Out & About in Tucson – Getting out and staying healthy this fall

When the temperatures in Tucson cool in mid-September, that’s when festival season starts, giving DOM faculty, fellows, residents and staff a chance to enjoy the outdoors and authentic local flavors. Most are free or have nominal fees. Here are a few events  you may want to check out, some with U of A connections:

Sept. 28 (2-5 p.m.): Chicana Photographers LA!, U of A Center for Creative Photography, 1030 N. Olive Road | The center will host an artist panel (2-3 p.m.) with moderated by Sybil Venegas, professor emerita of chicana/o studies at East Los Angeles College, and featured artists Amina Cruz, Christina Fernandez and Star Montana, and a reception (3-5 p.m.).

Sept. 29 (4-6 p.m.): Loft Cinema Free Screening of ‘Borderland: The Line Within’, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. | Hosted by the U of A Center for Latin American Studies, this includes a panel discussion with filmmakers Pamela Yates and Paco de Onis along with Isabel Garcia, co-founder, Coalición de Derechos Humanos, Margo Cowan, founder, Keep Tucson Together, and Vicki Gaubeca, associate director, U.S. Border and Immigration Policy, Human Rights Watch.

Oct. 1 (6-8 p.m.): Discussion & Book Signings: ‘Family, Memory & the Borderlands’, U of A Libraries Special Collections Reading Room, 1510 E. University Blvd. | Two authors and their newest works – Tim Z. Hernandez, “They Call You Back: A Lost History, A Search, A Memoir,” and Melani Martinez, “The Molino: A Memoir” – are the topics for this event with moderator Javier D. Duran, PhD, a professor with the U of A Center for Latin American Studies and founding director of the Confluencenter for Creative Inquiry. Other sponsors include the U of A Press and the Southwest Center.

Oct. 4-6: Tucson Meet Yourself Folklife Festival, Joel D. Valdez Main Library, 101 N. Stone Ave. | Occupying three city blocks and Jacome Plaza in front of the main library, this free event was co-founded downtown in 1974 by the late Dr. James “Big Jim” Griffith, longtime director of the U of A’s Southwest Folklore Center. It spotlights the music, dance, folk arts and food – this part referred to as Tucson Eat Yourself – of the Old Pueblo in a popular mishmash of the many cultures found here.

Oct. 6 (10 a.m.-3 p.m.): 12th Annual Arizona Insect Festival, U of A ENR2 Building, 1064 E. Lowell St. | Hosted by the U of A Department of Entomology, the event this year picks the ubiquitous, friendly Western horse lubber grasshopper, Taeniopoda eques, as its theme insect. The largest U.S. grasshopper, the name comes from “land lubber” since they rarely fly. Food trucks will be onsite with multiple booths with other local critters you can play with and the Ask a Scientist Café and Bernays Symposium.

Oct. 9 (6 p.m.): Tucson Humanities Festival – Well-Being, Health Sciences Innovation Building, 1670 E. Drachman St. | Hosted by the U of A College of Humanities, this 14th annual free series of lectures, panel discussions and events launches with Andrew Weil, MD, professor of medicine and founding director of the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, who’ll talk on “Integrating Health & Wellness” in the HSIB Forum.

Oct. 17 (7 p.m.): Tucson Humanities Festival – Well-Being, U of A Poetry Center, 1508 E Helen St. | The second event in this year’s Well-Being themed U of A College of Humanities series features Phoenix-born Brandon Som on “Community & Belonging in the Borderlands,” which draws in part on his Pulitzer Prize-winning book of poems “Tripas” that also was a finalist for the 2023 National Book Award for Poetry.

Oct. 18 (2-5:30 p.m.): TEDxUofA: ‘Desert Genius’, U of A Centennial Hall, 1020 E. University Blvd. | A biannual event that brings speakers & performers together to generate, celebrate & share ideas worth spreading, this event celebrates the biodiversity of the Sonoran Desert from a dozen different speakers’/performers’ viewpoints. Invited to present are: Tucson native Jodie Lewers Chertudi, Poetry Center/Alley Cat Murals Speedway Blvd. Collaboration; Theresa Crimmins, PhD, School of Natural Resources and the Environment, College of Agriculture, Life & Environmental Sciences, and USA National Phenology Network; Chris Impey, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Astronomy, College of Science; Ladd Keith, PhD, College of Architecture, Planning & Landscape Architecture, and Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy; Sarah Kortemeier, Poetry Center Library, College of Humanities; Michael Kotutwa Johnson, PhD, Indigenous Resiliency Center, SNRE, CALES; Sankha Subhra Mahanti, PhD, Geosciences, College of Science; Shad Marvasti, MD, Family, Community & Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine – Phoenix; Amy C. Oliver, Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter SkyNights and Smithsonian STARS; Jekan Thanga, PhD, Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, and SpaceTREx Laboratory; with a special performance by Black N' Blue Hip Hop Crew and singer/songwriter Brian López.

Oct. 23 (10 a.m.): Tucson Humanities Festival – Well-Being, U of A Mall | The third event in this year’s Well-Being themed U of A College of Humanities series is the “Health Humanities Fair & Café,” which joins college faculty, advisors and student ambassadors along with campus partners for activities and information on how to enjoy a healthy college lifestyle.

Oct. 27 (9 a.m.-3 p.m.): Cyclovia Fall 2024 Route, Banner – University Medical Center Tucson, 1623 N. Campbell Ave., to Mission View Elementary, 2600 S 8th Ave. | Hosted by the Living Streets Alliance, these biannual events with shifting boundaries showcase walking, biking, rolling, dancing, zumbaing, connecting and playing in car-free, care-free streets. Activity hubs this go-round include BUMCT, Drachman Montessori Magnet School, Ochoa Community School and the Arizona Complete Health Hub at Mission View. You’ll find a variety of refreshments, food, freebies and fun along the way.

Oct. 29 (5:30 p.m.): Tucson Humanities Festival – Well-Being, Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, 1502 E. Mabel St. | To celebrate the opening of the Health Humanities Hub, College of Humanities faculty – Rae Dachille, PhD, Janice McGregor, PhD, and Albert Welter, PhD – will give brief presentations highlighting their exciting research and teaching. Tea service by Seven Cups and a light reception to follow.

Other fun things to do in the Old Pueblo

To help you stay healthy, October (and April) is also a prime time for runs and walks – often fee-based in association with fundraising for local nonprofits and medical-related groups. For more, see the race/walk calendars at Southern Arizona Roadrunners, RunTucson.net, Tagg Run and Everyone Runs/Everyone Walks.

For free, you can always go to Himmel Park, 1035 N. Treat Ave., for the Himmel ParkRun, a timed 5K run/walk Saturday mornings (7 a.m., April-September; 8 a.m., October-November), or join those who gather at Tumamoc Hill – home to the U of A Desert Laboratory, 1675 W. Anklam Road – for weekend sunrise or evening treks, too — most walk, some jog. Likewise, there are free walks/jogs Mondays, 5:30-6:30 p.m., at Meet Me at Maynards, 400 N. Toole Ave., and Wednesdays, 4-7:30 p.m., at Meet Me at St. Philip’s Plaza, 4280 N. Campbell Ave.

In addition, with Tucson ranked among the top U.S. cycling cities, there’s biking along the Loop, through town via TUGO bike sharing or mountain biking all over. See VisitTucson.org for more on that.

With Halloween and Día de los Muertos (aka, Day of the Dead) around the corner, don’t forget the seasonal pumpkin fest & corn mazes at Apple Annie’s in Wilcox or Marana Pumpkin Patch in Marana. And the 35th Annual All Souls Procession has turned into a weekend event, Nov. 1-3, in Tucson – see more on that here.

Regardless of the season, for other fun things to do in Tucson, check out ThisIsTucson.com (a partner of the Arizona Daily Star), Tucson Weekly’s Hot Picks or TucsonTopia.com.

And when in doubt, see the U of A Main Calendar.