Weekend in 5 Minutes · Nov 5 to 8

Two parades, a $1 zoo, and Them Damn Javelinas

Published Thu, Nov 5, 2026 · Edited by Prescott Places

Two parades in six days, and your couch is invited to neither. Friday is free hockey. Saturday is a zoo that costs a dollar, the Catrinas walking Prescott Valley Town Center in full Día de los Muertos dress, and a band called Them Damn Javelinas.

Wednesday, Nov 11, at 11 AM, downtown Prescott lines the street for its veterans, and so should you.

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Thursday, Nov 5

Doors 4 PM, bidding 5:30 PM: Keep Prescott Lit, upstairs at Jersey Lilly Saloon, Prescott. $45,000 for the courthouse lights rides on this auction. On the block: a diamond necklace, a set of tires and four Suns tickets. Bring the person you’d buy the necklace for, and let them watch you bid on the tires. Can’t go? Online bids close Thursday at 5 PM. Bid online (opens in a new tab)

7 PM: The Bridges of Madison County opens on The Hazeltine Main Stage, Prescott, through Nov 15. $35. Four days in Iowa, one photographer, and a whole row blaming allergies on the way out. Tickets (opens in a new tab)

7 PM, free: The Beauty of Granite Mountain, Natural History Institute, Prescott. Stan Bindell’s three short films on the wilderness, the region’s wildfires and the Granite Mountain Hotshots, with a talk. You’ve seen that mountain from your car. This is the rest of it. Register first. Space is limited. Register (opens in a new tab)

Friday, Nov 6

9 to 11 AM: the annual Veterans Breakfast, The Center on Rosser, Prescott. Free for veterans. Everyone else is welcome for $10. Sit next to someone who served, and listen. Veterans RSVP online by 4:30 PM Thursday or in person by 8:45 AM Friday. RSVP (opens in a new tab)

6 and 7 PM, Friday and Saturday: Rising Stars of Prescott, Jim and Linda Lee Planetarium, on the Embry-Riddle campus, Prescott. $8, cards only. Thirty-five minutes of planets and meteor showers, then telescopes outside if the sky cooperates. Tickets (opens in a new tab)

7 PM, free: Embry-Riddle Ice Hockey vs NAU, Findlay Toyota Center, Prescott Valley. Future pilots versus Lumberjacks, on real ice. Reserve a free spot and pick a side. Reserve (opens in a new tab)

7 PM: Guys and Dolls opens at the Jim and Linda Lee Performing Arts Center, at Yavapai College, Prescott, with students and local talent, through Nov 15. Tickets from $40, youth $11. A show about gamblers, at a theater with a clear-bag rule. You’ll show your hand at the door. Tickets (opens in a new tab)

Saturday, Nov 7

9 AM check-in: Hike For Hounds, United Animal Friends Rescue Ranch, Prescott. $25 gets you the Peavine Trail, a grilled picnic lunch and dog activities. Hike as little as you like and still claim the lunch. The dogs will know. Details (opens in a new tab)

9:30 AM to 12:30 PM: the Prescott Farmers Market, YRMC Miller Valley lot, Prescott. Arizona doesn’t fall back, but the market just did: winter hours start Saturday, two hours later than last week. Sleep in, then go find the apples and winter squash. Bring cash and a bag.

OFF THE RADAR. 10 AM to 4 PM: Dollar Day at Heritage Park Zoo, Prescott. $1 admission for everyone. The change in your cup holder has plans Saturday. See the zoo’s flyer (opens in a new tab)

Sat, Nov 7: the Catrina Parade

12 to 7 PM, free: Día de los Muertos Celebration, Prescott Valley Town Center, across from In the Game. Live mariachi, traditional food, an ofrenda contest and the Catrina Parade at 2 PM. Go early, take your time at the ofrendas, and have a spot by 2 PM. Details (opens in a new tab)

7 PM: Cosmic Coyote, a Tribute to the Grateful Dead, Elks Theatre, Prescott. The host promises deep improvisation, which is how you know it’s accurate. Tickets (opens in a new tab)

Saturday’s best band names. All real. All in bars. All in Prescott.

• Them Damn Javelinas (opens in a new tab), 1 PM, Whiskey River Tavern. Also what you yelled at your trash cans at 5 AM.

• Rusty Bullets (opens in a new tab), 4 PM, The Betsy Wine Bar. Free. A band called Rusty Bullets at a wine bar.

• Road One South (opens in a new tab), 7 PM, Whiskey River Tavern. Sounds like directions.

• Sky Daddy & the Players (opens in a new tab), 8 PM, Jersey Lilly Saloon.

• Well Dressed Wolves (opens in a new tab), 7 PM, The Windsock Lounge. Last on this list. First to iron.

Ever lost a trash can to a javelina? Hit reply with one line.

Sunday, Nov 8

2 PM, free: CoffeeHouse Concert with John Coinman, Prescott Public Library. Ninety minutes when you’re allowed to clap in a library. Details (opens in a new tab)

3 PM: Tribute to the Ol’ Cherokee Cowboy, Elks Theatre, Prescott. Billy Mata & The Texas Tradition play Ray Price, with stories from his career and Prescott’s own Jordan Brambila on fiddle. Boots are optional. You’ll want them by the second song. Details (opens in a new tab)

If you only do one thing

Wed, Nov 11: the Veterans Day Parade

Downtown Prescott, free. Opening ceremonies at 10:30 AM on the stage at Cortez and Union, then the parade at 11 AM. Come early, because roads close. Stand on Montezuma St and you can hear the announcers. Wave. Clap. Say thank you out loud.

Parade details

Also this week:

Sat, Nov 7, 10 AM to 3 PM: Living History Adventure, Fort Whipple Museum, Prescott. Free. Interpreters in period dress show what a frontier trooper carried. Ask about the years Fort Whipple was one of the military’s largest hospitals for respiratory ailments.

Sat, Nov 7, 3 to 6 PM: Chino Valley Elks Veterans Spaghetti Dinner, Chino Valley Senior Center. Tickets through lodge members.

Wed, Nov 11: Heritage Park Zoo, Prescott, lets veterans and active military in free.

You should’ve been there last weekend

Mt. Vernon lost its chill. And its candy.

Zombies were dancing in the street. Giant skeletons towered over Victorian porches. Little superheroes, grown monsters and whole families in matching costumes filled the sidewalks while DJs spun, bands rocked, and neighbors dropped candy into bags and plastic pumpkins as fast as the kids could hold them out.

When the rain rolled in, Bosa Donuts filled with costumed crowds ducking in for hot drinks and donuts. The Victorians had turned into graveyards, cobweb mansions and skeleton headquarters, and every house seemed to shout “Hold my candy” at the one before it.

Then came the zombie dancers doing their best Thriller, wonderfully wonky moves and all. A giant skeleton in the yard isn’t enough anymore. Now the undead need choreography.

By the end of the night, kids were weighing their bags in their hands and declaring new records. You meant to stay twenty minutes and somehow lost two hours.

This wasn’t trick-or-treating. This was a neighborhood takeover, and Prescott showed UP.

Thanksgiving, handled. Where to eat, pies and take-home meals, free meals and ways to help, all in the free Thanksgiving Guide: prescottplaces.com/thanksgiving-guide

Send it to whoever’s hosting. If that’s you, send it to whoever should be.

Coming up

New in town: Handel’s Ice Cream, at Montezuma and Sheldon in Prescott. Yes, ice cream in November. On the bright side, your cone won’t melt.

Forward this to your weekend crew, and to whoever still says there’s nothing to do in Prescott.

See you out there.
Prescott Places