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Food & Drink: Most restaurants serve American or American/Continental food but Mexican, Chinese and Italian cuisine is also available, sometimes as a ‘Southwest style’ fusion using Mexican spices. Drinking is legal in any licensed bar, restaurant, hotel or inn weekdays 0600-0100 and Sun 1200-0100. Minimum legal drinking age is 21. Many supermarkets and drug stores sell alcoholic beverages. Most liquor stores close at 0100. Possession and consumption of alcohol are prohibited on the Navajo, Hopi and other reservations.
Theatre & Concerts: Herberger Theater Center in Phoenix is a US$19-million development that hosts the Arizona Theatre Company, Arizona Opera and Ballet Arizona (all of which are based in Phoenix), as well as the Actors’ Theatre of Phoenix. Touring Broadway shows can be seen at Phoenix’s historic Orpheum Theatre, recently restored for US$14 million, and the circular Gammage Auditorium, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, in nearby Tempe.
Nightlife: Phoenix and Tucson have various nightclubs, and there is evening entertainment at many resorts in the area. Scottsdale’s nightlife is more concentrated, while the university crowd go out in Tempe, where there are good jazz clubs on Mill Avenue.
Shopping: Phoenix has excellent shopping facilities, including Biltmore Fashion Park and the Arizona Center. Other good shopping centres in the metro area are at the Scottsdale Fashion Square and the upscale Italian-style Borgata, also in Scottsdale, and along pedestrianised Mill Avenue and at the Arizona Mills outlet mall in Tempe. Special buys in Arizona include Navajo silver and turquoise jewellery, sand paintings, rug weaving, paintings, and Hopi silver jewellery, kachina carvings, pottery, basketry and paintings. Tucson is a good place to pick up many of these items, as well as reasonably priced goods from Mexican import stores.
Sport: Home games during the American football season are held at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe between the Arizona Cardinals and other visiting teams. A number of Arizona cities provides the training ground for some excellent major-league baseball teams every March, although none could match the Phoenix-based Arizona Diamondbacks, who beat the New York Yankees at the Bank One Ballpark to win the 2001 World Series. The Phoenix Suns play basketball in the America West Arena, where hockey games between the Phoenix Coyotes and visiting teams are held in winter.
Horseracing can be seen at Turf Paradise in Phoenix and Rillito Downs in Tucson. Car-racing takes place in Tucson at Corona Speedway and Tucson Dragway and in Phoenix at Firebird Raceway and Phoenix International Raceway, where NASCAR races are held. Rodeos are popular in Arizona and there are over 25 major rodeo sites throughout the state. Skiing is available in the winter at The Arizona Snow Bowl near Flagstaff, Mount Lemmon (an hour outside of Tucson) and Sunrise Ski Area outside Pinetop/Lakeside. Other sports available include archery, horseback riding, bowling, fishing, golf, hiking, hunting, swimming, river tubing, hang-gliding, ballooning and tennis.
Special Events: The annual Navajo Nation Fair is the largest Native American fair in the USA. It takes place in Window Rock, capital of the Navajo Nation, for five days in September. It includes lasso competitions, rodeos, horseracing, arts and crafts exhibitions, country & western dances, song and dance competitions, livestock and agricultural exhibits, food and a big parade. Other special events taking place in 2003 include:
Jan 18-19 Sierra Stampede (all-women’s professional rodeo), Sierra Vista. Jan 20-26 PGA Phoenix Open, Scottsdale. Feb 14-23 All-Arabian Horse Show, Scottsdale. Feb 16-23 La Fiesta de los Vaqueros (rodeo), Tucson. Mar 13-16 National Festival of the West, Scottsdale. Apr 10-13 Culinary Festival, Scottsdale. May 24-26 Wyatt Earp Days, Tombstone. Jul Frontier Days and World’s Oldest Rodeo, Prescott. Jul 5-6 70th Annual Hopi Marketplace, Flagstaff. Aug 119th Annual World’s Oldest Continuous Rodeo, Payson. Aug 2-3 54th Annual Navajo Marketplace, Flagstaff. Aug 30-Sep 1 Rendezvous of Gunfighters, Tombstone. Oct Arizona State Fair, Phoenix; London Bridge Days, Lake Havasu. Oct 17-19 Helldorado Days, Tombstone.
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