By this time Friday, the world will have said their goodbyes to 2020, a year that most of us, if given the chance, would be more than willing to forget.
With COVID-19 cases at all-time highs, 2021 is headed for a rocky start, but thanks to new, highly effective vaccines, health experts have predicted a return to relative normalcy by the end of summer.
While residents wait for their shots, we offer 10 things that Tucson can be happy about in 2021 (besides the vaccine).
Mapenzi — Penzi for short — was born to African elephant Semba on April 6. She joined sister Nandi, dad Mabu, brother Sundzu and aunt Lungile at the Reid Park Zoo.
Tucson’s biggest baby turns 1
At almost 9 months old, Reid Park Zoo’s bundle of joy, Mapenzi will turn 1 year old in April.
The elephant calf — whose name means “beloved” in Swahili, but goes by the nickname Penzi — joined the rest of the herd when she was born at Tucson’s zoo on April 6 to mom Semba. She was born in the midst of the pandemic, barring anxious Tucsonans from seeing her in person for several months.
But the zoo is now open, with strict social distancing protocols, allowing Tucsonans to admire her cuteness in person.
In the last nine months, Penzi has learned many elephant behaviors such as sounding her first trumpet and foraging around the habitat for her own food. She has developed relationships with all her herd members, including her big sister Nandi, who will turn 7 years old in 2021.
Purchase tickets in advance or catch a glimpse of Penzi and some of her friends on zoo cams at reidparkzoo.org.
The band XIXA is releasing a new album in February 2021.
Some new music is on the way
Five years after releasing its debut album, Tucson’s cumbia desert rock band XIXA is releasing its sophomore album Feb. 19, with members delving deeper into their love of Peruvian chicha music while also carving a wider space for their psychedelic rock.
The band, anchored by Gabriel Sullivan and Brian Lopez, has released three singles from “Genesis” including the melodic rocker “May They Call Us Home,” released in October, and the latest one, the darkly nuanced psychedelic rocker “Nights Plutonian Shore,” which dropped at the beginning of December.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March, XIXA was one of the first Tucson bands to live-stream a concert on Facebook. That late March event, performed live from the band’s Dust & Stone recording studios downtown, was viewed by tens of thousands of people throughout the world.
The band also has participated in a number of virtual concerts and festivals, and Lopez was tapped in late July to be part of the Kennedy Center Arts Across America series. Lopez also featured Tucson singer-songwriter Mattea and the Latinx cumbia duo Los Èsplifs as part of his Kennedy Center appearance.
Get the latest on XIXA at facebook.com/xixamusic.
Arizona’s Helena Pueyo, left, and Aari McDonald, right, smothered UCLA in the Wildcats’ 92-66 win over the No. 8 Bruins last Jan. 31. This season, the Wildcats are 7-0.
UA women’s basketball team poised to rise
The Wildcats women’s basketball team is on a mission this season: make it to the NCAA tournament.
You can’t blame the Wildcats; they were on the cusp last spring when COVID-19 pulled the rug out from beneath them. They have waited 15 years — 16 by the time of the 2021 tourney in March — so they are playing with the determination and grit of a team that won’t let anything or anyone get in their way.
So far this season, they are undefeated including wins against USC and UCLA, as well as the drubbing of rival Arizona State.
They are 5-0 in conference play, 7-0 overall and are just getting started. And with the return of seniors Aari McDonald and Sam Thomas, junior Cate Reese and three-point wizard sophomore Helena Pueyo, the team has leadership to execute Adia Barnes’ game plan.
Add in the promise we have seen from transfers Trinity Baptiste and Shaina Pellington, and you have a team that is extremely exciting to watch in 2021.
Track the team’s progress and schedule at arizonawildcats.com/sports/womens-basketball.
The former Coronado Hotel, future home of a Dillinger Brewing Company location, 402 E. Ninth St., on the corner of Fourth Avenue.
Dillinger Brewing heads to spot on North Fourth
Positive news from the craft beer community came last summer with the announcement that Dillinger Brewing, which has held court for several years at 3895 N. Oracle Road, would be opening a second location in the old Libertine spot at the corner of North Fourth Avenue and East Ninth Street, in early 2021.
Brewery owner Eric Sipe says plans are still on track to open this spring. The space sits at just under 2,000 square feet, with a spacious patio out front where beer enthusiasts will be able to catch all the action along North Fourth.
Sipe said in an interview last summer that Dillinger Brewing will continue to brew beer at its original location, but it will use the new taproom’s basement for projects, like a barrel-aging program.
The new location is good news for local craft beer in a year that saw the closure of breweries across the state due to the pandemic, including Public Brewhouse and Green Feet Brewing in Tucson.
Find out what’s on tap now at facebook.com/dillingerbrewery.
Texas-based Mutts Canine Cantina will be opening a location in Tucson by the end of 2021.
A dog park with food and drinks
You will be able to treat your dog to some fresh air and yourself to a margarita when the Texas-based Mutts Canine Cantina opens a location in Tucson in late 2021.
Franchisee April Mendoza of Las Cruces, New Mexico is planning to open two locations in the new year, the first in El Paso then one in Tucson.
In an interview last fall, Mendoza said she chose Tucson because of its dog-friendly reputation and its long stretches of sunny weather.
The concept offers a food menu that includes sandwiches, burgers, chicken dishes and snack plates, in addition to a full bar.
For the pups, there is an off-leash dog park, monitored by “bark rangers” where the animals can run free while their owners dine.
Passes for the dog park can be purchased by the day, month or year. The location for Mutts Tucson is still being determined. To get a better feel for the concept, visit muttscantina.com.
The pandemic pushed back Tucson’s “Hamilton” debut from December 2020 to November 2021.
‘Hamilton’ gets new Tucson dates
Fans rejoiced when Broadway in Tucson announced that “Hamilton” the smash hit musical about founding father Alexander Hamilton was finally coming to town in December 2020.
Thanks to COVID-19, that didn’t happen. But not all is lost.
The Tony award-winning production, penned by Lin-Manuel Miranda, has been rescheduled to Nov. 17-Dec. 5, 2021.
“Hamilton” brought in new legions of fans in 2020, thanks in part to the streaming service Disney Plus releasing a filmed version of the original cast production over the summer.
Stay up to date on the latest at broadwayintucson.com.
The Mount Lemmon Hotel, which is close to completion, will feature 17 detached casitas that include a kitchen, a bathroom, a queen-size bed and a fold-out couch. Some of the casitas will have small pet yards. Rates will be $99-$149.
Hotel stop atop Mount Lemmon
With an open date slated for this winter, Tucsonans will soon be able to enjoy the Mount Lemmon Hotel.
The hotel, owned by couple and University of Arizona alumni Justin and Andrea Hafner, broke ground in the spring but faced many delays from the chaos that was 2020 — including this summer’s Bighorn Fire and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Mount Lemmon Hotel, located in Summerhaven, has 17 detached casitas that include a kitchen, a bathroom, a queen-size bed and a fold-out couch. Some of the casitas will have small pet yards.
Rates are expected to be between $99 and $149 per night. Follow the hotel’s progress at facebook.com/mtlemmonhotel.
And it doesn’t stop there — visitors to the mountain will have more lodging options when the 16-room Mount Lemmon Lodge opens in 2022.
Flora’s Market Run will include a restaurant where diners can get breakfast and lunch on the go and full-service dinner.
Rincon Market to be reborn as Flora’s
As disappointing as it was to see Rincon Market close over the summer, one of the many businesses to shutter during the pandemic, we were pleased to hear in October that the folks at Prep & Pastry had taken the spot over with big plans in mind.
The business group, which also owns Commoner & Co. and August Rhodes bakery, plans to move August Rhodes into the former market, where it will continue to make bread for Prep & Pastry’s two locations, Commoner, and several other restaurants in the Tucson area.
Plans for the 12,000 square feet of space also include a full-service grocery store and restaurant that would offer counter service, fast-casual breakfast and lunch and table-service dinner with a menu that includes salads, sandwiches, chicken, salmon and wood-fired pizza. The concept will be called Flora’s Market Run.
“Imagine a small local Sam Hughes-driven Whole Foods,” co-owner Nathan Ares said in October. “We’re going to have more of a variety than Rincon Market had when it comes to grocery items … (and) if you want to grab a box of cereal but also want house-cured meats and great cheeses and local beef and things like that.”
Look for Flora’s Market Run to open at 2513 E. Sixth St. early in 2021.
Zoppé Family Circus has reimagined its show to take place outdoors amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
For Zoppé, the show must go on
Zoppé family circus isn’t going to let a global pandemic keep them from spreading their style of Old World entertainment to cities throughout the country.
The performance troupe has adapted, creating a drive-in circus experience that allows them to perform their feats of strength and agility in front of live audiences while keeping spectators at a safe distance.
That’s good news for Tucsonans, who have been bringing their families to watch the Zoppé family action for a decade now.
Expect to see acrobats, strongmen, trapeze artists and even a human cannonball in an open-air setting from the comfort of your own vehicle.
The show will take place in the same spot as in years’ past: The lot next to Mercado San Agustín from Jan. 15 to Jan. 31. The circus will have afternoon and evening shows with tickets running from $49 to $199 per car. Visit zoppe.net for more information.
The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway, will be Arizona’s only satellite screening location for the famed Sundance Film Festival this year, running Jan. 28-Feb. 3 as part of its Open Air Cinema program.
Screening Sundance
The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway, has been tapped to be Arizona’s only satellite screening location for the famed Sundance Film Festival this year, and we couldn’t be happier about it.
Tucson’s independent movie theater will be screening films being shown as part of the 2021 Sundance Film Festival lineup, running Jan. 28-Feb. 3, as part of its Open Air Cinema program.
The 2021 Sundance Film Festival is being offered digitally via a custom online platform alongside drive-ins, independent arthouses and a network of local community partnerships. All films in the program will be available online in the United States, with certain films opting for global availability.
Each satellite screen venue, including at the Loft, will create and host their own events, sharing local cultural conversations with broader festival audiences, with most also screening selections from the 2021 program.
For more information, head to festival.sundance.org or loftcinema.org.
