Celebration of All Things S-cuk Son / Tucson The 250+ Anniversary

Celebration of All Things S-cuk Ṣon / Tucson
Presented by the Tucson - Pima County Historical Commission
with support from the offices of
Mayor Regina Romero and City Manager Tim Thomure
and support from the
Pima County Cultural Resources and Heritage Preservation Office

Learn more at www.CelebrateTucson.com

MUNICIPAL SPONSORS

CORPORATE SPONSORS

Southwestern Foundation for
Education and Historical Preservation

6th Avenue and Speedway

. . . 

August 23, 2025 from 6-10 p.m.
FREE EVENT

Hosted by the Presidio Museum
and the
Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block

 While the Tucson basin has been inhabited for thousands of years, the formal inception date of the City of Tucson is August 20th, 1775.  Today, we use this date to celebrate our rich TucSonorense culture and its many inhabitants.  Did you know the name Tucson originates from the native O’odham word “s -cuk ṣon” which means “at the base of the black hill”?

Learn more at www.CelebrateTucson.com

Join this celebration of the cultures and traditions that make Tucson so special. 

OPENING REMARKS:
MAYOR REGINA ROMERO and PIMA COUNTY CHAIRMAN REX SCOTT
FOLKLORICO TAPATIO
MARIACHI INNOVACIÓN
CHINESE LION DANCERS
BARBEA WILLIAMS DANCE COMPANY
LIVE WAILA MUSIC WITH GERTIE and the T.O. BOYZ
Presidio Garrison musket demonstration, lasso demonstration, eegees.
Rodeo wagons and Mormon Battalion wagons on display.
 

Participating Historic Presidio District Restaurants

PAINT & SIP with ARTIST JOHN GATES
Saturday, June 21, 4-7 p.m.
Pre-register here.
Workshop will start outdoors in the Presidio Museum for a plein air photo op and will move inside to the Dandelion Café for a painting session.
Members: $70, Non-members $80
Price includes all art supplies, two glasses of wine and light appetizers.

John Gates taught high school Art and Spanish before serving in the U.S.  Air Force in an intelligence role as a Spanish Linguist. He has a Master’s Degree in Bilingual/Multicultural Education at the University of Arizona, incorporating his art into many projects.   In recent years he has pursued his art with various travel and exploration adventures.   He is a member of the Sonoran Arts League of Scottsdale, Arizona, and has artwork in the Gallery at el Pedregal in Scottsdale.

LECTURE with MAURO TREJO
The Life and Diary of George Hand
Saturday, June 28 at 7 p.m.
Pre-register at tucsonpresidio.com
Tickets: Members $10, Non-members $15
Cash bar will be open for purchases. Ceres Restaurant is NOT open on this night.

In the 1870s and 1880s, former Union Soldier George Hand found himself in Tucson. During that time, he worked as a bar owner and a courthouse janitor.

He also kept a diary chronicling the people and events of territorial Tucson. It remains one of the best glimpses we have into what life was like for the people of Tucson in that era.   Learn about the life of George Hand and his neighbors.”

Mauro Trejo is a 7th generation Tucsonan descending from Elias’s and Gallegos. With a passion for local history, he has poured over the Tucson “classics” becoming a popular walking tour guide and lecturer along the way.  He is a member of the Board of the Tucson Presidio Trust.

LECTURE with DR. TOM SHERIDAN
Tucson: A Historically Multi-Ethnic Community
Saturday, July 12 at 7 p.m.
Pre-register at tucsonpresidio.com
Tickets: Members $10, Non-members $15
Cash bar will be open for purchases. Ceres Restaurant across the street will be open for pasta (be sure to give yourself time to order).

Dr. Sheridan will discuss the historically multi-ethnic community of Tucson.  He will share a brief history of the O’odham at San Xavier, the Spanish presidio and its related settlers, the Apache, and the so-called “Apaches Mansos” that were settled north of the presidio beginning in the 1790s.

Dr. Tom Sheridan, Ph.D., is a Research Anthropologist at the Southwest Center and Professor of Anthropology at the University of Arizona. He directed the Mexican Heritage Project at the Arizona Historical Society from 1982-1984 and was director of the Office of Ethnohistorical Research at the Arizona State Museum from 1997 to 2003. He was Curator of Ethnohistory and Director of the Office of Ethnohistorical Research at the Arizona State Museum from 1984 to 2003. He is also a well-known author who has written several books on the southwest including Arizona: A History, Los Tucsonenses: The Mexican Community in Tucson, 1854-1941, and A History of the Southwest: The Land and its People.

MURALS UNVEILING CELEBRATION
Friday, July 25, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
FREE EVENT — RSVP required
HighWire — 30 S. Arizona Ave

Join us for the unveiling of four vibrant new murals funded by Rio Nuevo’s Mural Fund, in partnership with The Presidio Museum, Mayor Regina Romero’s Office, Visit Tucson, and the Downtown Tucson Partnership.

Meet mural artists Ignacio Garcia, Camila Ibarra, Pen Macias, and Joe Pagac while enjoying refreshments and a no-host bar. Explore the artwork through 1-mile walking tours, departing every 10–15 minutes from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., or hop on a Tucson Trolley Tour available from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. Each mural celebrates Tucson’s rich heritage and features the linguistic history of the city's name, contributed by The Presidio Museum, along with the official 250th birthday logo from Mayor Regina Romero’s Office. This is a free event with RSVP.
 

SONORAN DESERT FOOD TASTING with JACK DASH
Saturday, July 26, 4-6 p.m.
Pre-register here.
Food tasting will be held in the Dandelion Café.
Members: $70, Non-members $80
Price includes two glasses of wine and light appetizers.

Join naturalist Jack Dash for a culinary storytelling event focused on the wild and cultivated food plants of southern Arizona! Attendees will learn the historic and contemporary uses of several Sonoran Desert species while enjoying the flavors of dishes such as palo verde bean edamame, candied barrel cactus fruit, prickly pear and agave agua fresca, and mesquite crackers, all accompanied by wines made in Southern Arizona! Connect with the foods and dishes that have sustained people living in the Sonoran Desert for millennia.

Jack Dash is a local naturalist and writer. He is a board member of The Arizona Native Plant Society and coeditor of Plant Press Arizona. He regularly speaks on, writes about, and guides trips related to botany, horticulture, and natural history in the Southwest.

TUCSON TRIVIA NIGHT

Saturday, August 16 at 7 p.m.
Pre-register here.
Tickets: $10

An Evening of Droll Humor, Random Tucson Tidbits and a Celebration of Community
In Honor of the 250+ Anniversary of Our Fair City. With local celebrity, troublemaker, and mildly disrespectful emcee: David Fitzsimmons. Featuring special guest David Devine–local author, resident game show judge and expert on all things Tucson.

Join us for this unique trivia game show event focusing on Tucson's rich history.
(Warning! This event includes audience participation.)  It will be outside in the summer evening breeze. Dress accordingly.  Cash bar will be open for purchases. Ceres Restaurant across the street will be open for pasta (give yourself time to order). Local books for sale.