on Thursday to Sunday afternoons.
While the western section of downtown is dominated by the temples of high art, the eastern part belongs to the "dark" forces of alternative rock, centered around the legendary Club Congress on the ground floor of the equally famous Hotel Congress. It's featured as "The World's Darkest Nightclub," and once you've stepped inside, you will see why it deserves that title (if you can see anything at all). Right across the street from the club there is the Rialto Theatre (The), a vaudeville theater that has been restored to its glorious old past, now featuring big names in blues and rock from out of own.
For the quintessential experience in Mexican music, go to El Mariachi on Drachman Street and check out the restaurant's house band, International Mariachi America. There are, of course, various places for country and western, but for the most authentic brand, you'll have to drive to the out-of-the way Li'l Abner's Steakhouse on a Friday or Saturday night. If you enjoy country dancing, join the up to 3,000 patrons crowding into the dance floor at the New West on Ina Road, an establishment which frequently features famous country and western acts such as Asleep at the Wheel.
Museums and Galleries
Tucson's art scene is very much alive and thriving, particularly on the gallery and studio level. There are plenty of museums and galleries displaying the entire range of artistic styles from realistic paintings of Southwestern scenes to multimedia installations. Although it is still a mainstay of traditional Western art, visitors should be aware that Tucson is slowly becoming a driving force in cutting-edge international contemporary practice, with progressives such as the Dinnerware Contemporary Art Gallery and Elizabeth Cherry Contemporary Art spearheading the movement.
The Tucson Museum of Art, the main exhibitor of contemporary art in the city for more than forty years, has recently been expanded to include both Western Art and contemporary experimental works, as well as a gallery of pre-Columbian pieces. A little further to the east, the University of Arizona Museum of Art offers a good sampling of famous 20th-century sculpture and a collection of Renaissance art. The Center for Creative Photography across the street houses one of the best collections of photographs in the world, including the work of renowned photographer Ansel Adams. Its archives, which are open to the public, contain the works of hundreds of other first-rate photographers.
The city's real strengths, however, reside in its science and history museums, particularly the on-campus Arizona State Museum with its splendid displays of Native Southwestern art, and the Arizona Historical Society Museum, which is devoted to the local history of Native Americans, Mexicans and pioneers.
Sports
As a place offering consistently dry and sunny weather throughout the year, Tucson is popular with golfers around the world. Green fees vary from course to course and from season to season, with municipal courses like the Fred Enke Municipal Golf Course offering lower rates than resorts such as the Ventana Canyon Golf Courses in the foothills.
The horse racing season at the recently expanded Rillito Park Racetrack lasts from early February into March, with more races scheduled at the Pima County Fair in April, along with horse shows, gun shows, and various kinds of other diversions. And, of course, no entertainment guide to the Old Pueblo would be complete without the Tucson Rodeo, La Fiesta de los Vaqueros as it is called in Spanish, the largest winter rodeo in the United States. If you're here in late February, you just simply can't ignore it.
Family Friendly
Tucson offers a variety of diversions for kids. Proposing to take them to the zoo is usually a sure bet, and while Reid Park Zoo offers a good variety of assorted international animals, the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is more unique in presenting creatures of the desert in their natural habitats, with spectacular desert views. Another sure winner is a visit to Old Tucson Studios, a Western theme park and movie location surrounded by giant sahuaro cacti, not too far from the Desert Museum west of the city. Cowboy stunts and gunfights are also available in Trail Dust Town, especially during Trail Dust Days; and you don't have to be a kid to enjoy it.
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