FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE     September 19, 2008                                           Contact: Toni Smith & Amy Richert 800-283-6734 toni@tempecvb.com amy@tempecvb.com What’s New in Tempe, Arizona   Tempe, Arizona is located in the heart of the Metropolitan Phoenix area. Home to Arizona State University, Tempe contains the energy that you would expect from a college town and the attractions that you’d expect in the perfect vacation destination. Tempe is known for the innovative Tempe Town Lake, a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed theater, free museums, engaging festivals and sporting events, the historic, fun-filled Mill Avenue District and the shopping, dining and entertainment at Tempe Marketplace. For additional media information, please visit www.tempecvb.com/Media_Main.asp.   Arts & Culture   Tempe’s Newest Web Site Designed for Art Lovers Starting in October 2008, there will be one Web site that will feature Tempe’s arts and cultural attractions and events, www.TempeScene.com.  From Broadway shows to gallery exhibitions and dance performances, the Web site will include a calendar of upcoming events, a list of attractions and facilities and information about dining, shopping and accommodations for visitors.  Tempe’s many architectural highlights will also be included. The Web site www.TempeScene.comis designed to be a “one stop shop” for those with an interest in the arts, making it easy for them to find activities that match their interests. Chihuly Art Exhibition Coming to Desert Botanical Garden The Desert Botanical Garden is pleased to announce the upcoming exhibition by renowned artist, Dale Chihuly.   The exhibit will feature new and unique works of glass sculpture located along the Garden’s trails.  The exhibition will open Saturday, November 22, 2008 and remain until May 31, 2009. This is Chihuly’s first exhibition in a desert setting. Dale Chihuly is known for his innovative glass sculptures and his work is immediately recognizable for its grand scale and use of vibrant colors.  Chihuly’s spectacular creations are found in more than 200 museums worldwide including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, London’s Victoria and Albert Museum and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Garden exhibitions of his work have been mounted at the New York Botanical Garden, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Atlanta Botanical Garden and the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew.  To make the visitor experience as enjoyable as possible, Desert Botanical Garden is introducing timed ticketing. Timed ticketing is designed to control the flow of guests, ensure adequate parking and improve your viewing experience.   Dates:              November 22, 2008 – May 31, 2009 Hours:              8 a.m. – 8 p.m. with three timed ticket sessions: 8 a.m. – noon / noon – 4 p.m. / 4p.m. – 8 p.m.   The general public will be able to purchase tickets for Chihuly beginning Wednesday, October 15, 2008. Ticket prices are as follows: Adults $15, Seniors $13.50, Students (13-18 and college with ID) $7.50, Children (3 -12) $ 5, Children under 3 admitted free. Tickets may be purchased online at www.dbg.orgor by phone at 480-481-8188. Advanced reservation or purchase is recommended. Limited walk-up tickets may be available.    Festivals to Delight Art Aficionados and Music Fans Arts and music lovers will feel right at home during the Tempe Festival of the Arts when over 400 artists, food vendors and entertainers line the Mill Avenue District. You never know what treasures you’ll find at this free festival. Upcoming festival dates are December 5-7, 2008 and March 27-29, 2009. www.tempefestivalofthearts.com. April 3-4, 2009, the Circle K Tempe Music Festival returns to Tempe Beach Park. The festival features more than 30 regional and national acts on 3 stages, interactive displays, extreme sports demonstrations and much more! www.tempemusicfestival.com. A ttractions   Music Meets Shopping at Tempe Marketplace One of Tempe’s newest attractions, Tempe Marketplace, is a hub for shopping, dining, nightlife and now, live music. Every Thursday through Sunday evening, “The District” at Tempe Marketplace hosts live bands and acoustic musicians at multiple stages. Music ranges from blues to jazz to alternative rock. Performances are free and fit for the entire family. Tempe Marketplace has 1.3 million square feet of shopping, dining and entertainment options. Shoppers will love stores such as Barnes & Noble, Gap, Guess, Old Navy and one-of-a-kind retailers like Splashadello and Divaz Boutique. To refuel after a long day of shopping, try one of the many restaurants on site. Favorites include Maria Maria, with diverse dishes showcasing regional Mexican cuisine, and Dave & Buster’s, where a delicious meal is combined with fun-filled arcade games. www.tempemarketplace.com   Segway Tours at Tempe Town Lake Visitors can explore the pathways around Tempe Town Lake in a whole new way beginning this fall. Segway of Scottsdale plans to offer Segway tours of the lake by October 2008. Tempe Town Lake is a 220-acre urban oasis, located north of Arizona State University and south of Papago Park, a Sonoran desert preserve. Water is contained in the lake by an inflatable dam system. The tours will traverse the nearly 5 miles of pathways that surround the lake. Guides will give operating instruction for the vehicles prior to the tour. The fee will be $75 per person. For more information, please visit www.segwayofscottsdale.com. Dining & Nightlife   Wine Spectator Honors Two of Tempe’s Finest Restaurants Wine lists at Caffe Boa and House of Tricks impressed Wine Spectator judges, who honored the Mill Avenue District restaurants with the coveted Award of Excellence for 2008. The popular eateries that sit on opposite ends of the Mill Avenue District were among 91 restaurants in Arizona to be recognized with one of the three levels of annual awards. They were the only Tempe restaurants to earn an award. Winners were selected based on the variety, quality and organization of their wine lists, as well as vintage and appellation information. Judges also evaluate the food menu to see how the wines pair with various meals. Caffe Boa focuses on “seasonally inspired and ingredient-driven” Mediterranean cuisine. At the direction of the husband and wife team that owns the restaurant, the wine list features 300 bins and over 50 by-the-glass selections. www.cafeboa.com House of Tricks, located in two side-by-side historic cottages with a vine-strewn courtyard, is also owned by a husband and wife team. Their cuisine is a fusion of French and Southwest flavors. The wine list specializes in lesser-known yet highly-rated wines, but features selections from widely-known wineries as well. www.houseoftricks.com “Dinner & A Show” Combines Broadway Shows with Dining Deals ASU Gammage and Downtown Tempe Community, Inc. (DTC) will be continuing Dinner & A Show, a special program which offers Gammage ticketholders discounts or free menu items from participating restaurants in the Mill Avenue District. Dinner & A Show caters to all events held at the historic ASU Gammage, including the M&I Bank Broadway Across America - Arizona Series, the BEYOND series, and rental shows. Thirteen Mill Avenue District restaurants are offering discounts or free menu items upon presentation of an ASU Gammage ticket stub on the day of each show. Participating restaurants include choices such as The Bamboo Club, Gordon Biersch Brewery, Macayo’s Depot Cantina and Caffe Boa. Free parking is available for 4 hours at Centerpoint Surface Lot, Brickyard Garage, and Hayden Square Garage. Patrons can catch the free Orbit Jupiter shuttle, provided by the City of Tempe, at each bus stop along Mill Avenue to take them to and from ASU Gammage. Located on the Tempe campus of Arizona State University, ASU Gammage is among the largest university-based presenters of performing arts in the world. It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. For more information, visit www.millavenue.comor www.asugammage.com.   Hotels aloft Hotel to Open in Tempe Starwood’s much-anticipated new brand in the select-service hotel category, aloft hotels, delivers stylish design, accessible technology and a hip urban attitude to another outdated hotel segment. In early 2009, an aloft Hotel will open on Scottsdale Road and the 202. This hotel promises to bring an urban, modern design to Tempe’s visitors at an affordable price. This will be the first aloft Hotel to open in Arizona. www.starwoodhotels.com/alofthotels/   Transportation METRO Light Rail Set to Open in December Valley Metro Rail Inc., a nonprofit, public corporation is in preparation to open the newly designed METRO light rail service this December. The light rail will run from central Phoenix through Tempe and ending in Mesa.  Tempe will be the only city that has light rail service through both its east and west city borders.  The grand opening weekend is set for December 27 – 28, 2008.  All train rides will be free to the public during the opening weekend, and a variety of stations will be hosting large events in celebration. Official service begins December 29. Light rail and buses share the same fare system: $1.25 for one ride and $2.50 for an all day pass. For more information, visit www.valleymetro.org/metro_light_rail/ . Sports Marathon Rocks to the Finish Line in Tempe The P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Marathon and ½ Marathon will fill the streets of Tempe, Phoenix and Scottsdale with more than 30,000 participants on January 18, 2009. The race will feature an assortment of live music and spirit teams staged approximately every mile of the 26.2 and 13.1-mile courses, providing runners and spectators with continuous entertainment and motivation. The event begins in downtown Phoenix, races through Scottsdale and finishes at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe. Runners will keep rockin’ that evening with a concert at Tempe Beach Park featuring a major headliner. The concert is free to all participants. For more information or to register, visit www.rnraz.com.   Cactus League Spring Training – Bigger than Ever The 2009 Cactus League Spring Training season is expected to be bigger and better then ever. The preliminary schedule extends the season to over 6 weeks, beginning the last week in February and concluding the first week of April. And, there are two new teams joining the league this year: the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Cleveland Indians. There will be more than 150 games played by 14 teams, including the Angels, A’s, Rockies, Cubs and Giants. Most stadiums are in the Metropolitan Phoenix area, with two stadiums in Tucson, a one and a half hour drive south. Tempe Diablo Stadium is the home field for the Angels and Phoenix Municipal Stadium, located just minutes from Downtown Tempe’s Mill Avenue District, is home to the Oakland A’s. For more information, visit www.tempecvb.comor www.cactusleague.com.   Ford Ironman Arizona Moves to November Get ready to see the best of the best athletes at the annual Ford Ironman Arizona. It features a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike and a complete marathon (26.2 miles) in succession. This event will take place at Tempe Beach Park and Tempe Town Lake on Sunday, November 23, 2008.  Previously held annually in April, Tempe’s Ironman will be held in November starting this year. The competition starts at 7:00 a.m. and ends at midnight.  Be a part of this event and cheer on some of the strongest athletes in the country. For more information please visit www.ironmanarizona.com. ###