24 Great Things to Do in Tucson This Weekend: June 14 to 16

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Father’s Day at Tavolino Ristorante Italiano. Get your dad some flavors from the old country at Tavolino this Father’s Day. Their special menu features an “il Padre” tomahawk steak served with cauliflower and red wine sauce. Specials also include pan-seared scallops, octopus with vegetables, mint pappardelle pasta and more. From 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. 2890 E. Skyline Drive. Details here.

Yacht Rock 2019. La Cocina Restaurant & Cantina is hosting their annual yacht rock party for all of us hanging out in Tucson for the summer. Featuring the smooth, aquatic tunes of ’70s and ’80s yacht rock, this is your chance to dress in awkward attire and hop in a photo booth. Plus, the Cantina will host drink specials all night long. 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday, June 14. 201 N. Court Avenue. $5 cover. 21+. Details here.

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Father’s Day Brunch at Hacienda Del Sol. Treat the ol’ man to premium craft brew tastings and award-winning food at this extra special brunch. The menu includes a full omelet and waffle bar, a beef carving station, shrimp cocktails, crab legs, antipasti, a calabacitas taco bar, and more desserts than I can fit into this blurb! 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, June 16. 5501 N. Hacienda del Sol Road. $60 per adult, $30 kids age 7-14, children under 6 are complimentary. For reservations, call (520) 529-3500. Details here.

Tucson 23 Mexican Food Festival. The Southern Arizona Arts & Cultural Alliance is showing the power of Tucson’s Mexican food for the fourth year in a row. Taking place at the JW Marriott Tucson Starr Pass Resort, this fest of best includes food demos and education, live music and more. There will be food from over 30 local Mexican restaurants and breweries. Get over there while the fajitas are still sizzling! 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, June 15. 3800 W. Starr Pass Boulevard. $65. Details here. 

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New Belgium Brewing at Craft.
Out of Fort Collins, Colorado, New Belgium Brewing is bringing their beers to Craft, A Modern Drinkery. All night, they’ll be tapping specialty kegs, including the Apple Felix, Blackberry Oscar and Honey Orange Tripel. You Sly Dog food truck will also be serving up some great Sonoran Dogs. It turns out Arizona and Colorado meet elsewhere than Four Corners! 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, June 14. 4603 E. Speedway Blvd. Details here.

Father’s Day Feast at Govinda’s Natural Foods. If your dad has always been interested in vegan foods (or if you’re trying to hint at him to eat healthier) Govinda’s is hosting a Father’s Day shindig with live music and an all-vegan menu. Foods include barbecue seitan cutlets, herb potatoes, bean and veggie enchiladas, stir fry basmati rice and more. 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sunday, June 16. All you can eat, $17. Details here.

Black Renaissance.
Wait, didn’t this event end in June? Well, that was the plan. But it was such a huge success that local musician Seanloui is throwing one more iteration of this event, in the form of a Juneteenth after party. The evening will spotlight black creativity, highlight black artists’ influence on mainstream culture and celebrate the day slavery was abolished in America! Special guests Tere Chapman and Mattea will be performing, and Sketch 71 (Allen Bush) will be doing live art. Happy Juneteenth! 9:30 p.m. Saturday, June 15. Wooden Tooth Records, 426 E. Seventh St. Free. Details here.

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Brew at the Zoo. This event is only for the most selfless of Tucsonans: You’re there to support the animals at the local zoo, the greater cause of conservation efforts, and the local economy in the form of more than a dozen breweries. If you go, you might even find yourself forced to support local musicians like Dos Suenos and Paul Jenkins. It won’t be easy, but if you’re up for it, this night full of games, time with the zoo animals, henna and glitter tattoos, local eats, chair massages and even a chance to try out some TopGolf putting is a really good opportunity to do your part to be a good citizen. It’s sure to be a zoo-tiful evening. 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, June 15. Reid Park Zoo, 3400 Zoo Court. $45 GA, $45 members, $20 for designated drivers. $55 GA and $50 for members the night of (unless they’re sold out). Details here.

Classic Car Show at Little Anthony’s.
If car shows and diners are like Bonnie and Clyde, or Jack and Jill, or some other iconic duo, then car shows, diners, and YOU are like the Three Musketeers, right? Because the sights to see and the dishes to eat at a car show are nothing if you’re not there to enjoy them. Head on down for an evening full of live music and hopefully-still-not-too-hot weather. Bring the family! 6 p.m. Saturday, June 15. Little Anthony’s Diner, 7010 E. Broadway Blvd. Details here.

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Chubasco: A Monsoon Exhibition. One of the things that makes summers in Tucson not only bearable, but actually kind of wonderful, of course, are the roaring, raging, remarkable thunder and lightning storms we know as monsoons. In honor of this, the Raices Taller Gallery is having an exhibit all about the monsoon, or chubasco. What’s more universal than water, and what’s more symbolic than the way the sun peeks through the clouds after a storm? Gallery hours are 1 to 5 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and by appointment. Saturday, June 15, to Saturday, July 27. Raices Taller 222 Art Gallery & Workshop, 218 E. Sixth St. Free. Details here. 

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DeGrazia’s Birthday. Happy birthday to one of the most iconic figures in Tucson: Ted DeGrazia! DeGrazia Gallery in the sun is hosting a day of free cake, free ice cream and free gallery admission to celebrate the art and architectures of the acclaimed Arizona artist. He was born in the copper mining camp of Morenci on June 14, 1909, so this would have been his big 110th. Take a stroll through the 10-acre gallery grounds to see some of his work in person. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, June 14. DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun, 6300 N. Swan Road. Free. Details here.

Seventh Annual Dash for Dad 5K.
Considering that, when your father was a kid, he used to have to walk five miles in the snow, uphill, both ways, just to get back and forth between school and his job at the coal factory, the least you could do is go on a measly little 5K run. It’s barely over three miles! Plus, you might even end up having fun. Run with your dad! Run in honor of your dad! Run if you have a dad in your life or if you don’t! There are awards for the first 100 finishers, the first man and woman and the fastest dad. Tagrun hosts this run/walk along the Rillito River Path. 6:30 a.m. race start, 5:30 a.m. registration start. Saturday, June 15. Brandi Fenton Memorial Park, 3482 E. River Road. $25. Details here.

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Fathers’ Day Weekend & Classic Car Show. They’re ain’t enough room in Old Tucson for the two of us, unless the two of us are a father and a son, because men and boys of all ages get into Old Tucson for free on Fathers’ Day weekend, June 15 to 16. Plus, there will be a classic car show and whiskey tastings at Old Tucson—truly a dad’s dream. Look no “father” than this event for the perfect way to spend Dad’s Day. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 15 and Sunday, June 16. Old Tucson, 201 S. Kinney Road. Free admission for men and boys, $19.95 adults 12 to 64, $10.95 for kids 4 to 11, $17.95 for seniors 65+ and military, $16.95 for Pima County adult residents, $8.95 for Pima County child residents. Details here.

Tucson Pops! On this week’s edition of “free music under the stars in a beautiful park in a beautiful city,” David Hernandez Breton, conductor of the Sonora Philharmonic in Mexico, is the guest conductor. He’s been a soloist performer, concert perfomer, jazz musician and conductor pretty much all over the world, and now he’s coming to hang out with us! You’ll hear highlights from Jurassic Park, Strauss’s Blue Danube Waltz and Emperor Waltz, and selections from the Producers and Tchaikovky’s 1812 Overture, just for example. And hey, Broadway lovers! There’s also a “best Broadway marches” section of the evening. 7 p.m. Sunday, June 16. DeMeester Outdoor Performance Center at Reid Park, 900 S. Randolph Way. Free. Details here.

CreativeMornings.
Have you been to one of these breakfast lecture series yet? This week, the host is BRINKmedia, the theme is “wonder,” and the speaker is Chris Walker, co-founder and chief scientist of FreeFall Aerospace. Walker, who’s been a professor of astronomy, optical sciences and electrical engineering at the UA for nearly three decades, has been the principal investigator on numerous NASA missions that involve crazy stuff like launching balloons into space and going to Antarctica. At FreeFall, he’s in charge of creating revolutionary antenna systems. If anyone is going to make you feel inspired, or at least make you feel motivated, it just might be this guy. 8:30 to 10 a.m. Friday, June 14. BRINKmedia, 1100 S. Sixth Ave. Free. Details here.

The Secret World of Sharks.
What do you and sharks have in common besides feeding on the blood of your enemies? Well, for one thing, sharks like music—some of them even have favorite bands. In most ways, though, sharks are just a lot cooler than us. They have three extra senses we don’t have. They’re born with full sets of teeth. They straight up just don’t have any bones. Join award-winning underwater photographer Samantha Schwann, who has photographed and dived with 21 species of shark. Without a cage. She’ll provide shark info and entertainment with her stories, photographs and dive footage. Heck yeah! 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 15. REI, 160 W. Wetmore Road. Free. Details here.

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Lavender Festival. Maybe you’re not usually willing to make the trip to Oracle. But for something as lovely as a lavender festival, how could you not be? Carolyn and John Blair, the owners of the four-acre Life Under the Oaks Lavender Farm, are hosting this day for guests to walk around fields of lavender in bloom, listen to live music, eat lavender treats and enjoy lavender cooking demonstrations. Kids can have their faces painted, make crafts with lavender, and visit farm animals—like donkeys, goats, chickens, ducks and a bunny. Carolyn, an artist, will have her art studio open, with paintings of the farm up for sale, as well as a wide variety of lavender plants and products. 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday, June 15, and Sunday, June 16. Life Under the Oaks Lavender Farm, 103 Hobe Road, Oracle. $15, or free for kids under 12, with proceeds going toward the next phase of planting. Details here.

49th Annual Juneteenth Festival. Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration to commemorate the ending of slavery in the United States. It’s celebrating June 19, 1965, the day the Union soldiers landed in Galveston, Texas, and announced that the war was over and the slaves were free. And if that’s not worth celebrating, what is? This family-friendly festival features storytelling, shopping and plenty of food vendors, plus plenty of educational opportunities to learn more about the reason for the celebrating. 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, June 15. Tucson Convention Center, 260 S. Church Ave. Details here.

Tucson Sugar Skulls vs. QC Steamwheelers. Can you believe it? It’s already the last home game of the season for our hometown indoor football league! They’ll be facing off against the Quad City Steamrollers, in from Moline, Illinois. It’s wild to think that the team just launched its first season in the fall, and it’s already climbing its way up the ranks of the Indoor Football League. Take yourself out to the air-conditioned ball game and see what indoor football is all about before the season ends! 6 p.m. Saturday, June 15. Tucson Arena, 260 S. Church Ave. $10.  Details here.

Cool Summer Nights at the Desert Museum: Pollinator Party! You know what’s really the bee’s knees? Bees! And birds, butterflies, bats and beetles. They’re all pollinators, which means they play an important role in helping our desert ecosystem (and other ecosystems) thrive. In celebration of National Pollinator Week (June 17-23), the Desert Museum has got a night full of local honey samples, Mr. Nature’s pollination-themed songs and even a spelling bee! Get practicing on words like “Euathropoda,” the phylum bees belong to. Plus, Kim Franklin, Desert Museum research scientist, will be talking about the 700+ species of bees in the Sonoran Desert, from the smallest to the biggest, from the wildest to the most domesticated. Easy. Breezy. Beautiful. 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday, June 15. Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, 2021 N. Kinney Road. $21.95 GA, $19.95 seniors 65+, $8.95 for kids 3 to 12, free for kids under 3, $17.95 for active or retired military, $16.95 for Arizona/Sonora residents. Details here.

The Quick and The Dead.
See Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe return to Old Tucson! Hosted by The Loft Cinema and Old Tucson, this screening takes place at the very location The Quick and the Dead was filmed. This ’90s Western focuses on a gunfighter who enters a dueling tournament to avenge her father’s death. 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, June 15. 201 S. Kinney Road. $5. Please bring your own seating. Bleacher seating is also available. Details here.

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Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. This 2008 miniseries was one of the first major productions created exclusively for online publication. It features Neil Patrick Harris as an aspiring super villain, with supporting roles by Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day. Casa Video Film Bar is hosting this movie, which is “as dramatic as it is fun.” 7 to 8 p.m. Saturday, June 15. 2905 E. Speedway Blvd. Details here.

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A Mighty Wind. From the team who brought you This Is Spinal Tap, A Mighty Wind is similar in mockumentary style, but this time takes on folk music! The film is a parody of the American folk music revival of the ’60s, and features Catherine O’Hara, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer and more. The Fox Theatre invites you behind the scenes! 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, June 15. 17 W. Congress Street. $5. Details here.

Father’s Day Screenings at The Loft Cinema. There are two polar-opposite movies showing at The Loft, so how you view your dad (or better yet, how he views you) will decide what movie you see. To Kill A Mockingbird. This movie, almost as iconic as the book it’s based on, features one of history’s greatest dads, Atticus Finch, played by Gregory Peck in an Oscar-winning performance. Finch stands for truth, and embodies hope. 2 to 4:20 p.m. Eraserhead. Perfectly capturing the nausea and dizziness of parenthood (as well as modern living), David Lynch’s surreal film debut just makes sense in black and white. 7:30 to 9:15 p.m. Sunday, June 16. 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. $8. Details here.

Events compiled by Tirion Morris, Emily Dieckman, B.S. Eliot and Jeff Gardner.

RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment

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