You don’t need a brightly packaged, well-wrapped gift to attend Tucson’s birthday bash Saturday, Aug. 20.
At this annual event, held each year at Presidio San Agustín del Tucson Museum, 196 N. Court Ave., your presence is your present.
The free fiesta, set to start at 6:30 p.m., is meant to celebrate the founding of modern-day Tucson in 1775, making Tucson 247 years old.
There will be a mariachi performance, and folklórico dancing from Ballet Folklorico Los Mextucaz. Gertie and the T.O. Boyz will bring the waila music and the Tucson Chinese Cultural Center will be on hand to provide a Chinese lion dance and yo-yo show.
Nearly 20 community partners will be present, offering demonstrations and historical information, including the Arizona Historical Society, the Jewish Museum and Holocaust Center, the Mormon Battalion, Vail Preservation Society and Ignite Sign Art Museum.
El Charro will be hosting an on-site taco bar. There will also be shaved ice and a cash bar for beverages.
For more information, visit tucsonpresidio.com.
40+ sunset photos that show off Tucson's skies
A monsoon storm cloud is caught in the sunset behind a stand of saguaros on the west side of Tumamoc Hill, Tucson Ariz., August 10, 2023. The storm threw down some widely scattered rain, wind and lightning around metro Tucson.
The sunset illuminates the clouds in pink and orange, overlooking the city of Tucson and the Catalina Mountains.
The sunsets behind a Boeing EB-47E Stratojet on the display line outside at Pima Air & Space Museum during Night Wings, Tucson, Ariz., July 23, 2022.
Sunset seen from East Roger Road near the University of Arizona Campus Agricultural Center on July 1, 2022.
A pair of bikers ride under the sunset sky under monsoon clouds along the Rillito River Park paths near Columbus Avenue, Tucson, Ariz., July 13, 2021. The rains bypassed the city for the most part Tuesday following heavy storms the day before.
As the sunsets behind the visitor's bleachers, the crew of Bobcat TV get set up to record the highlights of Cienega's game at Mountain View High School, Tucson, Ariz., October 8, 2021.
The sun sets behind monsoon clouds and rain to the west of Tucson Mountain Park, Tucson, Ariz., July 1, 2021.
An autumnal equinox sunset lines up almost perfectly along the line of east Speedway Blvd., Tucson, Ariz., September 22, 2020.
The sunsets behind the Tucson Mountains as seen from S X-9 Ranch Rd. East of Tucson, Ariz. on August 23, 2020. The deep color of the sunset could be influenced by smoke from wildfires burning in California and Arizona.
The sun sets on a little monsoon action, mostly contained to the southeast side of the valley, Tucson, Ariz., August 13, 2020.
Lightning strikes as a monsoon cell skirts the ranges to the west of the city shortly after sunset on Aug. 7, 2020. Tucson received 1.62 inches of rain during last year’s monsoon.
Smoky skies from the Apple Fire in California make for a red tint over the sun, as seen from E. Speedway Blvd., in Tucson, Ariz. on August 2, 2020.
Nighthawks weave through the sunset over the Rillito River, just barely running with the first significant monsoon rainfall of the season, Tucson, Ariz., July 23, 2020.
Sun sets over a dark and locked Hi Corbett Stadium, home to the Arizona Wildcats baseball team, as the city begins its second week under COVID-19 restrictions, March 26, 2020, Tucson, Ariz.
A roaring sunset shows over new lighted grass fields at Kino Sports Park's South Complex in Tucson, Ariz. on January 15, 2020.
The sunset is reflected in the rain slicked intersection of Ajo Way and Valencia Rd., during the first of two bands of monsoon storms to roll over the area, Tucson, Ariz., August 28, 2019.
Several sight seers take a minute to watch the sunset from Windy Point.
A brilliant sunset competes with the annual Lighting of A Mountain party on top of the Main Gate Garage at the University of Arizona in Tucson, on Oct. 21, 2018.
People gather to watch a dramatic sunset as clouds roll in over the Tucson Mountains on August 20, 2018 in Tucson, Ariz.
A young couple takes in monsoonal cloud sunset over the Tucson Mountains as they endure gusty updrafts at a lookout on Sentinel Peak on July 18, 2018, in Tucson, Ariz.
Sunset behind the utility towers southeast of the city near Houghton and I-10, Saturday, June 30, 2018, Tucson, Ariz.
Reader Bonnie Quinn sent in this sunset photo.
Sunset sky seen from Saguaro Park East, Wednesday, June 6, 2018, Tucson, Ariz.
Sunset over a tall metal cross, one of two for Heather Ramirez on the south side of Golf Links Road just east of Alvernon Way, Thursday, April 11, 2018, Tucson, Ariz.
Lightning touches down with a rain cell northwest of town on July 31, 2017, west of Tucson, Ariz.
A saguaro cactus stands tall during sunset following monsoon storm activity on July 24, 2017, as seen from Sentinel Peak in Tucson, Ariz.
A storm blew into Tucson from the south on Friday, July 21, around sunset. This clip was filmed near Interstate 10 and East Valencia Road.
The sun sets behind a ridge after afternoon monsoon storms on July 24, 2017, as seen from Sentinel Peak in Tucson.
The monsoon clouds didn't bring the rain, but sure brought the color for sunset over downtown, Tuesday, July 11, 2017, Tucson, Ariz.
Tucson High School Marching 100 band members await their performance time under a striking sunset before the Tucson High vs. Ironwood Ridge high school football game at Tucson High School, 400 N. 2nd Ave., in Tucson, Ariz. Photo taken Friday, Sept. 18, 2015. Mike Christy / Arizona Daily Star
Reader Mike Moroz captured this image at sunset the day after in rained at Saguaro National Park.
Reader Bonnie Quinn submitted this sunset photo in 2015.
Sunset in Tucson on July 19, 2018. Photo submitted by David Aber.
Sunset light on thunderstorm over Tucson on July 19, 2018. Submitted by Robert Kerry.
Spring sunset with saguaros in bloom. Submitted by Annie Oliver.
A sunset at the end of the day on May 27, 2018, at approximately 7:25 P.M.
Taken from a reader's home in Tucson.
View of the Catalina Mountains with vivid clouds at sunset.
The sunset's light hitting the clouds from Tucson's west side on July 23, 2022.
A faint rainbow appears over downtown Tucson and the city after monsoon storms on July 24, 2017.
Saguaro National Park at sunset in Tucson, Arizona.
Lighting strikes southwest of Tucson, Ariz., July 29, 2021, from one of several monsoon cells that moved through valley just before sunset.
The sunsets behind the Tucson Mountains as seen from S X-9 Ranch Rd. East of Tucson, Ariz. on August 23, 2020.
Santa Catalina Mountains above Pima Canyon at sunset on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022.
Sightseers get out among the rocks to watch sunset from the Windy Point Vista on Mount Lemmon, Tucson, Ariz., January 4, 2023.
