Arizona Arts Live joins the historic Hotel Congress for the final installment of HOCO Fest Labor Day weekend in Downtown Tucson. This four-day music festival features over 60 of Arizona’s best artists, a film festival, a record fair, art installations, and daytime parties across six venues in celebration of Tucson as a UNESCO City of Gastronomy. For over 15 years, HOCO has led the charge in reframing what the modern music festival can achieve. This year is no different. Featuring some of the world’s freshest acts, HOCO Fest 2023 takes place September 1-4, 2023, with the likes of Dusty Chaps, Gatecreeper, Orkesta Mendoza, Giant Sand, Kid Congo Powers, Liz Cerepanya and Pete Ronstadt, Holy Faint, Mastodonna, River Roses, and nightly Linda Ronstadt celebrations. This four-day festival will also feature daytime pool parties, art installations, demonstrations, and food and drink offerings. Visit hocofest.com for the full lineup. Tickets are available online or at Hotel Congress.

Arizona Arts Live and Arizona Athletics welcome Tucson’s own globally beloved Calexico in an electric tailgate performance celebrating Arizona Football’s season opener versus NAU. Don’t miss the infectious riffs of this desert noir sensation led by Joey Burns and John Convertino, together with Sergio Mendoza, Jacob Valenzuela, Rick Peron, and Brian Lopez. Praised by NPR for their “sprawling, cross-cultural indie rock,” Calexico has spent the better part of the past three decades exploring the dusty musical borderlands of the American Southwest, crafting singular, cinematic songs as mysterious and magnificent as the arid desert landscapes that inspired them. Calexico will play hits from across their expansive repertoire. After decades on the road, Calexico’s music remains boundless and romantic, still gazing upon the horizon in search of their next adventure. Experience the untamed spirit of the Southwest by Calexico in this free, public performance presented on the east end of the Mall at the University of Arizona main campus in Tucson, AZ. Can’t Get Enough of Calexico? Don’t miss their return on January 13 at 7:30PM in the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall for a one-night only symphonic experience with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. Presented in partnership with the Tucson Jazz Festival. This concert is available as part of a Create Your Own Subscription. For more information and tickets, please visit the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. Artist's Site Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

See a thrilling adventure unfold on the University Mall featuring tightrope walking and extreme acrobatics with Cirque Inextremiste: EXIT. Set on the University Mall, this is the story of a group of asylum patients on their quest to free themselves at all costs. What ensues is a hilarious spectacle featuring a high-flying hot air balloon and never-before-seen balancing acts on a vertical stage you must see to believe. Extreme acrobatic collective Cirque Inextremiste plays with our fears and wreaks havoc with our perspective in their latest production, EXIT. Watch as a hot-air balloon tamer, musicians, and other surprise characters slowly disrupt the performance and derail this feat of engineering. As the story unfolds, performers take over a hot-air balloon to create daring balancing acts and extreme acrobatics, all while several stories in the air. Cirque Inextremiste retains its signature quirkiness, remaining clownish and extravagant while continuing to defy the laws of gravity and push back the boundaries of the circus arts, theatre, and stunt work. Step into a world of madness and escape with this powerful performance as we follow the dreams of a group of unlikely heroes. EXIT is free to attend and will be presented on the east end of the Mall at the University of Arizona main campus in Tucson, Arizona. Link Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube