Programs & Events

Programs and Events that Educate, Celebrate, and Preserve.

Quick Peek:

April 5–7: Tucson Folk Festival, times vary, at downtown’s Jacome Plaza, in Tucson.

April 7: Patagonia River Clean-Up with the Southern Arizona Paddlers Club and the Santa Cruz Valley National Heritage, 9am-noon at Patagonia Lake.

April 8 & 22: Fort Lowel Museum’s Fort Lowell Neighborhood Walking Tour, 9:30am-noon at Fort Lowell Park, in Tucson. Registration required.

April 11–14: Pueblos del Maíz, times and locations vary, in Tucson.

April 14 and 28: Presidio Museum’s Barrio Viejo Walking Tours, 10-11:30am at 418 S. Main Ave., in Tucson. Registration required. 

April 18–21: Agave Heritage Festival, various events and locations in Tucson.

April 18–26: Sonoran Institute’s Stories of a National River, times vary, at Pima Community College Desert Vista Campus. Register online.

April 18–28: Pima County Fair, times vary, in Tucson.

April 20: Santa Cruz River Day of Connection (River CleanUp + birding) with Tucson Clean & Beautiful, Tucson Audubon, and other partners, including the SCVNHA, 9am River Cleanup, at 802 N. Riverside Dr. Optional bird walk at 7:30am.

April 27: Watershed Management Group’s River Run Network Restoration Workshop: Tanque Verde Arundo Removal, 8am-noon, at Tanque Verde Creek/Wentworth Rd., in Tucson. Register online.

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Presidio San Agustín del Tucson Walking Tours:  Citywide, various dates.


Presidio San Augustín will continue offering a number of informative and fun walking tours throughout the summer and into fall. The tours include Walking the Wall of the Original Presidio, Mainly Murals Tour, and neighborhood tours that focus on Barrio Viejo, Armory Park and the Fort Lowell neighborhood. There’s even a shortened version of their popular Turquoise Trail tour.
Learn more here. 

Monthly Bird Walk:  Mission Garden; every Second Thursday

(Tucson) From 8:00am-9:30am every second Thursday of the month, walk around Mission Garden to look for seasonal and resident birds. Learn to identify some common calls and songs of the birds here. The garden is a good place for beginning and intermediate birders to learn about many of the birds common to the greater Tucson area. Learn more here.

 

Tour of Historic Canoa Ranch: Jan. 6, 13, 20, and 27, morning start times vary. Cost: $5.00 plus Activenet Fees, please pre-register

Join a 90-minute walking tour of the Canoa Ranch headquarters. Docent-led tours visit the historic buildings and corrals as well as enjoying the special exhibits of the People of Canoa. Tours meet in the Visitor Center. Bring drinking water; dress for the weather.
Preregister on the Pima County NRPR Activenet site: https://bit.ly/NRPRregistration
Address: 5375 S. I-19 Frontage Road, Green Valley, 85622
For additional programs, visit the Canoa Ranch website: https://www.pima.gov/1253/Historic-Canoa-Ranch

Anza Tour at Historic Canoa Ranch: Jan. 12, 19, and 26, 9:30am-10:30am. Cost: $5.00 plus Activenet Fees, please pre-register 

Join a 60-minute tour to learn the stories of the 1775-1776 Anza Expedition members who camped at La Canoa almost 250 years ago Tours meet in the Visitor Center. Bring drinking water; dress for the weather.
Pre-register on the Pima County NRPR Activenet site: https://bit.ly/NRPRregistration
Address: 5375 S. I-19 Frontage Road, Green Valley, 85622
For additional programs, visit the Canoa Ranch website: https://www.pima.gov/1253/Historic-Canoa-Ranch 

Anza Trail Hike at Historic Canoa Ranch: Jan. 19, 8:30am-10:30am. Cost: $5.00 plus Activenet Fees, please pre-register 

Join a guided 3.4 mile hike on the Anza National Heritage Trail at HCR with discussion of cultural and natural history; dress for the weather conditions and bring drinking water.
Pre-register on the Pima County NRPR Activenet site: https://bit.ly/NRPRregistration
Address: 5375 S. I-19 Frontage Road, Green Valley, 85622
For additional programs, visit the Canoa Ranch website: https://www.pima.gov/1253/Historic-Canoa-Ranch 

Before There Was a Canoa (And After) by Al Dart as part of the Native Peoples, Native Voices Presentation Series at Historic Canoa Ranch:  Jan. 10, 1:00am-2:30am. Cost: $5.00 plus Activenet Fees, please pre-register 

Join Al Dart, Executive Director of the Old Pueblo Archaeology Center, for a brief cultural history of Southern Arizona’s Middle Santa Cruz Valley, at Pima County’s Historic Canoa Ranch.
Pre-register on the Pima County NRPR Activenet site: https://bit.ly/NRPRregistration
Address: 5375 S. I-19 Frontage Road, Green Valley, 85622
For additional programs, visit the Canoa Ranch website: https://www.pima.gov/1253/Historic-Canoa-Ranch 

Caretakers of the Land: History of Land and Water in the San Xavier Community by Jacelle Ramon-Sauberan as part of the Native Peoples, Native Voices Speakers Series at Canoa Ranch:  Jan. 27, 1:00am-2:30am. Cost: $5.00 plus Activenet Fees, please pre-register 

Join Dr. Jacelle Ramon-Sauberan, Tohono O’odham Community College, to hear her knowledge about the history and culture of her people, the Wa:k O’odham.
Pre-register on the Pima County NRPR Activenet site: https://bit.ly/NRPRregistration
Address: 5375 S. I-19 Frontage Road, Green Valley, 85622
For additional programs, visit the Canoa Ranch website: https://www.pima.gov/1253/Historic-Canoa-Ranch 

 

Border-Area Tours: Multiple Locations; ongoing 

Celebrate our U.S.-Mexico Border Culture through a variety of tours offered by Border Community Alliance. Learn more here.

Water Conservation Education: Watershed Management Group

(Tucson) Every month, you can learn how to conserve water by using gray water and harvesting rainwater. You’ll do long-term good for our water table and your budget. Learn more here.

Mariachi performers celebrate our border culture. Photo courtesy Ce Elliott.

Tumacácori National Historical Park

(Tumacácori) Tumacácori will resume its robust schedule of guided tours, special events, and cultural demonstrations such as traditional tortilla-making. Park fee required. Learn more here.

 

 

The Santa Cruz Valley has an agricultural history extending back more than 4,000 years. Photo courtesy Visit Tucson.
Event Submission
e.g., Experience the rich history of Tucson on the one-mile Barrio Viejo (old neighborhood) Walking Tour, which goes through the largest collection of Sonoran Row houses in the United States. For over 100 years, Barrio Viejo was the heart of Tucson’s social, economic, and cultural life. On this 90-minute walking tour, your tour guide Mauro Trejo will discuss the history of the neighborhood, its architecture, and the individuals, businesses, and cultures that meet there. Pre-registration is required. https://tucsonpresidio.com/civicrm/event/info/?reset=1&id=482 ***Add-On – (30 minutes) For an additional $10.00 participants have the option of joining their tour guide for conversation, a Margarita (or alternative) and a Cheese Crisp after the tour at the historic El Minuto Café. This tour begins at El Tiradito Wishing Shrine, 418 S. Main Avenue, just south of El Minuto Restaurant.