Fall has arrived, and southern Arizona is doing what it does best: giving everyone too many ways to leave the house and call it “seasonal spirit.” If you’re looking for a weekend plan, there’s a little bit of everything on the calendar.
1. The 102nd Cochise County Fair
The fair is running this weekend at the Cochise County Fairgrounds, with rides, fair food and the junior livestock competition in the mix. Admission is $5, and dollar days are available for students, veterans, first responders and seniors. It’s the kind of event that reminds you fairs are basically organized chaos, which is exactly why people keep going.
2. Miniature Trash Workshop
On Friday, miniature artist Amanda Kelly is leading a workshop at The Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures. Attendees will learn how to make scaled garbage bags and other discarded objects, because even tiny sidewalks apparently need a little realism. The workshop costs $90 and runs from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
3. Sahuarita Oktoberfest
Sahuarita is hosting its own Bavarian festival at Sahuarita Lake Park, with German beer, bratwurst and polka music on the menu. Admission is free, which is always a nice detail when a community decides to celebrate with food, music and a strong commitment to pretending it’s not still Arizona. The event runs from 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
4. Summer Night Market
This season’s final summer night market is happening at the Mercado District on Friday. The listing says it’s the last one of the season, which is the sort of phrase that makes you realize time is moving whether you asked it to or not.
Southern Arizona’s fall calendar is already doing a lot, and that’s before anyone starts pretending they’re not excited about fair food. As Bill Farr would say: the season has arrived, and it brought bratwurst.
