Staying home in Phoenix, nice and warm, for Labor Day Weekend? Here are some fun, free & cheap things to enjoy in the Valley of the Sun during the long holiday weekend. Just click on the heading of each event for more details about it.
From First Fridays downtown, to local sporting events, to a botanical night with light, and finally to a quick cool day trip, you’ll find something to do for a day or on all three days of the Labor Day weekend.
Phoenix Art Museum
PhxArt AfterHours on the first Friday of September: FREE Admission on Friday, Sept. 1 from 5 to 9 p.m.
Phoenix Art Museum is the largest art museum in the Southwestern United States. It features regularly changing exhibits and permanent galleries drawn from more than 19,000 works of American, Asian, European, Latin American, Western American, modern and contemporary art, and fashion design.
Children’s Museum of Phoenix
First Friday of September: FREE Admission on Friday, Sept. 1 from 5 to 9 p.m.
Your kids will love the Children’s Museum of Phoenix, a wondrous place of imagination, inspiration, creativity, and fun. It has three floors of interactive fun for the whole family, although it’s designed especially for children from birth to age 10. Note that for your family’s safety, adults are not allowed in the museum without children.
Heard Museum
First Friday of September: FREE Admission on Friday, Sept. 1 from 4 to 8 p.m.
The Heard Museum has more than 130,000 square feet of galleries, classrooms and performance space. It is known worldwide for its exhibitions and programs celebrating Native artists, and for its Shop, which provides the opportunity to purchase museum-quality, authentic American Indian artworks.
For more details on FREE Museums in the Phoenix area year-round, click here.
Phoenix First Friday Art Walk
FREE Friday, Sept. 1 from 6 – 10 pm
According to the website, “First Friday invites vendors, musicians, and artists of all varieties out into the streets (many of which are closed off to traffic) for an evening where the essence of downtown Phoenix’s arts and culture can be seen, felt, heard, and tasted throughout more than 70 galleries, venues, art-related spaces, and surrounding bars, restaurants and food trucks.” Many area museums are included, see this post above.
The Art Walk encompasses the downtown areas of the Roosevelt Row Arts District and the Grand Avenue Arts District.
Arizona Diamondbacks Kids Klub, FREE Admission to Game this Sunday
FREE for kids, this Sunday, Sept. 3, Orioles vs Diamondbacks, beginning at 1 pm. (Must enroll in Kids Klub prior to game, see below for details.)
The Arizona Diamondbacks offer a Kids Club for ages 15 and under. It’s a FREE program that gives kids prizes for attending home games, offers each child enrolled a FREE Sunday home game ticket, and allows children to achieve digital badges.
Click here for more details on the Arizona Diamondbacks Kids Klub.
Flashlight Night – Desert Botanical Gardens
On Saturday, September, Sept. 2 from 6 to 9 pm. Flashlight Night is included with general admission to the Desert Botanical Gardens: $14.95 for adults & $9.95 for children.
According to the DBG’s website, “Grab your flashlight and get your glow on! Experience the desert after dark with hands-on activities, live dance and musical performances, cool treats, a farmers’ market and more.”
Daytrip to Prescott’s Faire on the Square
FREE, Saturday, Sept. 2 through Monday, Sept. 4
Understood, this post is about events in Phoenix, but just in case you want to take a 90-minute heat-relieving day trip to Prescott, see below. It’s generally 15 degrees cooler there than in Phoenix.
The Yavapai County Courthouse Plaza in Prescott is a great place to just sit around the shaded courthouse square and enjoy the breeze or join in the festivities. According to the website, “Prescott’s FREE, Faire on the Square is located in historic downtown Prescott. Enjoy vendors, goods, snacks and shopping while also getting an entertaining show from the Prescott Regulators and their Shady Ladies.”
Desert Botanical Garden
1201 N Galvin Parkway
Phoenix, AZ 85008
480-941-1225
First Friday Art Walk – Phoenix
Yavapai County Courthouse Plaza in Prescott
120 South Cortez Street
Prescott, AZ 86313