Viva Día de los Muertos: A Glow in the Dark Spectacular
Folklorico! Ribbons whirl, full skirts flash in multicolor and sequins sparkle in the lights. The eighth annual Viva Día de los Muertos amps it all up to glow in the dark while a multimedia show tells the story of Mexico’s Day of the Dead holiday. Viva Performing Arts dance troupes, Ballet Folklorico Arizona and Ballet Folklorico San Juan perform Dia de Los Muertos dances from various regions of Mexico.
7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4, Fox Tucson Theatre, 17 W. Congress Street, foxtucson.com, $25.30 to $50.60
Fall Ikebana Festival
Ikebana, known as “The Way of the Flowers,” represents floral arranging as a meditative art. According to the organizers, a wide array of colorful floral arrangements is displayed in creative vases and containers throughout the garden.
9:30 a.m. to 4:30 a.m. Thursday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, through Saturday, Nov. 6, Yume Japanese Gardens of Tucson, 2130 N. Alvernon Way, $18, $5 children under 15, $10 members. Admission includes entry to the entire gardens.
All Souls Procession
Tucson’s legendary All Souls Procession is a party for days with visitors from all over the world. It’s four-lanes-wide, a mile-long and loaded with color, costumes, giant puppets, bands large and small, floats, and homemade, wheeled memorials to people and animals we miss plus anything else we’ve lost, from our families, our town and humanity in general. Highlights are the musical circus known as the MarchFourth Band and the infinite variety of variations on the calavera (sugar skull) mask. Plenty of folks along the route will do your makeup for a nice tip. The procession’s finale features the “aerial circus and fire theater” known as Flam Chen. The procession is the best-known feature, but organizers, Many Mouths One Stomach, plan loads of other activities around it, including a day of kids’ activities culminating in “The Procession of Little Angels.” See the website for dance parties, a pensive walk on an ancient trail and much more.
Various times Friday, Nov. 4, to Sunday, Nov. 6, El Mercado District, 267 S. Avenida del Convento, allsoulsprocession.org/events, free or donations
Tucson Celtic Festival and Scottish Highland Games
Now in its 36th year, the Tucson’s Celtic Festival attracts audience members, performers and athletes from all over the Southwest with a dozen workshops, five Celtic dance troupes, six bagpipe and drum bands, five Celtic trad-rock bands, some fire dancers and a host of those crazy Highland games where contenders’ kilts twirl as they toss poles the size of trees. For families, there’s a screening of the Walt Disney film “Brave” and traditional youth athletic games.
Various times from Friday, Nov. 4 to Sunday, Nov. 7, Rillito Raceway Park, 4502 N. First Avenue, tucsoncelticfestival.org, all access $35 or $50; daily $18 to $23, $5 or $6 children, discounts for military and students, $25 extra for whisky tasting
Empire Ranch Cowboy Festival
Imagine for a day that you’re living in the Old West we only see in movies. Western music, history and culture demonstrations, ranch life exhibits, 45-minute trail rides, kids’ activities, skilled artisans, speakers, silent auction, raffles and “grub” help raise funds for the Bureau of Land Management and the Empire Ranch Foundation to preserve the ranch for future generations.
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5, and Sunday, Nov. 6, Empire Ranch Road via Highway 83, Sonoita, empireranchfoundation.org, $20 per vehicle.
“Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins”
Imagine Smith graduate and Texan Mary Tyler Ivin’s stint as Minneapolis’ first female police reporter. The jokes write themselves. By the time she retired from newspapers, she was a New York Times bureau chief. She went on to contribute regularly to prestigious national magazines and NPR, ultimately winning every journalism award that matters. Among her 11 books were “Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush.” Her humor allowed her to speak truth to power and know the people would hear. Its sources and uses are the story behind “Red Hot Patriot.”
Various days and times through Sunday, Nov. 13, The Invisible Theatre, 1400 N. First Avenue, invisibletheatre.com, $40, $20 students, age 18 and over
Just for Kids: Tucson Symphony’s Woodwind Quintet
Imagine meeting a contrabassoon for the first time as a 5-year-old. Or, for that matter, many adults may never see a contrabassoon. Have you? Kids can see, hear and touch an entire zoo of instruments, and giggle as they hear their funny stories, one symphonic section at a time. This Saturday, “Just For Kids” shares the magic of the woodwind family.
10 a.m. or 11:15 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 5, Tucson Symphony Center, 2175 N. Sixth Avenue, tucsonsymphony.org, free, suggested donation $3, reservations via the website.
Vice and Survival in the Sonoran Desert
In their new book, “The Neotonic Queen,” author Alejandro Canelos and illustrator Rachel Ivanyi create an enchanting exposé of the relatable travails of our Sonoran Desert cohabitants. Each life is made of things that threaten it. Canelos, a Harvard biology graduate, takes fanciful anthropomorphism to a new level by rooting it in science. Ivanyi brings it to life.
6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5, “The Neotonic Queen” book signing, Petroglyphs Emporium, 160 S. Avenida del Convento, Suite 156, neotenicqueen.com, free
“Meet Me at St. Phillip’s Plaza” Social Walk/ Run
Adults and families enjoy a social approach to healthy exercise with the added benefit of discounts to eat nearby afterward. The end of the walk features a closing ceremony with a free raffle for gift certificates and other prizes.
5:15 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9, register or check in if pre-registered, St. Philip’s Plaza Courtyard, 4310 N. Campbell Avenue, free.
Soul Sounds at Oro Valley Marketplace
If you get down on Motown, blues and especially R&B, bring your party shoes and get your dance on with the George Howard Band. Howard may just step off the stage and dance with you. An inductee to the Arizona Blues Hall of Fame, Howard is also in the Tucson Music Awards Hall of Fame and the Tucson Musicians Museum.
6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10, Oro Valley Marketplace, 12155 N. Oracle Road, Oro Valley, facebook.com/georgehowardband, free
