What's on in Phoenix, United States through the year

Peak crowds — Barrett-Jackson collector car week, Fiesta Bowl week

• Festival

  Barrett-Jackson collector car week

  17–26 Jan · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  A week of collector-car auctions at WestWorld in Scottsdale in late January, drawing a crowd in the hundreds of thousands. Scottsdale rooms are priced accordingly. Source ↗

Still on: Desert hiking season (15 Oct – 15 Apr (usually)), Fiesta Bowl week (26 Dec – 2 Jan (usually))

Peak crowds — WM Phoenix Open, Cactus League spring training

• Festival

  WM Phoenix Open

  4–16 Feb · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  The loudest week in golf, at TPC Scottsdale in the second week of February, with crowds over half a million across the tournament. Scottsdale hotel rates roughly treble. Source ↗

• Festival

  Cactus League spring training

  19 Feb – 25 Mar · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  Fifteen major league clubs play a month of exhibition baseball at ten small parks around the valley, all within an hour of each other. It fills every hotel in Mesa and Scottsdale. Source ↗

• Nature

  Desert wildflowers

  20 Feb – 10 Apr · usuallyWildflowers & blooms

  Poppies and lupine on the slopes north and east of the city in March, and the saguaro flower at the end of April. How much of it there is depends entirely on the winter rain.

Still on: Desert hiking season (15 Oct – 15 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — Cactus League spring training, Spring break in United States

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Cactus League spring training (19 Feb – 25 Mar (usually)), Desert wildflowers (20 Feb – 10 Apr (usually)), Desert hiking season (15 Oct – 15 Apr (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Desert wildflowers (20 Feb – 10 Apr (usually)), Desert hiking season (15 Oct – 15 Apr (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

• Hazard

  Extreme heat

  1 May – 5 Oct · usually

  Five months over forty degrees with nights that no longer drop below thirty in July. The city is genuinely dangerous outdoors in the afternoon, and it is getting longer every decade. Source ↗

• Rule

  Heat-day trail closures

  1 May – 30 Sep · usuallyClosures

  On excessive heat warning days the city shuts the Camelback, Piestewa and South Mountain trails from eleven to five and fines people who go anyway. Expect several dozen such days a summer. Source ↗

Busy — Summer break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  North American monsoon

  15 Jun – 30 SepRisk

  Storms build over the mountains most afternoons from mid-June and break over the valley with an hour of wind and rain. It takes the edge off the heat and puts the humidity up instead.

Still on: Extreme heat (1 May – 5 Oct (usually)), Heat-day trail closures (1 May – 30 Sep (usually))

Busy — Summer break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Hazard

  Haboobs

  1 Jul – 10 Sep · usuallyDust seasonClosures

  Thunderstorm outflows lift a wall of dust hundreds of metres high across the valley in minutes, grounding flights and dropping visibility to nothing. A few a summer, mostly in July and August. Source ↗

Still on: Extreme heat (1 May – 5 Oct (usually)), Heat-day trail closures (1 May – 30 Sep (usually)), North American monsoon (15 Jun – 30 Sep)

Busy — Summer break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Extreme heat (1 May – 5 Oct (usually)), Heat-day trail closures (1 May – 30 Sep (usually)), North American monsoon (15 Jun – 30 Sep), Haboobs (1 Jul – 10 Sep (usually))

Peak crowds — Arizona State Fair, Summer break in United States

• Festival

  Arizona State Fair

  25 Sep – 31 Oct · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  Five weekends at the fairgrounds west of downtown from late September, which is the first stretch of the year the evenings are bearable outdoors. Light rail is the sane way in. Source ↗

Still on: Extreme heat (1 May – 5 Oct (usually)), Heat-day trail closures (1 May – 30 Sep (usually)), North American monsoon (15 Jun – 30 Sep), Haboobs (1 Jul – 10 Sep (usually))

Busy — Arizona State Fair

• Season

  Desert hiking season

  15 Oct – 15 Apr · usuallyTrail season

  Camelback, South Mountain and the Superstitions are only sensible between mid-October and mid-April, which is also when the resorts charge the most. Half the country's snowbirds are here for it.

Still on: Extreme heat (1 May – 5 Oct (usually)), Arizona State Fair (25 Sep – 31 Oct (usually))

Busy — Thanksgiving break in United States

Nothing new starts in November.

Still on: Desert hiking season (15 Oct – 15 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — Fiesta Bowl week, Winter / Christmas break in United States

• Festival

  Fiesta Bowl week

  26 Dec – 2 Jan · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  College football brings two bowl games and their travelling fans to Glendale between Christmas and New Year, on top of the winter residents already here. Resort rates spike for the fortnight. Source ↗

Still on: Desert hiking season (15 Oct – 15 Apr (usually))