Canal Convergence opens Friday at the Scottsdale Waterfront. It runs 10 nights, through Sunday, Nov. 15, and every night is free. This year's theme is "Western Nature." The art is on the water every night. The Herberger Stage in Soleri Plaza is what changes, and the schedule splits it into two kinds of evenings. Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights run back-to-back concerts. Monday through Thursday, each night gets its own stage program, and none of them comes back.
That makes the weeknights the more specific choice. Weekend sets are good nights out. The Monday powwow demonstration, the Tuesday Navy jazz orchestra, the Wednesday two-step lesson and the Thursday fashion shows each happen once. Miss the night and you've missed the show.
The clock splits first
Scottsdale Arts' visitor page lists four blocks of hours:
- Friday, Nov. 6 and Saturday, Nov. 7: 6 to 10 p.m.
- Sunday, Nov. 8 through Thursday, Nov. 12: 6 to 9 p.m.
- Friday, Nov. 13 and Saturday, Nov. 14: 6 to 10 p.m.
- Sunday, Nov. 15, closing night: 6 to 9 p.m.
So Friday and Saturday get four hours, and the other six nights get three. On a weeknight there's an hour less for the 11 artworks, the stage and whatever you do before or after. That's why it helps to know which weeknight program you want before you walk over. The event covers the Waterfront, the Arizona Canal itself, and the paths and bridges between Scottsdale Road and Goldwater Boulevard.
Four weeknights, none repeated
Every weekday stage activation is free. Scottsdale Arts lists them as separate events:
- Monday, Nov. 9, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. A powwow demonstration with Ty LodgePole of Homeland, presented by the Indigenous collective Homeland.
- Tuesday, Nov. 10, 6 to 9 p.m. The city's Scottsdale Salutes program gives a presentation at 6 p.m. for Veterans Day. Then the US Navy Band Commodores Jazz Orchestra plays sets at 6:30 and 7:35 p.m.
- Wednesday, Nov. 11, 7:30 to 9 p.m. Line dancing and two-steppin' with instructor Steve Conrad.
- Thursday, Nov. 12, two fashion shows. At 6:30 p.m., WEARABLE WILDS: Fashion, Technology & Ecologies of the West features students from ASU FIDM's Wearable Technology course. At 7:45 p.m., the Working West Fashion Show is led by Indigenous designer and creative director Jeremy Arviso, founder of Original Landlords.
Check the date before you go on Tuesday. The Veterans Day program is on Nov. 10, the day before the holiday. On Nov. 11 itself, the stage is set up for line dancing.
Thursday is the fullest weeknight, with two shows about an hour apart. The 7:45 p.m. runway is also connected to something you can see the rest of the run. Original Landlords hosts Working West, a free dress-up space for all ages where visitors can try on select garments. The hours printed for that activation don't match the main event schedule, so check its event page before planning a visit around it. Wednesday's lesson starts at 7:30 p.m., so you have time for an artwork loop before the music.
The weekends run as a concert series
Six nights have music at the Herberger Stage, and the published lineup covers a wide range of styles:
| Night | 6 p.m. | Second set | Third set |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri., Nov. 6 | Mare, folk | Space Traveler's Union, jazz, 7:15 | Cameron Jeong, jazz/R&B, 8:30 |
| Sat., Nov. 7 | Mario Why, canyon pop | Smokestack Lightning, blues, 7:30 | Goldwax Revival, soul/blues, 9:00 |
| Sun., Nov. 8 | The Melroses, indie rock | DORSTEN, folk rock, 7:30 | None |
| Fri., Nov. 13 | Faun Flora, synth dream pop | The Joeys, retro garage rock, 7:30 | QVLN, Latin pop, 8:45 |
| Sat., Nov. 14 | BBGail, synth pop | Myr, folk rock, 7:15 | Nodaway, indie rock, 8:45 |
| Sun., Nov. 15 | Joey Gutos, indie pop rock | Brea Burns, honky tonk, 7:30 | None |
Friday and Saturday nights get three acts because they get the extra hour. Sundays end at 9 p.m. like a weeknight and have two acts. The genres also loosely follow the theme. After Mario Why's canyon pop opener, Saturday, Nov. 7 turns to blues and soul, and closing night ends with honky tonk. If you'd like to see the art with lighter crowds and still hear a band, Sunday is the only night that offers both a 9 p.m. finish and live music.
The 5 p.m. walk only happens on weekends
Two guided tours run, and their schedules don't line up.
The SRP canal-history walking tour is free and lasts an hour. It covers the Arizona Canal from its early engineering to its role in the Valley today. It runs only on the six music nights, Nov. 6, 7, 8, 13, 14 and 15, starting at 5 p.m. That's an hour before the installations come on. Registration is required, space is limited, and Scottsdale Arts asks walkers to arrive 10 minutes early because the tour starts on time.
The Scottsdale Arts art tour is ticketed and runs every night of the event at 6 p.m., Monday through Thursday included. Its event page lists a $9 price, but the Tours overview says $6, so confirm the price when you book.
This lets you stack an evening. On a weekend you could take the canal-history walk at 5, stay for the art tour at 6 and be at the stage before the second set. On a weeknight, the one-hour art tour at 6 runs until about 7, so it overlaps the first half hour of Monday's powwow and Thursday's 6:30 fashion show. It fits best on Wednesday, ending before the 7:30 line-dancing lesson.
What's on the water every night
The artworks are the same all 10 nights, which is why the stage schedule is the thing to plan around. Here's the 2026 artwork list with each artist and home base:
- PERIGEE, Chalk River Labs, Melbourne, Australia
- Another Slice of Reality: An Evolving Nature, Shaoyu Su x LedPulse, Tempe
- Dream Rider and Sky Wrangler, both by 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
Three of the 11 come from Valley studios: Shaoyu Su x LedPulse in Tempe, and Jolly Productions and Walter Productions in Phoenix. William Nemitoff and In Theory each have two works in the lineup.
Away from the canal, free activities from community partners are set up at the Scottsdale Arts Roundabout at Marshall Way. Workshops take place in the Nationwide Innovation Zone. Drop-in workshops are free and need no registration, but some others charge a fee and need advance sign-up. This year's workshops are led by Indigenous and Latinx artists and organizations. As of late October, the full daily activity schedule was still listed as coming soon, and so were the details for the free dance performances.
Getting there on a weeknight
If you live close enough, walking is the easiest option. Old Town's public parking guidance says the public garages are free and street parking has a three-hour limit. That's standard Old Town policy, not a plan for the event. The three-hour limit roughly matches a weeknight session from start to finish.
The trolley is less help than it looks. The city's regular trolley schedule is fare-free, with service every 20 minutes Monday through Friday from 5:45 a.m. to 7:45 p.m. That gets you to a 6 p.m. weeknight start, but it doesn't run late enough to bring you home after the Navy jazz orchestra's second set or Thursday's 7:45 p.m. runway. Plan a different ride home.
If you're timing a weeknight visit, we're glad to share how we'd fit it around dinner on the Waterfront. Questions about Old Town are always welcome at Phoenix Living.
