The Valley’s wellspring of cultural diversions – festivals, the arts, fitness, et al. – has never been deeper or more diverse. Grab your trunks and dive in!
The Staples
Best 10K/Marathon/Race: Pat’s Run
Also getting votes in our office-wide poll: Runners Den Pancake Run, Turkey Trot. pattillmanfoundation.org/pats-run
Yoga Studio: radi8 HOT YOGA
Also has a much-admired cold plunge program. radi8love.com
Music Fest: M3F
Still our pick for best local fest. On the horizon: Dreamy Draw Festival. m3ffest.com
Food Festival: PHOENIX magazine Dish Fest
Are we biased? Maybe a tad. phoenixmag.com/dishfest
Live-Music Venue: Crescent Ballroom
Seminal Downtown concert hub still wins the hearts and ears of BOV staffers. crescentphx.com
Museum: Phoenix Art Museum
Heard Museum and MIM also popular among BOV insiders. phxart.org
Best Place to Channel Your Inner Florist
Flower Bar
Learn to make dazzling floral arrangements with the Flower Bar team (all designers are certified master florists), centered around a specific flower, theme or technique. Bring a bottle of wine to enjoy while you learn the tricks of the trade, and then take home your handiwork. 4200 N. Craftsman Ct., Scottsdale, 480-463-4887, azflowerbar.com
Best Place to Try on Rancher and Cowboy Hats
Rancher Hat Bar
Grab your posse – read: bachelorette party – and head to Old Town Scottsdale to create a one-of-a-kind hat from more than 50 styles and colors with added accessories like ribbons, charms, pins and feathers. Find the perfect fit and the staff will design your hat while you wait. Can’t make it to the shop? Virtual design sessions available. 4225 N. Scottsdale Rd., Scottsdale, 480-334-1076, rancherhatbar.com
Best Corporate Bonding Experience
Guided Hikes with Wild Bunch Desert Guides
Forget trust falls and scavenger hunts. To really connect with your colleagues, embark on an adventure in the Sonoran Desert with Wild Bunch Desert Guides. The boutique outdoors company caters to groups – corporate, familial and otherwise – and customizes each trip to you. Single-day tours include hiking, mountain biking or both. 602-663-0842, wildbunchdesertguides.com
Best Monday-Night Entertainment
Harkins Secret Movie
There is so much content competing for our attention these days. Choosing what to watch is frankly overwhelming. Which is why Harkins’ “secret movie” is genius. Once a month, you can luxuriate in the absence of decision-making for a night and enjoy a surprise feature film. At five bucks a ticket, who cares if it’s any good? To paraphrase Roger Ebert: “Even a bad movie is better than real life.” harkins.com/theatres
Best Way to Learn How to Salsa
Dance Lessons at Barcoa Agaveria
Every Tuesday at the Downtown Phoenix mezcal-tequila hot spot Barcoa, Que Candela Dance Co. hosts beginner salsa and bachata dance lessons ($15/person). The 90-minute class starts at 7:30 p.m. and is followed by an everybody-is-welcome dance party where you can show off your new moves and fancy footwork. 829 N. First Ave., Phoenix, barcoaphx.com
Best Film Series
Cult Classics
Hosted by veteran Valley film buffs Victor Moreno and Jasper “Jasperino” Crawford, this monthly repertory film series has been bringing cult favorites to the big screen at Scottsdale Quarter’s Landmark Theatre since 2011. Past screenings have included The Shining, Gremlins, Spaceballs, The Goonies and Edward Scissorhands. The Cult Classics crew also creates original art prints for every film, which are available for purchase at each screening. cultclassicsaz.com
Best Back to the Future Time Capsule
Dr. Brown Enterprises
Great Scott! “Get back in time” at this downtown Mesa showroom dedicated to the beloved Back to the Future films. A replica of the retrofitted DeLorean time machine – complete with flux capacitor, time circuits and OUTATIME vanity plate – and other props and memorabilia from the movies freckle this fun tribute to the influential sci-fi franchise. 37 W. Main St., Mesa, 480-389-6989, drbrownenterprises.com
Best Place for Birding
Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch in Gilbert
Are you looking for a place your out-of-town friends will remember from their visit? This 110-acre East Valley spot has it all: walking trails with stunning scenery, public fishing, more than 300 species of birds and an observatory with a telescope that allows visitors to see the stars. 2757 E. Guadalupe Rd., Gilbert, 480-503-6263, gilbertaz.gov
Best Local Dupe for French Lavender Fields
The Lavender Farms at Chateau de Vie
In addition to guided tours of the eponymous chateau – 15,000-square-feet of stained-glass windows, copper ceilings, hand-carved wooden furniture and secret passageways – guests can stop by the farm store to purchase products made from the estate’s French, Spanish and fern leaf lavender pickings. Hundreds of hibiscus, honeysuckle and rose bushes, as well as groves of citrus and pine trees, also populate the 10-acre agricultural oasis. Frolic through them to trick your Instagram followers into thinking you spent the summer in Provence. 1220 N. Kyrene Rd., Chandler, 623-285-3318, thelavenderfarms.com
BOV Trio
JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa
5350 E. Marriott Dr., Phoenix, 480-293-5000, marriott.com
1. Best Resort Restaurants
If we had to have A Gentleman in Moscow moment, we’d hope to be ensconced in this North Phoenix resort for its restaurants alone. Tía Carmen (Southwest meets pan-Latin) and Kembara (elevated Southeast Asian street food) are the scrumptious creations of Top Chef star Angelo Sosa and his business partner, Mark Stone.
2. Best Water Park
Desert Ridge was already known for its lazy river and water slides. This year, it upped the ante with the debut of AquaRidge, a 140,000-square-foot labyrinth of water fun. Bonus for grown-ups: the adults-only Sky Island and Veuve Clicquot cabanas.
3. Best Pina Colada
What’s a pool day without a pool drink? The Kokopelli Piña Colada is the star of the outside bar menu, loaded with coconut and vanilla rums, coconut and a float of dark rum and topped with toasted coconut. Order the AquaRidge Colada for it to be served in a frozen coconut with an extra shot of black rum.
Best Way to Experience Burning Man Without Going to Burning Man
Walter Studios
Perhaps the coolest thing about Burning Man, the annual counterculture soirée in the Nevada desert, is the variety of looks it gives you. Cyborg rave in one tent, sage-scented Buddhist napping den in the next. Valley physician Kirk Strawn, a BM devotee who created many of the event’s famed art cars under his Walter Productions banner, knows this as well as anyone, and incorporated the ethos into his fantastic, multi-room Downtown nightclub and event space. There’s a look for everyone. 747 W. Roosevelt St., Phoenix, 602-586-5906, walterstudios.com
Studio A
As the name suggests, Walter Studios is set in the former HQ of a 1950s movie soundstage called Canyon Films. Today, “Studio A is our [concert] stage with a large, right-angled cyclorama,” Strawn says.
Studio B
The former control room for the Canyon Films recording studio. “The Walter team beautifully restored the space and now it serves as the main artist green room,” Strawn says.
Green Room
“This room serves as a second green room for artists when their crew exceeds the capacity of Studio B.”
Joy of Purpose
“The former film archive room was filled with racks of film canisters,” Strawn says. “Now it is a trippy hangout spot transformed by the incredible artist Laurie Shapiro.”
Honey Bar
Sales from the on-site bar benefit the not-for-profit arm of Walter Productions, the Walter Hive.
Library
Walter designers filled this quiet, bibliographic chill space with “hundreds of books, and comfy seating complete[s] the effect,” Strawn says.
Blue Bar
Now the Studio’s prime dance-party spot, this was formerly a recording equipment room. “Since that equipment was air-conditioned from below, we installed lighting under the floor and an overhead 3D LED matrix.”
Lounge
Formerly the Canyon Films editing bays and production offices. “Now it houses a gallery and space to eat food from the restaurant,” Strawn says.
Patio
For the compound’s sprawling patio, “we planted 50 trees on the property, providing respite and shade,” Strawn says. You won’t find those at Burning Man.
