|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
METROPOLITAN TUCSON CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU
Kimberly Schmitz
Director of Communications & PR
kschmitz@visitTucson.org
800.638.8350
2008 Holiday Happenings in Tucson
When Thanksgiving dinner is done, Tucson's holiday season officially heats up with holiday-themed music, arts, food, shopping, and family fun. This year, celebrate the holidays with an Old Pueblo twist - blooming desert gardens, mouthwatering Mexican cuisine, brilliant luminaria, quirky dance and theatre troupes, and much more.
One of Tucson's top holiday traditions is to take a walk or drive through the Winterhaven Festival of Lights. The central Tucson neighborhood of Winterhaven adorns itself each holiday season with bright, lavish, unique lights and décor. For a simple canned food donation to the Tucson Community Food Bank, visitors can walk or drive through the festive scene free of charge. This year's festival will include a bit more "green" in its color palate by teaming up with Tucson Electric Power to use energy-efficient LED lights, which use less energy and release less carbon dioxide into the air. Walkers can enjoy the festival every night (Dec. 13-27), and drivers can roll through on Dec. 16, 18 and 27 only. For more information, visit http://www.winterhavenfestival.org/ or call 520-881-4483.
On December 6, get into the swing of the season with a belt-busting good time at the fourth annual Tucson Tamal and Heritage Festival. The Tamal festival - presented by Sol Casinos - features a tamale-making contest, live music and entertainment, great local food and plenty of opportunities to learn about Tucson's Hispanic and Native American heritage. For more information, visit http://www.casinodelsol.com/ or call (520) 838-6700.
For a true taste of Tucson's beautiful botany - which stays green and lush year-round - be sure to experience Holiday Nights at Tohono Chul Park. Celebrate the Old Pueblo's clear weather and flourishing greenery on weekends at Tohono Chul Park, which was recently named one of the top 10 botanical gardens in the world by Travel & Leisure magazine. Translated from the Tohono O'odham language, Tohono Chul means, "Desert Corner." This 49-acre desert preserve is a leading Southwest center of desert nature, arts and culture. Every holiday season, this hidden Tucson treasure glows with a half-million lights and luminaria, cookies and hot cider, live music, and an ornament sale. Nov 28 & 29, and Dec. 5 & 6. For more information, visit http://www.tohonochulpark.org/ or call 520-742-6455.
One of Tucson's top choirs - The Sons of Orpheus choir - collaborates with the Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus each year to perform its annual Christmas at San Xavier concert at the historic Mission San Xavier del Bac. This year's concert will be the 12th annual production to benefit the restoration and preservation of the Mission, known as "The White Dove of the Desert." Located nine miles south of Tucson in the Santa Cruz Valley on the Tohono O'odham Reservation, the Mission is acclaimed as the finest example of mission architecture in the United States. San Xavier was built by the famed Jesuit missionary and explorer Father Eusebio Francisco Kino, who first visited Bac - "place where the water appears" - in 1692. The foundation for the first Bac church, located two miles north of the present Mission, was laid in 1700. The present church - an active parish - was built from 1783-1797, and is open every day of the year, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit http://www.sanxaviermission.org/ and http://www.sonsoforpheus.org/ or call 520-294-2624.
Every December, Tucson opens the doors to its annual downtown Mexican Christmas market - Feria Navidena - where shoppers can discover holiday figurines, unique nativity scenes and holiday décor. For the entire month, Feria Navidena shoppers can enjoy holiday events that include visits from Pancho Claus, "Las Posadas," (a reenactment of the Christmas story), and much more. Guests can enjoy browsing holiday decorations while learning about Tucson's unique Mexican Christmas traditions and sampling food from different Hispanic communities. For more information, call (520) 629-9536.
Zoo Lights at Reid Park Zoo features twinkling lights, jingle bells, falling "snow," Santa Claus and holiday décor, plus music and refreshments after dusk on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights from Dec. 5 - 21. Tucson's zoo puts up thousands of lights for its nighttime holiday showcase, from 6 - 8 p.m. The whole family can grab a cup of hot cocoa and explore the zoo after dark. Reid Park Zoo boasts more than 400 animals, from elephants and rhinos to lions and polar bears. With regions of the park devoted to South American, African and Asian animals, Reid Park Zoo allows adults and children alike to view and learn about a wide variety of exotic animals, such as jaguars, anteaters, gibbons, zebras and giraffes. For more information, visit http://www.tucsonzoo.org/ or call 520-881-4753.
Tucson's 14th annual Downtown Parade of Lights will kick off the holiday season in grand style, featuring music, performing groups, floats and much more, all decked out in holiday lights. The Downtown Tucson Partnership will host this free-admission, all-ages event, with festivities beginning at Armory Park at 4 p.m., and the parade at 6 p.m. http://www.downtowntucson.org/ or call 520-547-3338.
For the 13th holiday season in a row, Borderlands Theater presents a uniquely Tucson nativity story - A Tucson Pastorela. This fun take on the nativity features shepherds, sheep, and a dog on a magical journey to Bethlehem, led by the shining estrella (star) and accompanied by Christmas carols in Spanish and English. "Pastorela" is great family fun and includes piñatas for the kids. Dec. 11-21, at downtown's Leo Rich Theatre. http://www.borderlandstheater.org/ or call 520-882-7406.
The 22nd annual Luminaria Nights at Tucson Botanical Gardens will light up Tucson's nights with more than 2,000 lights. Tucked away in the heart of Midtown Tucson, the Botanical Gardens is a 5-acre oasis of natural beauty, inspiration and education about the natural desert. The Gardens feature 16 diversely themed areas, including the Herb Garden, the Xeriscape Harden, the Butterfly Garden, the Backyard Bird Garden and more, located on the historic 1920s property of Tucson's Porter Family. This year's Luminaria Nights will include hot cider, holiday music and festive local foods. Dec. 12-14, from 5:30 - 8 p.m. Visit http://www.tucsonbotanical.org/ or call 520-326-9686 for more information.
An old holiday favorite gets a new twist in Tucson Regional Ballet's production of A Southwest Nutcracker. With live musical accompaniment by the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, TRB stages a production that puts a Tucson spin on the traditional 1880s ballet, featuring coyotes, cavalry and rattlesnakes. Staged in downtown's Tucson Music Hall, TRB's yearly production cultivates the talents of young Southern Arizona dancers to bring new life to this longstanding holiday ballet. Nov. 29 & 30, at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. http://www.tucsonregionalballet.org/ or call 520-886-1222.
The MTCVB is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the Tucson area as a convention, visitor and film production destination. It is financially supported by the City of Tucson, Pima County, the Town of Oro Valley and its nearly 800 individual and business members.
Visit the MTCVB website at http://www.visittucson.org/ or call 1.800.638.8350 for further information.
###
|
