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

This week you can take a mural tour, watch a drive-in dance performance, explore a local film festival, or up your liquor game. Here's a look at live and virtual events, including several that won't cost you a thing. (Masks and social distancing are required for these live events, by the way.)

Talk the Vote

Before you dip into this week’s TV coverage of the impeachment hearing, spend some time exploring the bigger picture during a virtual conversation with Jelani Cobb, a writer and educator with expertise in the role race plays in American elections. Arizona Humanities is sponsoring the free event, titled Whose Vote Counts?, at 4 p.m. on Monday, February 8.

Flamenco Flair

The pandemic brought big changes for Flamenco Por La Vida, a dance company that shuttered its Phoenix studio last year and paused its Crescent Ballroom performances when music venues temporarily closed due to public health guidelines. But they’re still dancing, and this week you can watch a free virtual performance happening from 6 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, February 10, through the SHFT series at Tempe Center for the Arts.

Mural Mile

Expand your mural horizons by heading to downtown Chandler, where the city’s visual arts team is leading a free Mural Mile Tour highlighting the local mural scene from noon to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, February 10. Highlights includes artworks by Ariana Enriquez, Such and Champ Styles, and Cam DeCaussin and Joey Salamon. Spaces is limited, and the tour will repeat on March 10.

Drive-in Dance

Explore the local dance scene from your car during the Arizona Drive-in Dance Film Festival happening at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 11, at The Graduate Hotel in Tempe. The pop-up performance features works by more than a dozen creatives, including Alicia Nascimento Castro, Liz Lerman, Yvonne Montoya, Nicole L. Olson, Vo Vera, and Halley Willcox. Tickets are $20 per car (two people per car).

Fashion Reveal

You’ve probably grown accustomed to doing Zoom meetings in your pajama pants, but that doesn’t mean you have to throw your fashion sense out the window. The Arizona Costume Institute is doing a virtual unveiling of Phoenix Art Museum’s new archive for fashions by 20th-century designer Geoffrey Beene at 6 p.m. on Thursday, February 11. The event is free, but organizers note that donations are welcome.

Indie Film Fest

The Phoenix-based Indie Film Fest is going virtual this year with screenings, workshops, and filmmaker Q & A sessions from Thursday, February 11, to Saturday, February 13. The lineup includes 30 selections ranging from documentaries to music videos, and one-third of featured filmmakers or bands are local. Festival tickets are $10 and sales benefit Made In Her Image, which works to advance young girls and women in film, media, and technology.

Sippin’ Series

Maybe you’ve mastered making your favorite cocktails, but you’re ready to expand your drinking horizons. This week you can head to Scottsdale Center for the Arts for Sippin’ Series: Sherry and Port, where you’ll learn more about the origins of these fortified wines, how they’re made, and ways to enjoy them. It’s happening at 7 p.m. on Saturday, February 13. Tickets are $45 (or $80 per couple).

Hoop Dance Contest

The Heard Museum transformed this year’s Hoop Dance Contest into a virtual event you can view online on Saturday, February 13. Videos submitted by 80 dancers are already available on YouTube, where you can vote in the Viewer’s Choice awards until Wednesday, February 10. The virtual event is free, but the museum notes that donations are welcome.