Arizona Capitol Copper Dome Main stage
All roads lead to the dome. The Arizona Capitol Copper Dome Main stage, that is.
From Grammy-award winning musicians to traditional Native American hoop dancers, the festival’s headliners will perform Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 11-12, on this stage, which takes up the area between the House and Senate buildings.
On Saturday, state historian Marshall Trimble kicks off the performances at 12:30 p.m., followed by state balladeer Dolan Ellis and Rex Allen Jr., whose song “Arizona” is an official state centennial song.
Nighttime shows start at 6:30 with roots-rocker and New Year’s Eve institution Jerry Riopelle. Sedona native singer-songwriter Michelle Branch and Tempe alt-rock band Gin Blossoms wrap up the night, which ends with fireworks at 10 p.m.
Performances start at noon Sunday with cultural troupes, such as Native American dancers. Look for the bolero-hat-sporting flamenco guitarist and Phoenix resident Esteban at 3 p.m. and legendary jazz guitarist George Benson, who lives in Paradise Valley, at 4:45 p.m.
Arizona Centennial Ride
This massive motorcycle run starts in Mesa and ends at the Phoenix main stage.
Country-music star and Valley native Dierks Bentley will led the caravan, and renowned cycle designer and Arizona resident Paul Yaffe will ride the Copper Chopper, the official mascot of the centennial.
Officials expect about 2,000 riders to join Bentley and Yaffe on the ride, which culminates in a ceremony hosted by Gov. Jan Brewer around 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
The Copper Chopper will be given away to the winner of a drawing at 4:30 p.m. Sunday.
Bentley’s song “Home” is another official state centennial song.
State wines and craft beers
Those 21 and older can raise a birthday toast with homegrown wine and beer.
Showcasing Arizona’s burgeoning spirits industry, the wine and beer gardens will feature some of the best purveyors from the Arizona Wine Growers Association and the Arizona Craft Brewers Guild.
Patrons can meet vintners and brewers, and buy tasting tickets, commemorative glasses and bottles.
Arizona Stronghold Vineyards of Cottonwood is the official state winery. Bottles of its three official blends — Centennial Red, Centennial Pink and Centennial White — will be available.
Scottsdale-based Sonoran Brewing Co. is the official craft brewery and will sell its two specially brewed beers, the Arizona Centennial Ale and Arizona Centennial Copper Ale.
Western Town
From the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral to Scottsdale’s tagline as the “West’s Most Western Town,” Arizona wouldn’t be Arizona without cowboy hats, spurred boots and six-shooters.
This pavilion celebrates the Old West and features gunfight re-enactments, full-scale saloons, blacksmithing and gold panning demonstrations, and trick-rope performances.
If you haven’t got your fill of territorial Arizona novelties, walk over to the Pioneer and Military Memorial Park Cemetery, near Jefferson Street and 14th Avenue, and see the grave sites of such historical figures as Jacob Waltz of the famed Lost Dutchman mine, and tour the Smurthwaite House Museum, one of the last 19th-century buildings in Phoenix. Open until 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.