The Fringe Festival, mentioned in our last post, is the Tucson Weekly’s Pick of the Week. The Festival starts tonight and runs through March 27th. It will be held at four downtown venues – Beowulf Alley Theatre, Old Art Artisans, The Urban Tribe Collective, and The Screening Room.

This weekend will be a packed one in downtown Tucson. The lineup includes The Fringe Festival, Cyclovia, Synergistic Water Festival, Festival en el Barrio Viejo, and The Wildflower Festival. That’s four festivals in one weekend!

The Tucson Fringe Theater Festival kicks off March 23rd at 7:30pm at Old Town Artisans. From the website: “Our hope in bringing the Fringe to Tucson is to expand upon an already thriving theatrical community by promoting affordable opportunities for artists to craft original ideas while presenting a wider array of performance practices to the spectators.” Venues for the six original works are The Screening Room, Beowulf Alley Theatre, Old Town Artisans, and The Urban Tribe Collective.

Festival en el Barrio Viejo is the second year of this event benefiting KXCI. Calexico is the headliner and other acts include Robyn Hitchcock, Al Perry, the B*Side Players, and the Silver Thread Trio. The food lineup is looking very tasty with local food trucks Planet of the Crepes, Eat a Burger, Isabella’s Ice Cream, and Peddler on the Path, along with Mama Joy’s Catfish and others. Barrio Viejo is a perfect setting with its historic colorful adobe homes. Read articles about the event from Zocalo Magazine and Downtown Tucsonan.

Cyclovia celebrates alternative forms of transportation by closing off streets to cars and allowing bikes and pedestrians to take over the streets. It takes place Sunday, March 27th from 10am to 3pm. Visit the website for more details. The Synergistic Water Festival takes place at Armory Park from 10am to 4pm within the Cyclovia route. Read more in the Downtown Tucsonan and at the Water Festival website. And lastly, The Wildflower Festival, held at the historic Charles O. Brown House on Broadway is a benefit for Arts Marketplace and renovations of the C.O. Brown courthouse. Expect Native Seed/SEARCH, craft vendors, seed planting for kids, and many more festivities. Admission to all three events is FREE.