Upcoming Events

Let's celebrate the spectacular starry skies! Tucson is arguably the best city for stargazing in the United States. View the wonders of the night skies at one of our telescope stations and enjoy space-themed activities and lectures.

Tonight's Schedule:

6:00 - 10:00 p.m.
Hands-on Activities and Education:
Discover the celestial skies through telescopes throughout grounds. With experts on-hand, learn about what you're viewing and ask all your burning questions!

Warden Oasis Theater:
7:00 p.m. "The Night Sky Above The Desert: Astronomy and the Tohono O'odham" by Sadie Carmen of Noir Lab.
8:00 p.m. "Beyond Astronomy: Why Saving the Night Sky Matters to Us All" by Ruskin Hartley of DarkSky International.

Coati Kids Club families are invited to a special event in our education classrooms and around the grounds: Solstice Celebration.

Celebrate and explore the desert dwellers that call our grounds home. Many Sonoran Desert flora and fauna are more active during summer nights, like the evening primrose or kangaroo rats. Witness the desert coming alive at night as nocturnal animals awake. Bats perform aerial acrobatics in pursuit of dinner, otters splash around in their pond, and scorpions glow green under black light. Grab a refreshing drink and wander, experience a live animal encounter, scamper in Packrat Playhouse, feel the touch of a stingray, or participate in special nightly activities!

Tonight's Schedule:
First 200 guests receive a FREE blacklight flashlight! Explore the desert dwellers hidden in the night.

Presentations in the Warden Oasis Theater:
6:30 p.m. Sonoran Animal Spotlight
7:30 p.m. Sonoran Animal Spotlight

Did you know the Desert Museum has its own Art Institute and two galleries on-site? Explore the world of the arts throughout grounds!

Tonight's Schedule:

6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Witness the magic of plein air artists across grounds and enjoy live music!

6:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Hands-on Activities and Education:
Coloring station, art scavenger hunt with prizes at the Ironwood Gallery, and paint your very own 3D gila monster!

Discover the many colors of the Sonoran Desert as we observe the world around us through the lenses of culture, art, and science. During the day we will explore the Desert Museum grounds, have up close live animal experiences, learn with Tohono O’odham and NOIRlab teachers, as well as create projects out of natural materials using nature as our inspiration. Each day brings a new adventure as we explore the colors of the desert!

Incredible lightning storms and the intoxicating aroma of creosote after the first rain are two of our favorite things about Monsoon! Meet experienced storm chasers and photographers and learn about this summertime season. Bring your flashlight and explore, grab a local beer and wander, experience a live animal encounter, scamper in Packrat Playhouse, and feel the touch of a stingray.

Signature Drink — Electric Lemonade

To the desert and beyond! Our hands-on, minds-on camps will open your eyes to the Sonoran Desert region’s diverse land and sea. Campers will explore every nook and cranny of the Museum as they use science to make their own desert discoveries, observe live animals up close, create art, and chill out in our Packrat Playhouse.

All things reptilian are in the spotlight tonight! Learn about the Tortoise Adoption Program and meet some of the available tortoises in our program. Listen to expert herpetologists speak in the Warden Oasis Theater. Bring your flashlight and explore, grab a local beer and wander, experience a live animal encounter, scamper in Packrat Playhouse, and feel the touch of a stingray.

Round two of celebrating the spectacular starry skies, but this time we're sprinkling in some extra stardust (aka music and minerals)! View the wonders of the night skies at one of our telescope stations and enjoy space-themed lectures, live rock music, and visiting our friends from the Tucson Gem and Mineral Society.

Tonight's Schedule:
6:00 - 10:00 p.m.
Hands-on Activities and Education:
Discover the celestial skies with Museum Docents and Tucson through telescopes throughout grounds. Learn about gems and minerals from our tabling partners.

Warden Oasis Theater:
6:30 p.m. Tucson School of Rock performing live!
8:300 p.m. Talk by Dr. Pierre Haenecour of the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (Stardust, OSIRIS-REx)

Discover the Flavors and Traditions of the Sonoran Desert! Ever baked with mesquite flour or tasted pickled cholla buds? These unique desert ingredients aren’t just delicious—they can boost food security, improve health, and protect the environment. Join us for a flavorful celebration of the Sonoran Desert’s rich food heritage! Sample creative bites from local chefs featuring desert-adapted ingredients and learn about the history and future of desert foodways. Come explore how the resilient flavors of the desert can nourish both the body and the land.

Tonight's Schedule:
6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Desert-inspired dishes in the Ironwood Restaurant and Ocotillo Café. Try new dishes prepared by the Desert Museum’s new Chef.

6:30 - 8:00 p.m. Desert Food Tastings in Collaboration with Tucson City of Gastronomy
Explore dishes crafted by local chefs using local ingredients like mesquite, prickly pear, cholla buds, and tepary beans. Discover how the desert’s bounty can inspire delicious and resilient cuisine. Talk to chefs, learn what inspires them, and be inspired yourself! (Limited to one tasting sample per guest.)

6:30 - 7:30 p.m. The Sonoran Supermarket
Join us for a fun and family-friendly presentation where we’ll explore the amazing edible plants of the Sonoran Desert! Discover how desert plants like agave, prickly pear, and mesquite have nourished desert peoples for generations. Through engaging stories, hands-on demonstrations, and interactive Q&A, kids and adults alike will learn how these hardy plants survive in harsh desert conditions and why they’re so important for local ecosystems and food traditions. Come learn how the Sonoran Desert is nature’s own supermarket!

6:30 - 9:30 p.m. Pop-up Chili sale

6:30 - 9:30 p.m. Educational activities
Learn from our partners — Tucson Village Farm, Las Milpitas Community Farm and more!
8:00 - 9:00 p.m. Chile, Clove and Cardamom: A Gastronomic Journey Into the Fragrances and Flavors of Desert Cuisines — Presentation and Book Signing


Signature Drink — The Desert Bird

Let’s celebrate incredible insects and amazing arthropods! The Sonoran Desert is a hot spot of insect diversity and this is your chance to meet them. Get a bugs-eye view of many of the million species of arthropods that make the Sonoran Desert their home. Bring your flashlight and explore, grab a local beer and wander, experience a live animal encounter, scamper in Packrat Playhouse, and feel the touch of a stingray.

Become a certified Young Naturalist at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum! Gain confidence, form connections, and explore careers as you learn about the Sonoran Desert. Build skills in plant, animal, and mineral identification, nature conservation, and outdoor safety. Discover ecological relationships through nature journaling. Learn and use your art, science, and nature skills with the Desert Museum. See yourself as a part of the ecosystem around you and earn an official Young Naturalist Certificate!

Are you feeling batty? Come celebrate the only flying mammals — bats! The evening will be filled with fun, educational activities, talks, and crafts designed to help you better appreciate these amazing aerial acrobats! Bring your flashlight and explore, grab a local beer and wander, experience a live animal encounter, scamper in Packrat Playhouse, and feel the touch of a stingray.

Tonight's Schedule:

6:00 - 9:00 p.m. Batty Facts and Educational Activities in the Baldwin Education Building
Chat with experts from Kartchner Caverns and learn with the Children's Museum Tucson.

Presentations in the Warden Oasis Theater:
6:30 p.m. Basically Bats
Are bats flying rodents? Are they blind? Do they fly into people’s hair? If you find yourself unsure of these and other bat-related questions, come learn with Crystal Holcombe at this fun theater presentation.
8:00 p.m. Talk by Susan Chappel of Kartchner Caverns State Park.

Coati Kids Club families are invited to a special event in our education classrooms and around the grounds: Santa Rita Overnight Adventure.

Become a certified Young Naturalist at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum! Gain confidence, form connections, and explore careers as you learn about the Sonoran Desert. Build skills in plant, animal, and mineral identification, nature conservation, and outdoor safety. Discover ecological relationships through nature journaling. Learn and use your art, science, and nature skills with the Desert Museum. See yourself as a part of the ecosystem around you and earn an official Young Naturalist Certificate!

Become a certified Young Naturalist at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum! Gain confidence, form connections, and explore careers as you learn about the Sonoran Desert. Build skills in plant, animal, and mineral identification, nature conservation, and outdoor safety. Discover ecological relationships through nature journaling. Learn and use your art, science, and nature skills with the Desert Museum. See yourself as a part of the ecosystem around you and earn an official Young Naturalist Certificate!

Coati Kids Club families are invited to a special event in our education classrooms and around the grounds: Migration Exploration.

Become a certified Young Naturalist at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum! Gain confidence, form connections, and explore careers as you learn about the Sonoran Desert. Build skills in plant, animal, and mineral identification, nature conservation, and outdoor safety. Discover ecological relationships through nature journaling. Learn and use your art, science, and nature skills with the Desert Museum. See yourself as a part of the ecosystem around you and earn an official Young Naturalist Certificate!

Girl Scouts and accompanying adults explore the grounds and complete activities to earn their naturalist badges. Registration is through the Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona.

Become a certified Young Naturalist at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum! Gain confidence, form connections, and explore careers as you learn about the Sonoran Desert. Build skills in plant, animal, and mineral identification, nature conservation, and outdoor safety. Discover ecological relationships through nature journaling. Learn and use your art, science, and nature skills with the Desert Museum. See yourself as a part of the ecosystem around you and earn an official Young Naturalist Certificate!

Become a certified Young Naturalist at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum! Gain confidence, form connections, and explore careers as you learn about the Sonoran Desert. Build skills in plant, animal, and mineral identification, nature conservation, and outdoor safety. Discover ecological relationships through nature journaling. Learn and use your art, science, and nature skills with the Desert Museum. See yourself as a part of the ecosystem around you and earn an official Young Naturalist Certificate!

Coati Kids Club families are invited to a special event in our education classrooms and around the grounds: Migration Exploration.

Become a certified Young Naturalist at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum! Gain confidence, form connections, and explore careers as you learn about the Sonoran Desert. Build skills in plant, animal, and mineral identification, nature conservation, and outdoor safety. Discover ecological relationships through nature journaling. Learn and use your art, science, and nature skills with the Desert Museum. See yourself as a part of the ecosystem around you and earn an official Young Naturalist Certificate!

Become a certified Young Naturalist at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum! Gain confidence, form connections, and explore careers as you learn about the Sonoran Desert. Build skills in plant, animal, and mineral identification, nature conservation, and outdoor safety. Discover ecological relationships through nature journaling. Learn and use your art, science, and nature skills with the Desert Museum. See yourself as a part of the ecosystem around you and earn an official Young Naturalist Certificate!