Around Phoenix, AZ

Phoenix and the surrounding area is home to a broad range of cultural activities including the performing arts, museums, and events.

Performing Arts

Several performing arts venues are found throughout the Phoenix area, but primarily in and around downtown Phoenix and in Scottsdale. One such venue is the Phoenix Symphony Hall, where performances from groups such as Arizona Opera and Ballet Arizona often occur. Another venue is the Orpheum Theatre (Phoenix) which is home to the Phoenix Metropolitan Opera. Concerts also regularly make stops in the area. Venues for concerts include the US Airways Center in downtown Phoenix, Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, and the Dodge theater (also in downtown Phoenix). Since 2002, Phoenix has also seen a rapid growth in local arts through The Artlink Program. Several Smaller theatres including Trunk Space, Space 55 and Modified Arts support regular independent musical and theatre performances.

Museums

Several museums are scattered around the valley. One of the most well-known museums in the area is the Heard Museum just north of downtown. It has over 130,000 square feet (12,000 m²) of gallery, classroom and performance space. Some of the signature exhibits include a full Navajo hogan, the Mareen Allen Nichols Collection containing 260 pieces of contemporary jewelry, the Barry Goldwater Collection of 437 historic Hopi kachina dolls, and an exhibit on the 19th century boarding school experiences of Native Americans. The Heard Museum attracts about 250,000 visitors a year.

Other notable museums include the Arizona Science Center, Fleischer Museum, Hall of Flame Firefighting Museum, Arizona Historical Society Museum, Phoenix Museum of History, the Phoenix Zoo, and the Pueblo Grande Museum and Cultural Park.

Sports

Phoenix is home to several professional sports franchises, including representatives of all four major professional sports leagues in the U.S. The first major franchise was the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA), which started play in 1968. In 1997, the Phoenix Mercury was one of the original eight teams to launch the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Both teams play at US Airways Center. The Phoenix Flame of the International Basketball League began play in the spring of 2007.

The Arizona Cardinals moved to Phoenix from St. Louis, Missouri in 1988 and currently play in the NFL's National Football Conference – West Division. The team, however, has never played in the city itself; they played at Sun Devil Stadium on the campus of Arizona State University in nearby Tempe until 2006. Sun Devil Stadium held Super Bowl XXX in 1996 when the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Cardinals now play at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale. University of Phoenix Stadium hosted Super Bowl XLII on February 3, 2008, in which the New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots. It is also the home of the annual Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, a college football bowl game that is part of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS).

Phoenix also has an arena football team, the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League. Games are played at US Airways Center downtown.

The Phoenix Coyotes of the National Hockey League moved to the area in 1996, and play at Jobing.com Arena, adjacent to University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale. The city also boasts a minor league hockey team, the Phoenix Roadrunners of the ECHL, who play at the US Airways Center. This makes Phoenix one of the few cities where minor and major league teams in the same sport coexist.

The Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (National League West Division) began play as an expansion team in 1998. The team plays at Chase Field (downtown). In 2001, the Diamondbacks defeated the New York Yankees 4 games to 3 in the World Series, becoming not only the city's first professional sports franchise to win a national championship, but also the youngest expansion franchise in U.S. professional sports to ever do so.

Additionally, due to the favorable climate, nine Major League Baseball teams conduct spring training in the metro area, as well as nearby Tucson. These teams are collectively known as the Cactus League and are generally all from the west coast.

The Phoenix International Raceway is a major venue for two NASCAR auto racing events per season. Boat racing, drag racing, and road course racing are also held at Firebird International Raceway. Sprint car racing is held at Manzanita Speedway.

Phoenix has also hosted the Insight Bowl at Chase Field until 2005, after which it moved to nearby Tempe, as well as several major professional golf events, including the LPGA's Safeway International and The Tradition of the Champions Tour. Phoenix was originally scheduled to host the 2006 NHL All-Star Game, but it was canceled due to the 2006 Winter Olympics (the recently adopted NHL collective bargaining agreement prohibits the All-Star Game to be held during Olympic years). Instead, Phoenix will host the 2009 All-Star Game.

Phoenix's Ahwatukee American Little League reached the 2006 Little League World Series as the representative from the U.S. West region. Phoenix is one of the three cities that hosts the annual Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon in January.

Parks and recreation

Phoenix is home to a large number of parks and recreation areas. Many waterparks are scattered around the valley to help residents cope with the harsh desert heat during the summer months. Some of the notable parks include Big Surf in Tempe, Waterworld Safari in Glendale, Golfland SunSplash in Mesa, and the Oasis Water Park at the Arizona Grand Resort; formerly known as Pointe South Mountain Resort in Phoenix. The area also has one amusement park in north Phoenix called Castles N' Coasters, next to the Metrocenter Mall.

Many parks have been established to preserve the desert landscape in areas that would otherwise quickly be developed with commercial and residential zoning. The most noteworthy park is South Mountain Park, the world's largest municipal park with 16,500 acres (67 km²); others include Camelback Mountain, Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park and Sunnyslope Mountain, also known as "S" Mountain. The Desert Botanical Garden displays desert plantlife from deserts all over the world. Encanto Park is the city's largest and primary urban park, and lies just northwest of downtown Phoenix. Papago Park in east Phoenix is home to both the Desert Botanical Garden and the Phoenix Zoo, as well as a few golf courses.

source Wikipedia August 2008