Canal Convergence opens Friday, Nov. 6, and runs through Sunday, Nov. 15, at the Scottsdale Waterfront. The main event is free. It fills the canal and its paths and bridges between Scottsdale Road and Goldwater Boulevard. This year's lineup rewards more than one visit. Several programs happen on one specific weeknight only. For the first time, the event also has a deals program running through Old Town restaurants, shops and galleries. If you live a short drive or a short walk away, you can treat it as ten different evenings.
I've spent more than forty Novembers around Old Town. Living close by is what makes the second and third visit easy, and this year's schedule pays you back for them.
What "Western Nature" means on the water
This year's theme is "Western Nature." Scottsdale Arts says it covers the environment and culture of the West and Southwest: regional water, plants, animals, culture and history. Every installation on the list answers to that theme. Several artists brought two pieces, so a single visit is a good way to miss half of someone's work.
The 2026 artwork lineup lists 11 installations:
- "PERIGEE," Chalk River Labs, Melbourne, Australia
- "Another Slice of Reality: An Evolving Nature," Shaoyu Su x LedPulse, Tempe
- "Dream Rider" and "Sky Wrangler," William Nemitoff with Curious Form, New Orleans
- "Desert Choir," Ottomata, Montreal
- "grandmother turtle," In Theory Art Studios with Laura Tohe and Nora Naranjo-Morse, Huntsville, Utah
- "the weight of light," In Theory Art Studio, Huntsville, Utah
- "KaKtos," Amigo & Amigo, Marrickville, Australia
- "Prairie Fire," True North Absurdities, Calgary
- "The Way The West Was Sold," Jolly Productions, Phoenix
- "Western Fire Garden," Walter Productions, Phoenix
The Chalk River Labs piece has two names in the official material. Scottsdale Arts' August and September announcements call it "APOGEE." The current artwork page lists it as "PERIGEE." Either name points to the same installation by the Melbourne studio.
Three of the eleven come from the Valley: Tempe's Shaoyu Su x LedPulse and Phoenix's Jolly Productions and Walter Productions. Walter Productions also puts on the fire shows, every night at 6:30, 7:30 and 8:30 p.m., and Scottsdale Arts says the artists choreograph them live. With three shows a night, you can arrive at 6, see the first one and still be home for dinner.
The hours favor a short weeknight visit
The hours change across the ten nights, and that matters when you're deciding which nights to go.
| Nights | Hours |
|---|---|
| Fri.–Sat., Nov. 6–7 | 6–10 p.m. |
| Sun.–Thu., Nov. 8–12 | 6–9 p.m. |
| Fri.–Sat., Nov. 13–14 | 6–10 p.m. |
| Sun., Nov. 15, closing night | 6–9 p.m. |
Six of the ten nights close at 9 p.m. If you live nearby, those six shorter nights fit into a regular evening, and most of the one-time programming below falls on them.
The weeknight calendar
Scottsdale Arts says the event has nearly 100 workshops, performances, tours and other activities over its ten nights. Workshops and community programs are led by Indigenous and Latinx artists and organizations. New this year are weekday activities at the Herberger Stage on Soleri Plaza. Here's what's on the calendar so far, taken from Scottsdale Arts' Sept. 30 programming announcement:
- Monday, Nov. 9. Painting with natural pigments, led by artists from the Center for Imagination in the Borderlands.
- Tuesday, Nov. 10. Beading with Maxica Colectivo.
- Thursday, Nov. 12. "WEARABLE WILDS: Fashion, Technology & Ecologies of the West," a fashion show by Arizona State University FIDM students, plus a show of Jeremy Arviso's "Working West" garments.
- Saturday, Nov. 14. NicoleOlson|MovementChaos performs at the Chalk River Labs installation.
- Sunday, Nov. 15. Scottsdale Community College Dance gives two site-specific performances, at 7 and 8 p.m.
- Sunday, Nov. 15. Bandana printing with Jeremy Arviso.
The festival's performances page also lists weekday stage programs that include a powwow demonstration, a Veterans Day celebration, line-dancing lessons and fashion shows. The full daily schedule is still listed as coming soon, so check the activities page before you pick a night.
On weekends, the stage hosts live music from Arizona and regional acts. The headliners are QVLN, a Latin pop act, and Nodaway, an indie rock band. The Beer and Wine Garden next to the stage is open every night, with food trucks, dessert vendors, wine, beer, canned cocktails and soft drinks.
Free, ticketed and RSVP-only
Performances, drop-in workshops and some other activities are free. Nightly art tours, ticketed workshops and certain special events need tickets, and those went on sale with the September announcement.
There are two walking tours. A daily art tour visits the installations. Salt River Project canal-history tours run on selected nights. Those are free with an RSVP and last an hour. Scottsdale Arts' SRP History Tours page says space is limited, registration is required and tours often fill up quickly. If you've walked the canal for years without knowing much about how it got there, the SRP tour is the one to book early. Prices for the art tour differ between festival pages, so confirm on the tours page when you buy.
The dress-up space returns this year as "Working West," at the Nationwide Innovation Zone. It's free, open to all ages and needs no registration. Phoenix-based Indigenous designer Jeremy Arviso curated it with Diné hatter Geri James and Diné weaver Gloria Fain. In the Scottsdale Arts announcement, Arviso described it this way:
"'Working West' is an invitation to customize, create and wear your story."
The Roundabout on Marshall Way
The Scottsdale Arts Roundabout on Marshall Way will have Western-themed activities run by community partners. The list includes CALA Alliance, Monarca Center for Healing and Justice, Art Heals Arizona, RUMBO, Puente, Cahokia, Western Spirit: Scottsdale's Museum of the West, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale, Arizona Dream Act Coalition and S'edav Va'aki Museum.
Western Spirit is on that list, and the museum turns up again in the newest part of the 2026 event, which reaches past the canal into Old Town's businesses.
Canal Convergence x Old Town
Scottsdale Arts calls this a brand-new collaboration with local businesses. Participating restaurants, shops and galleries display a Canal Convergence x Old Town poster and offer discounts or themed items made for the event. Bring a receipt from one of them to the festival information booth and you get a free Canal Convergence swag item while supplies last.
The Old Town Scottsdale event page lists these participants:
- Malee's on Main pours a Canal Convergence cocktail called The Canal Splash and takes 10% off food.
- Cobre Kitchen + Cocktails at Canopy by Hilton Old Town Scottsdale offers a $10 margarita, an $8 mule and $7 draft beer when you mention the event between 4 and 6 p.m.
- ZuZu at Hotel Valley Ho takes 20% off food and drinks when you mention Canal Convergence.
- Prep & Pastry takes 20% off when you mention Canal Convergence.
- Chin Up Donuts offers buy one, get one half off on specialty lattes and seasonal drinks.
- Western Spirit: Scottsdale's Museum of the West offers buy one, get one free admission with code BOGO online or by mentioning the event at the museum.
- Mavericks of Scottsdale takes 15% off Western hats and apparel.
- Bella Fine Art takes 10% to 40% off original art and gives a raffle ticket for a daily art giveaway.
- Gorgeous Things takes 15% off and gives a limited-edition Canal Convergence patch with purchases of $50 or more. Custom jackets are excluded.
- Giving Bracelets gives a free gift with purchases of $100 or more.
The Cobre hours stand out. Its deal runs from 4 to 6 p.m. and the canal lights come on at 6, so the business side of the event starts before the art does. Western Spirit also shows up twice, once as a Roundabout partner and once with a museum deal. A daytime museum visit and an evening on the canal now share a theme.
Getting there and getting home
Old Town's public garages are free, and street parking has a three-hour limit. The Waterfront Underground and Southbridge Underground garages are the closest to the installations. Three hours covers dinner and a canal walk if you arrive at 6. If you add a pre-show happy hour, a garage is the safer choice.
The free Scottsdale Trolley runs every 20 minutes, Monday through Friday, from 5:45 a.m. to 7:45 p.m. That gets you to an early weeknight visit but not home afterward, and it doesn't run on weekends. Plan your ride home before you head out.
Franklin will be staying home this year. A large Akita, three fire shows a night and a canal full of strangers is a combination I'd rather not test.
If walking the canal in November has you thinking about which parts of Old Town you could walk to it from, I'm glad to talk it through. I've watched this part of Scottsdale grow up around the Waterfront for decades. Lee Fisher is happy to share what living near it is like any month of the year.
