10 Best Things to Do in Metro Phoenix This Weekend

New Times picks the best things to do in metro Phoenix from Friday, September 16, through Sunday, September 18. For more events, see our curated online calendar.

Junk in the Trunk Vintage Market
Shoppers hoping to tackle that holiday gift list a little early, good news: Presents for quirky aunts, nieces in college, and globetrotting older sisters are waiting at the Junk in the Trunk Vintage Market. Oh, there’s probably some dad stuff, too.

Junk in the Trunk is celebrating its five-year anniversary with an event hosting more than 170 Arizona vendors peddling everything from vintage apparel to distressed furniture and handmade jewelry — as well as a holding zone so you can shop unburdened.

Junk in the Trunk runs from 5 to 9 p.m. on Friday, September 16, and continues through Sunday, September 18, at WestWorld, 16601 North Pima Road in Scottsdale.

Tickets are $65 for Friday, $25 for early entry starting at 8 a.m. on Saturday or Sunday, and $8 for general admission from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Kids 12 and younger get in free, and it’s $5 for parking. Visit junkinthetrunkvintagemarket.com. Lauren Cusimano

Parkin(ing) Day Phoenix
Phoenix is pretty good at paving paradise to put up parking lots, but on Friday, September 16, community members are taking back the blacktop — at least for a few hours.

Now in its eighth year, Park(ing) Day Phoenix is a chance for activists and commuters to pay for a different kind of park by creating pop-up greenery in metered spaces throughout downtown. Past parks have featured live music performances, yoga sessions, and a collection of mini trampolines atop Astroturf, but hammocks and lawn chairs are always welcome.

Set-up starts at 6 a.m., leaving plenty of time to park and play along Washington Street between First and Second avenues. Participation is free, and group projects are encouraged; contact [email protected] to sign up. Click through www.facebook.com/ParkingDayPHX for details. Janessa Hilliard 

Babylon Gallery Grand Opening
After traveling from Baghdad to Phoenix to take part in an ASU Art Museum residency, Iraqi artist Bassim Al-Shaker decided to open his own art space in the Roosevelt Row art district. The official grand opening for his new Babylon Gallery, 918 North Sixth Street, happens from 6 to 10 p.m. during this month’s Third Friday art walk on September 16.

Al-Shaker, whose paintings were shown at the 2013 Venice Biennale, will reveal several new, small-scale figurative and abstract works. “Each one tells a story,” he says. And he’ll be on hand to share them with curious gallery-goers. The free grand opening will also be your first chance to see his recently completed mural for the space. See www.facebook.com/bassim.alshaker. Lynn Trimble

Talk Like a Pirate Day Festival
Ever just feel like shouting “ahoy!”? The eighth annual Talk Like a Pirate Day Festival offers the chance. In addition to the requisite pirate-speak, there will be music, food, drinks, dancing, and general revelry for all ages at Heritage Square, 115 North Sixth Street. All proceeds from the event benefit Heeling Heroes, a nonprofit that provides service animals to first responders and veterans with PTSD.

Don your eye patches and puffy shirts for the festival from 2 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, September 17. General admission is $20, crews of four pay $100, and kids 8 and younger get in free. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/events/1181289251917993. Katrina Montgomery

Gloria Steinem
For much of the 20th century, Americans viewed women’s work as making babies and keeping house. But Gloria Steinem, the feminist icon honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013, championed change as an activist, writer, lecturer, and editor — founding Ms. magazine and advocating for women’s equality. It’s all recounted in her memoir Gloria Steinem: My Life on the Road, an inspiring read. Hear Steinem discuss the journey, when Changing Hands Bookstore co-presents with Downtown Phoenix Inc. and Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture an event showcasing the author. It’s happening at 7 p.m. on Saturday, September 17, at the Orpheum Theatre, 203 West Adams Street.

The evening features Steinem in conversation with artist Adriene Jenik, the director for ASU’s School of Art whose exploration of art with popular culture includes a “data humanization” project.

Admission starts at $24 for one seat and a signed paperback. Visit www.changinghands.com. Lynn Trimble

"Border Markers"
We all mark time with memories, but Tempe artist Mark Klett does something more. Klett transforms sticks from desert camping trips into artifacts meant to mark time and commemorate human experience.

His Sunrise Sticks installation will span a 30-foot wall during the “Border Markers” exhibition at Lisa Sette Gallery, 210 East Catalina Drive, where you’ll also see photographs that capture the idiosyncrasies of saguaro cacti and a vast desert expanse.

Meet Klett, a Regents’ Professor with ASU’s School of Art, during the gallery’s free opening reception from 7 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, September 17. While you’re there, look for an especially powerful pigment print titled Fence Separating the US/Mexico Border South of the Gila Mountains.

The exhibition continues through Saturday, October 29. Visit lisasettegallery.com. Lynn Trimble

SpaceCon '16
If we could express what America needs right now in one word, it would be catharsis: the purgation of pity and fear. This san season plus other real-life events have us pitying and fearing the very same people sometimes, which is quite an accomplishment.

Not only does theater traditionally make us cathart, humor just cheers us up in general, and events over which we have some control for a change would be a cool drink after Hell’s triathlon. All these good things come into play at SpaceCon ’16, an immersive faux-political experience in which you, the delegate, are assigned a state (such as Confusion) and throw yourself into getting your Space Party candidate nominated after events such as a debate and a talent competition.

Showtime’s 8 p.m. on Saturday, September 17, at 636 East Pierce Street. The run continues at least through Sunday, October 2. Tickets are $18 on Saturdays; visit www.space55.org. Julie Peterson

Stream Stroll
Sundays don’t have to be just about Bloody Mary brunches where you chat about the previous night’s bad decisions. You can squeeze in a little nature exploration while maintaining the Sunday Funday ethic. Attend the Stream Stroll for an opportunity to take a guided tour of the wetlands at the Audubon Center, led by naturalist Steve Prager. Before the tour starts, visitors will engage in a themed activity to get started. After, you’ll take a casual stroll around the facility’s pond and learn about its endangered fish refuge. Walk and learn at 11 a.m. on Sunday, September 18, at Nina Mason Pulliam Rio Salado Audubon Center, 3131 South Central Avenue. The event is for those ages 5 and older. Admission is free. Call 602-468-6470 or visit riosalado.audubon.org. Amy Young

Snap Judgment Live
Public-radio lovers can experience a little bit of that airwave magic in real life this week. Snap Judgment, the popular radio show created by Glynn Washington, is coming to Mesa Arts Center, One East Mesa Street, over the weekend. The show lives up to its tagline, “storytelling with a beat,” combining narrative and music to share unexpected and diverse tales from across the U.S. Snap Judgment is coming to Arizona as part of Mesa Arts Center’s Performing Live Series.

See Snap Judgment live on Sunday, September 18, at 7:30 p.m. at the Ikeda Theater. Tickets range in price from $32 to $47. For more information, visit mesaartscenter.com or call 480-644-6500. Katrina Montgomery

Arizona Cardinals vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
For a sport predicated largely on violence and intimidation, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers certainly seem more daunting than our Arizona Cardinals. Folks don’t typically tremble in the presence of pint-size granivores who like to sing. Skulls and crossbones tend to be a bit more frightening. But the field tells a different story, and despite their spooky marauder shtick, Tampa has a long and illustrious history of being terrible. Sure, they have a promising young quarterback in Jameis Winston and an intriguing, albeit mercurial, new head coach in former ASU man Dirk Koetter. But it’ll hardly be enough to turn their putrid ship around.

The Bucs raid Glendale’s University of Phoenix Stadium, One Cardinals Drive, at 1:05 p.m. on Sunday, September 18. Tickets are $48 and up. Visit www.azcardinals.com or call 623-433-7101 for details. Rob Kroehler