The Best Live and Virtual Things to Do in Metro Phoenix This Week

This week you can tour a local distillery, enjoy an outdoor candlelight concert, take a bicycle mural tour, or watch a play that likens Donald Trump to Julius Caesar. Here’s a look at the best things to do around town, plus a friendly reminder that masks and social distancing are still the way to go.

Bicycle Mural Tour

Maybe Mesa isn’t the first area that comes to mind when you think about the vibrant mural scene in metro Phoenix. But it’s actually home to dozens of works created by artists painting in distinct styles, which you can explore at your leisure during a self-guided tour that spans just over four miles. RAIL CDC and Bike Mesa created a map you can download before you head out, which includes 30 stops and works by more than 50 artists. Or get a hard copy of the map at Jarrod’s Coffee, Tea, and Gallery.

Candlelight Concert

Typically it’s the wildlife that draws people to the Phoenix Zoo. But this week you can experience the Zoo as a live music venue, when local musicians perform amid a candlelight lakeside setting. They’ll be performing selections from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, and other classical works including Le Cygne (The Swan) from Camille Saint-Saëns’ The Carnival of the Animals. It’s being performed at 9:15 p.m. on Tuesday, March 2, as well as Wednesday, March 3. Tickets start at $30.

Trump Drama

Many hoped the Trump drama would fade once the former president left office. Then came the recent CPAC gathering, where Trump acolytes fawned over a golden statue of their idol. This week, you can experience an entirely different type of drama, as ASU screens a virtual performance of a play called Trumpus Caesar, followed by a Q&A with experts including playwright Carlos Morton. The free event happens from 7 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, March 4.

Distillery Tour

Maybe you’re used to bellying up to the bar, but haven’t given much thought to how the beer makes its way into all those taps. You can expand your drinking horizons this week with a tour of the SanTan Brewery and Distillery in Chandler, which includes 10 stations inside the 35,000-square-foot facility and the chance to sample beer at various stages of production. The tour is offered several days and times this week, including 6 to 7 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, March 4 and 5, as well as 1 to 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, March 6 and 7. The cost is $15.

'Visitations' Exhibit

Bill Dambrova, a Phoenix-based artist whose work has been shown in myriad settings from Meow Wolf’s House of Eternal Return in Santa Fe to Valley Metro’s light rail station at Roosevelt Street and Central Avenue, is opening a solo exhibition called “Visitations” on Friday, March 5, from 2 to 10 p.m. at the Icehouse. The free event is a chance to see new large-scale paintings by the artist, whose work is imbued with humor and biological forms.

Room For Two

See how a Phoenix-based performance group called The Ladies has made a pandemic pivot from traditional stages to parking garage pop-ups when they present a new work called Room for Two at 8 p.m. on Saturday, March 6. It's happening inside the parking garage for Tempe City Hall, where audience members will sit in their vehicles and dial in through car radios as they watch an intriguing mix of movement, theater, and improv comedy. Tickets start at $19.99.

Phoenix Indian School

Some locals associate Steele Indian School Park with large festivals or casual gatherings with friends. It’s also home to the former Phoenix Indian School, where the U.S. government promulgated cultural destruction and forced assimilation. Learn more during a free online presentation called Remembering Phoenix Indian School, taking place from 2 to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 6. It features Rosalie and Patty Talahongva, curators for the Phoenix Indian School Visitors Center. They also do visitor center tours by appointment, Mondays through Fridays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.