Taste the Desert (Cool Summer Nights)

Join us for a night celebrating the hardy plants and deep-rooted traditions that nourish the Sonoran Desert. From mesquite to chiltepín, learn how desert plants sustain resilient communities and landscapes through a blend of flavor, culture, and hands-on discovery.

🍴 Tonight's Schedule:
Hands-on Activities and Education:
6:00 - 9:00 p.m. Explore the biocultural heritage of our foodways through interactive stations from: Native Seeds/SEARCH, San Xavier Cooperative Farm, Las Milpitas Community Farm, Tucson Village Farm.
6:00 - 9:00 p.m. Art Scavenger Hunt across Museum grounds.
Live Music on the Ironwood Patio:
6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Unified Field Theory. Groove to the Jazz sounds of this local band.
6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Desert Food Tasting, Baldwin Educational Building*
Sample chef-crafted bites featuring local ingredients. Meet the chefs and get inspired by the flavors of the desert! Presented in partnership with Tucson City of Gastronomy.
*Tastings are an add-on of $8, clicking 'Find Tickets' will take you directly to our site to purchase tasting tickets. We anticipate the tasting tickets to sell out.
6:00 - 10:00 p.m. Pop-up Chiltepin Sale
Bring the desert home! Spice up your backyard with Museum-grown chiltepins, plus a limited selection of heritage figs and pomegranates. Supporting desert biodiversity and resilient foodways starts in your own garden.
Presentations in the Warden Oasis Theater:
6:30 Family Program: Sonoran Supermarket
The Sonoran Desert is diverse and full of tasty foods if you know where to look. Join our Education Specialist Nick Powers as we search the desert for ingredients to celebrate a very special birthday!
7:30 Speaker Panel: Traditions & Resilience
Hear from community voices and conservation leaders on desert agriculture, seed saving, and the power of cultural connections to land.
Taste the Desert is funded in part by the Santa Cruz Valley National Heritage Area.
Throughout the Night:
Look for Museum Docents around grounds interpreting live animals, celestial desert skies, fluorescent minerals, bats, kissing bugs, scorpions, rattlesnakes, and more!
6:00 - 9:30 p.m. Stingray Touch Exhibit
Admission: $2 Members / $4 Non-Members
Visitors are able to create their own moments with these captivating creatures at the Stingray Touch experience. The pool features cow nose stingrays that guests can interact with. Be touched by a ray!
6:00 - 10:00 p.m. Packrat Playhouse
This indoor play space allows children to discover the desert through the eyes of a packrat! Packrat Playhouse may reach capacity. 30-minute reserved play times are available at the Packrat Playhouse entrance.
6:00 - 9:00 p.m. Art Exhibits
Make sure to check out 'Sonoran Treasures' by the Southern Arizona Arts Guild (SAAG) in the Ironwood Gallery and 'Baldwin in the Baldwin'!
Signature Drink — Great Horned Owl: Spiced ôum;um, Butterscotch Schnapps, Peach Brandy, Ginger Schnapps
🌙 ABOUT COOL SUMMER NIGHTS:
Open till 10:00 p.m. on Saturdays June–August! Cool Summer Nights is included with Museum Admission.
The Desert Museum is lovely during the day, but it’s even cooler after dark! Join us every Saturday night throughout the summer to beat the heat while learning something neat! The desert comes alive at night as nocturnal animals awake: Bats perform aerial acrobatics in pursuit of dinner, otters splash around in their pond, and scorpions glow green under black light. Bring your flashlight and explore, grab a refreshing drink and wander, experience a live animal encounter, scamper in Packrat Playhouse, feel the touch of a stingray, or participate in special nightly activities.
Learn more: https://www.desertmuseum.org/visit/events_saturday_csn
Consider joining our membership program. A lot of bang for your buck! Learn more: http://www.desertmuseum.org/members/