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Special Events for 2025

Mark your calendars now for these fun events! And as always, we'll send you an invitation and program links before each one.

Bonus Event: Rockin’ Minerals — Family Fun Fair and Mineral Sale:
Saturday and Sunday, January 18 & 19 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. daily on grounds.

Start your own mineral collection at stations around grounds and enjoy our mineral sale to add more! Coati Kids Club members (and two accompanying adults/siblings 5 and younger) get free admission to the events either day. Just show your card or tell your name to the Ticket Window.

Las Milpitas Family Discovery Day:
Saturday, February 8, 9:30 to noon, Las Milpitas Community Farm, 2405 S Cottonwood Lane.

This 6-acre farm, run by the Community Food Bank along the banks of the Santa Cruz River, teaches people how to grow delicious produce. It is also a great space for pollinators and other wildlife to thrive. We’ll get to know the farm and each other with some free time to play. Pack a lunch and stay to enjoy this beautiful urban farm!

Desert Dinosaurs:
Saturday, March 1, 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the Ed. Annex Classrooms 1-2 and around grounds.

It wasn’t a desert when dinosaurs roamed around here, but the Desert Museum is a great setting to enjoy our visiting exhibit, Dinos in the Desert. Put on your paleontologist hats and uncover the mysteries of dinosaurs, including our State Dinosaur, Sonorasaurus. The Desert Museum was a big part of Sonorasaurus’ excavation and still houses its fossilized bones. We’ll go behind-the-scenes to see some of these and other amazing fossils as part of our explorations.

Bonus Event: Biodiversity Party
Saturday, April 12, 8:30 a.m. to noon, around grounds.

The Sonoran Desert is full of life, and what better way to appreciate it than at the Desert Museum! The Museum is partnering with many organizations to participate in Pima County’s City Nature Challenge. Gather your friends, family, and fellow nature nerds for a day of searching, scouting and documenting the wild species around grounds! Coati Kids Club members (and two accompanying adults/siblings 5 and younger) get free admission to the events either day. Just show your card or tell your name to the Ticket Window.

April Fools — Plant and Animal Tricksters:
Saturday, April 19, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. in the Art Institute Classroom 3 and around grounds.

April Fool’s Day just passed, but survival is no joke for desert animals and plants. Sometimes trickery is the best strategy! Discover some of the desert’s practical jokers and their fascinating stories of deception.

Animal Mothers:
Saturday, May 10, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. in the Ed. Annex Classrooms 1-2 and around grounds.

As we celebrate mothers this weekend, let’s consider our fellow desert creatures and their mothering methods (or lack thereof). We will meet one of our keepers and a special guest to appreciate animal mothers and the keepers who care for the Museum’s animals with motherly love!

Solstice Celebration:
Saturday, June 21, 4:30 to 6:00 p.m., in the Ed. Annex Classrooms 1-2.

Let’s dance to celebrate the longest day of the year in this special creative movement and art program. Then stay and enjoy the activities for the Museum’s Cool Summer Night from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.

Santa Rita Overnight Adventure:
Saturday, August 30, 3:00 p.m. to Sunday, August 31, 10:00 a.m. at Florida Canyon Station.

Florida Canyon in the Santa Rita Mountains, with its stream, riparian trees, and mountain slopes, is a hidden treasure of plant and animal life. And the summer monsoon brings out their best! We will stay in the cabins/bunkhouse of the historic Santa Rita Experimental Range and look for a diversity of creatures by day and evening, plus enjoy campfire songs, yummy food, and more. $70/person. Space is limited. Individual transportation required.

Migration Exploration, Saturday, October 4, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. in the Ed. Annex Classrooms 1-2 and around grounds.

Fall is a busy time for migration — one of the most incredible occurrences in nature. How do animals know where to go and when it’s time to leave? How do they prepare for and survive their journey? We’ll explore species that pass through our region and uncover the answers to these questions and more.

Fantastic Fibers: Saturday, November 8, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. in the Ed. Annex Classrooms 1-2 and around grounds.

Before hardware and clothing stores came to the Sonoran Desert, where would you have gone to get rope or cloth? You would have made them from plant and animal fibers! From agave to yucca, and cotton to animal fur, we’ll weave together how native people have used these fibers for centuries.

More Events of Interest:

• Save Our Saguaros, February through March. Get involved in activities to protect our desert from buffelgrass, learn about this threat, and what we can do to help. Participate in a buffelgrass pull! Find out more
• Summer Museum Explorers kids’ camps. Coati Kids Club members receive a discount!