Phoenix Bachata Festival
Lovers of Latin dance will have a ton of opportunities to show off their sexy moves at the first annual Phoenix Bachata Festival. Unsure about your skills? This saucy fest offers workshops and classes for everyone, from Silky Salsa to Urban Kizomba, even if you’re starting at ground zero.
Learn even more by watching performances from pro dancers from around the world. Bands and DJs also entertain. Start steppin’ at 7 p.m., and party until 3 a.m. on Thursday, June 14, at the Wigwam Resort, 300 East Wigwam Boulevard in Litchfield Park. Tickets range from $31 to $199. Visit the Phoenix Bachata Festival website. Amy Young
Desert Night Cinema
It’s been 40 years since John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John lit up the big screen in the musical Grease, crooning songs like “Hopelessly Devoted to You” and “You’re the One That I Want.” Now, you can see their faces light up the Sunset Plaza at Desert Botanical Garden, 1201 North Galvin Parkway, where the film is part of the Desert Night Cinema series happening under the stars.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 14, for a JesterZ Improv Comedy performance, and the film rolls around 7:30 p.m. Bring your blanket, plus cash for food and beverage offerings, including Short Leash Hotdogs and Hummus Express. Tickets are $16. Alas, it’ll be a tad too warm for poodle skirts or leather jackets. Visit the Desert Botanical Garden website. Lynn Trimble
“Hair Music Mayhem!”
If you are active in the local music scene, chances are you’ve run into Brooks Werner. The booking manager at Cornish Pasty Co. announced on his Facebook page he might be getting behind a drum kit at the next Cover the Crescent, where Phoenix bands take on a musical genre. Next up: “Hair Music Mayhem!” featuring The Instant Classics, Coyote Tango and Friends, and Judge Jury.
Rock out at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 14, at Crescent Ballroom, 308 North Second Avenue. Tickets are $5 to $7 with proceeds going to charity. For more information, visit the Crescent Ballroom website. Jason Keil
Keir Dullea played astronaut David Bowman, the biggest human role in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Courtesy of Warner Bros.
Without 2001: A Space Odyssey, you wouldn’t have some of the biggest sci-fi movies of all time. It’s considered one of the greatest films ever made, and if you’ve ever seen it you know why. And now for a select time only, you can see the epic film in 70mm format at Harkins Tempe Marketplace, 2000 East Rio Salado Parkway, #1160, with four screenings starting at noon on Friday, June 15, and additional screenings through Thursday, June 21. This movie was made to be seen on a big screen, and with 70mm, it’s practically begging you to spend the $10.50 ($8 for
Celebrate the 50th anniversary of one of Stanley Kubrick’s most-famous films with your friends or family. For movie and ticket information, visit the Harkins website, and watch out for monoliths. Dillon Rosenblatt
Hempcon Business Expo
Earning a living off cannabis — legally — isn’t just a pipe dream in Arizona, a state with one of the largest medical-marijuana programs in the nation. The Hempcon Business Expo promises to hook you up with many potential opportunities. Entrepreneurs and professionals from various fields will talk about their experience, and give ideas for budding business people.
Speakers include Aari Ruben, a manager at Desert Bloom Re-Leaf Center, and Emily Scarbrough of Empress Extracts. Even noncommercial types should enjoy the dozens of vendor booths, featuring info and products on dispensaries, doctor services, advertising, CBD, PR, software, extraction machines, clothing, and a lot more.
Tickets are $20. No kids allowed. The expo runs Friday, June 15, through Sunday, June 17, at the Phoenix Convention Center, 100 North Third Street. Visit the Hempcon website for more details. Ray Stern
Science Is a Beach
Ready to laser focus on something other than nasty politics or your tedious to-do list? Head to Arizona Science Center, 600 East Washington Street, for the latest Science With A Twist shindig for the 21-and-over set, from 6 to 10 p.m. on Friday, June 15. The theme is Science Is a Beach, which means you’ll get to hula-hoop, limbo, and try your hand at pineapple and coconut bowling.
There’s even speed dating with a beach twist, with a little help from Scottsdale’s own Juan Pablo Galavis, a contestant on season 18 of The Bachelor. Cocktail offerings (cash bar) include Mermaid Mule, Tequila Sunrise, and Sex on the Beach. Or you can buy beer, wine, sodas, and light eats. Other activities include a laser show with beachy pop tunes, and the film Oceans: Our Blue Planet in 3-D. It’s $12, or free for members. Visit the Arizona Science Center website. Lynn Trimble
Juneteenth Celebration
On June 19, 1865, more than two years after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, thousands of enslaved people in Texas received word that they were finally free. Nicknamed Juneteenth, the anniversary of the date is now an official state holiday in
Phoenix’s Juneteenth celebration will take place from 4 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, June 16, at Eastlake Park, which served as a gathering spot for the African-American community during the days of segregation. The free festival features music, dancing, children’s activities, and vendors selling food and crafts. For more information, visit the Juneteenth website. Antonia Farzan
Pokémon Go Community Day
Pokémon Go players of the Valley, better start charging your phones. You’ll also want to make room in your Pokédex and start hoarding raspberries, great balls, and ultra balls. That’s because the latest Pokémon Go Community Day happens this weekend and you’ll wanna be prepared.
For those of you who aren’t PoGo die-hards, here’s the deal: Community Days are monthly in-game events allowing players of the popular mobile game the chance to catch ungodly amounts of one particular Pokemon during a three-hour window. This month’s event happens on Saturday, June 16, with Larvitar as the featured creature.
While Larvitars will spawn like mad throughout Arizona, one of the best places to catch ’em all is areas where many people gather, like local parks and malls. As such, Community Day events will take place at Tempe Marketplace, 2000 West Rio Salado Parkway, and Arizona Mills Mall, 5000 South Arizona Mills Circle in Tempe.
Be the very best (like no one ever was) from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. See the Pokémon Go Live website for more info. Benjamin Leatherman
Annual PRIDE Night
LGBT Pride Month in June is a time to show pride in your community or lend your support as an ally in different spaces, including sports arenas. The Phoenix Mercury’s Annual PRIDE Night on Saturday, June 16, will celebrate diversity, inclusion, and unity with rainbow-colored fan placards, information on local LGBT organizations, themed mascot and hip-hop squad looks, and a video speaking to the importance of LGBT pride.
The halftime show will include a Q&A with Adam Rippon, the first openly gay U.S. male figure skater at the Winter Olympic Games. A postgame courtyard party will have drag queen bingo, Mercury swag giveaways, and DJ music. The game begins at 7 p.m. at Talking Stick Resort Arena, 201 East Jefferson Street. Tickets start at $11. For more information, call 602-252-9622 or go to the Mercury website. Laura Latzko
Check out these hot rods.
Diana Lustig
Your daily ride might get you to and from, but is it cool? Unsure? Head to the Arizona Indoor Custom Car Show hosted by the folks at In the Streets Magazine to see what 500 truly impressive, hip vehicles look like. With the tops popped to reveal sleek innards, these cars and trucks are polished to perfection. Pin-striped, too. Live bands and DJs will provide an energetic vibe all day as you stroll and ogle the machinery.
Retro styles aren’t just for the cars; a contest will select a winner in the Miss Custom AZ Pinup Contest. The hep happening goes from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, June 16, at the Phoenix Convention Center, 100 North Third Street. Tickets are $20, free for kids 12 and younger. Visit the Arizona Indoor Custom Car Show website. Amy Young
Scottsdale Fahrenheit Festival
The Scottsdale Fahrenheit Festival will be filled with activities to help beat the heat — or to revel in it. Bring your bathing suit and enjoy unlimited trips down the world’s tallest inflatable water slide, or test your mettle at the jalapeño eating contest. Runners will compete at the Scottsdale Beat The Heat race, and cool down at the Arizona Ales and Cocktails Festival.
Bring some water beginning at 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 16, at WestWorld, 16601 North Pima Road. Tickets are $5 to $10 with free admission for children 12 and under. For more information, visit the Scottsdale Fahrenheit Festival website. Jason Keil
Sunday Night Jam Sessions
Jazz great Artie Shaw once criticized Glenn Miller’s band for being too precise: “His band never made a mistake. And if you never make a mistake, you’re not trying.” In other words, if you play jazz, don’t be afraid to try.
The Nash, at 110 East Roosevelt Street, provides an opportunity for pros and amateurs to make some mistakes and some pretty good music during its Sunday night jam sessions. Instruments are provided. Singers are welcome. So is anyone who just wants to listen. Pianist Pam Morita will lead the jamming on Sunday, June 17, from 6 to 9 p.m. Admission is free. Visit the Nash website. Stuart Warner
Labyrinth by Linda Okumura, an installation of stainless steel wire mesh and acrylic paint.
Courtesy of the Hall Foundation
You can see “Lydia Okumura: Situations,” the first solo museum exhibition to feature the artist’s installations and works on paper, in addition to her indoor and outdoor sculptures, at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, 7374 East Second Street, Scottsdale.
The artist works with unconventional materials, including string and wire mesh, in addition to glass and paint. Now based in the U.S., Okumura was raised in Brazil by a family of Japanese immigrants, so her work spans several cultures. It also bends distinctions between 2D and 3D objects. Exhibit hours are noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday, June 17. Museum admission is $10. Visit the SMoCA website. Lynn Trimble
Family Drumming Workshop
The family that drums together, stays together. While that might not be totally true, this Family Drumming Workshop is a great chance to generate some rhythms with your crew. Gather with those who you call family and let your fingers do the talking. Palms and wrists, too.
It’s all-hands-on-deck — or on
Get A Taste for Vengeance.
Courtesy of Poisoned Pen Bookstore
What happens when you fail to show up for your bougie cooking vacation in France? You throw your peeps into a panic. That’s exactly what occurred when Monica Felder, the main character in Martin Walker’s A Taste for Vengeance, never makes it to her fancy destination. The book is the 13th novel in the author’s “Bruno, Chief of Police” series that once again finds the small-town, wine-loving cop’s life immersed in mystery and international intrigue.
Stop by the book signing to grab a copy and find out Monica’s fate from 7 to 8 p.m. on Monday, June 18, at The Poisoned Pen, 4014 North Goldwater Boulevard in Scottsdale. Admission is free; books for the signing are $25.95. Call 480-947-2974 or visit the Poisoned Pen website. Amy Young
Explore musical instruments from American cities in new displays at the Musical Instrument Museum.
MIM
Every city has its own musical flavor. But you don’t have to travel the country to tap into them all. The Musical Instrument Museum, 4725 East Mayo Boulevard, is presenting a series of new displays featuring the history of music in several American cities, starting with Memphis, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Elkhart, Virginia.
Highlights include a tuba played during the original soundtrack for Walt Disney’s Fantasia in
Stephen Morath, Sunset at the Arizona Line, acrylic on canvas; Courtesy of Wilde Meyer Gallery.
Courtesy of Western Spirit: Scottsdale's Museum of the West
Think Western art is all serious-looking cowboys riding the rambling range? Not even close, as evidenced by a group exhibition up now at Scottsdale’s Museum of the West, 3830 East Marshall Way.
Hit the museum between 9:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 19, to explore the lighter side of Western art, in a show called “Western Edge: Humor and Playfulness in Contemporary Western Art.” You’ll see everything from buffalo to gumball machines, reimagined by artists who give the Old West a new twist. Several are represented by Old Town Scottsdale galleries. Museum admission is $15. Visit the Scottsdale’s Museum of the West website. Lynn Trimble
Seinfeld Trivia
Whether you know more basic information about George, Kramer, Elaine
Seinfeld superfan
School of Rock
Tired of playing air guitar alone in the shower or choking during local karaoke nights? Let someone else tackle the rock ’n’ roll for a change, during the Broadway tour of School of Rock, a musical based on the 2003 film of the same name. It’ll take the stage at ASU Gammage, 1220 South Forest Avenue in Tempe, at 7:30 p.m on Tuesday, June 19.
The musical imagines life for an unemployed musician masquerading as a substitute teacher. Turns out, the guy actually transforms the lives of his straight-A prep school students. And he falls for the school’s uptight headmistress. The musical features 14 songs with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber of Cats and Phantom of the Opera fame, plus a live youth band. Tickets start at $56. Visit the ASU Gammage website. Lynn Trimble
Tu LUCHA Es Nuestra LUCHA
You may know the grassroots group LUCHA, Living United for Change in Arizona, for organizing protests around issues like immigrants’ rights and raising the minimum wage. But did you know that they are now branching out into filmmaking?
The short documentary is titled Tu LUCHA Es Nuestra LUCHA, and it highlights the stories of people working for social justice in Arizona. Catch the premiere at FilmBar on Wednesday, June 20, at 7:30 p.m. and again at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $10. Visit the FilmBar website. Antonia Farzan
Madama Butterfly
If you love opera, you likely never tire of seeing Puccini’s famed Madama Butterfly, which inspired the musical Miss Saigon. If you hate opera, you’ve probably never seen Madama Butterfly. Seeing it live is best, of course. But the next best thing is watching a filmed Metropolitan Opera performance.
Spread your culture wings, and give it a try at 1 or 7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 20, at Cinemark 16, 1051 North Dobson Road in Mesa. But don’t be a tough guy. Bring a hankie and let the tears flow as love breaks hearts and cultural barriers. Tickets are $12.50. Visit the Cinemark website. Lynn Trimble
