Evening Exhibit Closing
Some exhibits close before 10 p.m. so the animals can sleep. The Walk-in Aviary, Hummingbird Aviary, Parrot Exhibit, Desert Loop Trail (coyote, javelina), Cactus Garden, Agave Garden, Bee Exhibit, People & Pollinators, and the Labyrinth Garden close at the following seasonal times:
- Jun 4 — Aug 6: 7:00 p.m.
- Aug 13 — Aug 27: 6:30 p.m.
Restaurant Hours
Gift Shop Hours
The Gallery will close at 9:00 p.m.
Photos above by Rhonda Spencer and Josh Schachter
Cool Summer Nights
2013
Summer Saturday Evenings ONLY - June, July & August
Special Programming (usually begins at 6:00 p.m.)
A nighttime visit at the Desert Museum is completely different from a daytime visit. You'll experience the Sonoran Desert in an entirely new way! Animals are more active, scorpions glow under blacks lights and nighttime pollinators abound! Each Summer Saturday Evening is unique with its own theme and a variety of special nighttime activities.
Ongoing Nightly Events on Cool Summer Nights
Look for Museum Docents and Jr. Docents interpreting live animals, celestial desert skies, fluorescent minerals, animal eye shine, Sonoran Desert insects, night sounds, bats, kissing bugs, scorpions, and/or rattlesnakes.
Check the Plan Your Visit board at the Entrance Patio for times and locations!
Weekly Themes & Activity Schedule
(See previous Saturday schedules)
June 22nd — Native Animals & Music
Spend relaxing time with your family learning about desert animals and enjoying native music.
Scheduled Activities:
- 6:30 and 8:00 p.m. Animal Interpretations — Meet & Greet
- Desert Museum staff and docents present a selection of native animals explaining their natural behaviors and habitats. This week you'll get an "up close" perspective and see animals like skunks, chuckwallas, ringtails, and barn owls.
- 6:30 and 8:00 p.m. North American Flute Circle
- Members from three Tucson North American Flute circles perform this plaintive and relaxing music in an intimate garden setting.
June 29th — H2Oopla — Water Conservation and Sustainability
Enjoy a variety of fun activities throughout the Museum grounds focused on living in harmony with the desert.
Kids ages 4 to 12: Print out and color this Desert Scene and bring it to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum after 5 p.m. on June 29th, 2013 to recieve one free admission for children ages 4 through 12. Limit of one child per paying adult.
Scheduled Activities:
- 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
- Displays & activities throughout the grounds featuring Citizen Scientist, Recycled Art, Assn. of Landscape Designers, Borderlands Habitat Restoration Initiative, Pima County's River of Words, UofA's Project WET, Arizona Native Plant Society, and Warden Aquarium, Rivers to the Sea. (Check times upon arrival for touch tank activity.)
- 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
- Banjo Blasters — Making instruments from everyday items.
- 7:00 to 8:00 p.m.
- Banjo Blasters — Bring old-time tunes alive
- 7:00 p.m.
- Watershed film, produced & narrated by Robert Redford
- 8:00 to 9:00 p.m.
- Banjo Blasters — Making instruments from everyday items
- 8:15 p.m.
- Ocean Oasis: Two Worlds, One Paradise, film produced & directed by Soames Summerhays
July 6th — Mountain Lion Naming Celebration
Tonight is the night we announce winner of our mountain lion naming contest and the name of our new mountain lion cub! Come out to see the new cub and join the fun!
Scheduled Activities:
- 6:15 and 8:15 p.m. Live and (sort of) on the Loose
- This live animal presentation showcases many misunderstood desert animals including rattlesnakes, Mexican beaded lizards, and Gila monsters.
- 7:30 p.m. Mountain Lion Naming Celebration
- In the Warden Oasis Theater
- 6:30 and 8:00 p.m. North American Flutes
- Members from three Tucson North American Flute circles perform this plaintive and relaxing music in an intimate garden setting.
July 13th — Family Fun: Astronomy and Desert Animals
The clear desert skies of Tucson are the perfect place to study celestial wonders. This evening is the perfect chance to experience astronomy activities as a family.
Scheduled Activities:
- 6:00 to 9:30 p.m. Family Astronomy Fun
- Learn about stars, asteroids, planets and gravity with a variety of hands-on activities.
- 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. Viewing Telescopes
- Astronomy experts will be on-hand to show you the heavens and answer all your questions. (Weather permitting)
- 6:30 and 8:00 p.m. North American Flute Circle
- Members from three Tucson North American Flute circles perform this plaintive and relaxing music in an intimate garden setting.
July 20th — Insect Insanity and Photography
If you're buggy for bugs, you'll love this evening featuring lectures by "the Bugman", Dr. Carl Olson, as well as a chance to get up close and personal with arthropods. This evening also offers a FREE Macro Photography Class — space is limited to 263 persons.
Scheduled Activities:
- 6:00 p.m. Macro Photography with Jay Pierstorff and Rhonda Spencer
- Learn how to take extreme close-up photos of bugs, coins, stamps, flowers and more. If it is tiny, there is a way to make great images with almost any kind of camera. Jay and Rhonda show you how it's done in this 45 minute class for photography enthusiasts of all skill levels.
- 7:00 and 8:00 p.m. The Bugman!
- Learn new facts and dispel myths about Sonoran Desert insects. Join the "Bugman", University of Arizona Entomologist Dr. Carl Olson as he gives two presentations about the 6, 8, and more-legged creatures of our desert.
- 6:00 to 9:30 p.m. Insect Insanity
- Get a bugs-eye view of many of the arthropods that live in the Sonoran Desert. Experts will be on-hand to answer all your arthropod questions.
- 6:30 and 8:00 p.m. North American Flute Circle
- Members from three Tucson North American Flute circles perform this plaintive and relaxing music in an intimate garden setting.
July 27th — Physics Factory & Music
Physics is fun! Experience the excitement of it through stage shows and hands-on presentations with the Physics Factory, back for another evening of fun! For a relaxing moment, pause to enjoy North American Flute music.
Scheduled Activities:
- 6:30 and 8:00 p.m. Physics Factory
- The Physics Factory is a team of scientists and educators with a common goal: to share their enthusiasm for physics with students, teachers and the community. Through a combination of hands-on learning and eye-popping stage shows, The Physics Factory demonstrates that physics is an exciting process of discovery and invention, and a rewarding career.
- 6:30 and 8:00 p.m. North American Flute Circle
- Members from three Tucson North American Flute circles perform this plaintive and relaxing music in an intimate garden setting.
August 3rd — Native Animals & Music
Spend relaxing time with your family learning about misunderstood desert animals and enjoying native music.
Scheduled Activities:
- 6:30 and 8:00 p.m. Live and (sort of) on the Loose
- This live animal presentation showcases many misunderstood desert animals including rattlesnakes, Mexican beaded lizards, and Gila monsters.
- 6:30 and 8:00 p.m. North American Flute Circle
- Members from three Tucson North American Flute circles perform this plaintive and relaxing music in an intimate garden setting.
August 10th — Desert Safety for Companion Critters
Learn how to keep your companion animal friends safe in the Sonoran Desert when the Humane Society of Southern Arizona visits the Desert Museum! This evening will include informative presentations as well as fun activities for kids.
Scheduled Activities:
- Time TBD Humane Society Workshop
- Humane Society Educators host a presentation on how to keep yourself and your companion animals safe when you're in the desert. You'll also learn how to respectfully and safely interact with wild friends, too.
- Time TBD Activities for Kids
- Do a fun craft activity and enjoy an outdoor scavenger hunt!
August 17th — Lightning Photography and Teacher Appreciation Night
Learn about the thrilling world of lightning photography and take in some soothing North American flute music.
Scheduled Activities:
- 6:30 and 8:00 p.m. Lightning Photography and Much More!
- Dr. Ralph Wetmore has chased and photographed lightning throughout southern Arizona. Hear first-hand about the challenges, dangers and unpredictability of lightning photography, delve into the science of lightning, and enjoy the beauty and power of Ralph's images of lightning coursing across the sky.
- 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. Teacher Appreciation Night
- 6:30 and 8:00 p.m. North American Flute Circle
- Members from three Tucson North American Flute circles perform this plaintive and relaxing music in an intimate garden setting.
August 24th — Cultural Celebration
Celebrate cultural diversity! Through a partnership between The Hopi Foundation's Owl and Panther Project, Tucson Museum of Art, the Tohono O'odham Nation and the Desert Museum, experience dance, music, and dialogue on this very special night.
Scheduled Activities:
- 6:00 to 6:30 p.m.
- Blessing and Welcome
- 6:30 and 8:00 p.m. North American Flute Circle
- Members from three Tucson North American Flute circles perform this plaintive and relaxing music in the Desert Garden at 6:30 and the Warden Oasis Theater at 8:00.
- 6:30 to 7:00 p.m.
- Nepali and Middle Eastern Dancing and Music
- 7:00 to 8:00 p.m.
- Tohono O'odham Traditional Dance Group
August 31st — Photography and Astronomy
The clear desert skies of Tucson are the perfect place to study celestial wonders. This evening is the perfect chance to experience astronomy activities as a family. If photography is your passion, plan on attending one of tonight's two photography classes taught by ASDM Art Institute Instructor, Jay Pierstorff and ASDM Photographer Rhonda Spencer.
Scheduled Activities:
- 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. Family Astronomy Fun
- Learn about stars, asteroids, planets and gravity with a variety of hands-on activities.
- 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. Viewing Telescopes
- Astronomy experts will be on-hand to show you the heavens and answer all your questions. (Weather permitting)
- 7:00 p.m. Take Photos Like a Pro!
- Professional photographers employ techniques and tricks that make their photos stand out. Now, those secrets can be yours in this 45 minute class for photography enthusiasts of all skill levels, regardless of the camera you own.
- 8:00 p.m. Night Photography
- Take exciting photos after the sun goes down! Learn about light painting, time exposures, Scorpions and black light, turning night into day, and photographing the moon and stars. No matter what kind of camera you have you can take great photos! (45 minutes) The entire class will also create a light painting photo.
- 6:30 and 8:00 p.m. North American Flute Circle
- Members from three Tucson North American Flute circles perform this plaintive and relaxing music in an intimate garden setting.
