City Week: Weekly Picks

Sing with the Saguaros!

AUG. 12

How lucky that we live in the Sonoran Desert! It’s the only place on Earth where Saguaros grow naturally. The Desert Museum invites us to sing about them and their habitat with Mr. Nature and other local musicians. Educator Michelle Miner will have a guest spot. Outdoors, visitors can tour the Cactus Garden, enjoy a local brew and shop for succulents at a plant sale. Kids will love the Packrat Playhouse.

Warden Oasis Theater, Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, 2021 N. Kinney Road, Tucson, 6 to 9 p.m., $29.95, $19.95 for kids, www.desertmuseum.org

Swim With a Mermaid

AUG. 26

Mermaid Odette just loves Hotel McCoy’s saltwater pool. She’s been holding forth there every other Saturday, talking to kids about ocean conservation, creativity and following their dreams. Find her there on Saturday, Aug. 26. She expects to spend the intervening weekend in Bisbee, where in lieu of their annual Return of the Mermaids on Fourth Avenue, Tucson’s mermaid cohort will descend upon Bisbee’s annual Pirate Weekend. It’s high time someone taught those pirates some manners.

Hotel McCoy, 720 W. Silverlake Road, Tucson, free admission, 6 to 8 p.m., www.hotelmccoy.com,

www.themermaidodette.com

Little River Band

AUG. 12

Eagles co-founder Glenn Frey called them “the best singing band in the world.” Through the ’70s and ’80s they regularly topped the charts and earned a mint’s worth of multi-platinum. The sound is the same now even without anyone from the 1975 lineup in the group anymore, but personnel changes have been pretty common throughout their long career. Among their dozens of hits, we are guessing that “Take It Easy on Me” is the one most popular on karaoke night, even among folks otherwise unfamiliar with the band.

Diamond Center, Desert Diamond Sahuarita, 1100 W. Pima Mine Road, Sahuarita, 8 p.m., tickets start at $30, www.ddcaz.com/events

Southeast Arizona Birding Festival

AUG. 9 TO AUG. 13 – Field trips, presentations, events, lectures, a nature expo — it’s like SXSW for bird lovers. All day, every day, shoulder to shoulder with folks whose passion for birding may be even greater than your own, your binoculars may fix on more species here than anywhere else in the Southwest. The fest’s website offers tips on how to prepare, including descriptions of Arizona’s “Specialty Birds” and their habitats.

Headquarters is The Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Tucson-Reid Park, 445 S. Alvernon Way, Tucson, $30, various times,

www.tucsonaudubon.org/festival

“Surfapalooza” Summer Party

AUG. 12 – Hotel Congress’ Summer Party on the Plaza series continues with an Arizona surf-twang band ruckus. The lineup includes the “bad girl” band the Surfbroads, Tucson’s legendary Shrimp Chaperone, The Furys and Your Best Friend’s Band. Magically, Hotel Congress will have a swimming pool for a day, and it promises a Hawaiian-style pig roast.

Plaza Stage, Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress Street, 6 p.m., $10, 21 and older,

www.hotelcongress.com

CatVideoFest 2023

AUG. 12, AUG. 13 AND AUG. 17 – The Hermitage No-Kill Cat Shelter and Sanctuary will benefit from this unmissable event for cat videos lovers and aren’t we all? Will Braden, creator of the “Henri, le Chat Noir” videos, curated this collection into a feature-length film. Numbering 100 in all, these are the most hilarious, tender, playful and otherwise engrossing cat videos he found across all the apps that feature them. Food trucks will be on hand for the Saturday and Sunday screenings.

The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Boulevard, 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 12 and Sunday, Aug. 13, and 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 17, $10,

www.loftcinema.org

Hunks Show!

AUG. 13 – If you didn’t watch all three “Magic Mike” movies for their thought-provoking storylines, or if you were among those whose favorite scene in “Barbie” was the Kens’ production number on the beach, or if you just happen to love the cut of a cowboy’s jeans, this show is for you. We hear there might be pirates, too. Dare you not to blush!

The Maverick, 6622 E. Tanque Verde Road, Tucson, 8 to 10 p.m., tickets start at $21.95, www.hunkstheshow.com

Reveille Men’s Chorus

New Member Recruitment

AUG. 14 – Reveille’s motto is “Changing Lives Through Music.” The practice of singing in community can be life changing all by itself, but in Reveille the support is intentional and the music sublime. Popular drag queen Lucinda Holiday will help them recruit new members at this meet-and-greet event. Apply via the website below. Those who join may find themselves in the cast of the chorus’ spring performance of “Priscilla – Queen of the Desert.”

The Jackrabbit Lounge, 2000 N. Oracle Road, Tucson, 5 to 8 p.m., free admission, www.reveillemenschorus.org

Great Banjo Summit

and Other Things with Strings

AUG. 16 – Dixieland jazz, country, traditional Irish music, even avant-garde jazz — it’s just four strings making all that music but in the right hands they’re magic. This show brings together three highly accomplished banjo players with very different playing styles. It’s the friendship among them that makes the music come alive. Former New Christy Minstrel Rob Wright fronts the trio with humor and vocals while playing banjo, ukulele and guitar. Howard Alden, world famous seven-string guitar player and tenor banjoist also plays tenor guitar and ukulele. And Tyler Jackson plays tenor banjo, tenor guitar, ukulele and bass.

Gaslight Music Hall, 13005 N. Oracle Road, Suite 165, Oro Valley, $27, 6 p.m., www.gaslightmusichall.com

The Turquoise Trail

ANYTIME – With the exception of special events, The Tucson Presidio Museum will be closed through Tuesday, Aug. 22. There is still lots to learn about Tucson’s storied history along The Turquoise Trail, which is available to the public 24-7-365. Wear a hat, take plenty of water and follow the link below on your phone to view a PDF of the tour brochure. The 2.5-mile trail (it is literally painted turquoise) highlights structures and sites of significance throughout the history of the land and the town. When museum docents guide the tour, the cost is $25. Consider donating or participating in the online benefit auction.

Presidio San Agustin del Tucson Museum, 196 N. Court Avenue, Tucson ,

www.tucsonpresidio.com/turquoise-trail/, free for the self-directed tour.

This article appears in Aug 10-16, 2023.