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Top 10 Activities in Arizona To Do This Weekend

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November is one of the best times to visit Arizona, where triple-digit temps are the norm, if you don’t want to get baked by the sun. The Grand Canyon State has a lot to offer, particularly this weekend as you gear up for Thanksgiving and Black Friday.

On Nov. 2, 2010, Arizona voters enacted Proposition 203 to legalize medical cannabis. Ten years later, Proposition 207, the Safe and Smart Act, was approved by voters on Nov. 3, 2020 and legalized cannabis for adult use.

This weekend is packed with activities, including seeing legends of rock ‘n’ roll live, or sampling the best pot that Arizona has to offer. Scroll down to learn more about what’s going on in Arizona this weekend.

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The Grand Canyon, South Rim

“I know a spot.” How about having a sesh at the best spot? September through November is the ideal, not peak season at The Grand Canyon National Park when there are more reasonable waiting times. Summer peak months are usually overcrowded at the South Rim at Grand Canyon Village, the side that it is recommended to visit with better amenities. The Visitor Center building and information desk are open daily from 10 am to 4 pm, winter hours, the website explains.

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Grand Funk Railroad with Jefferson Starship

See legends Grand Funk Railroad with Jefferson Starship at Gila River Resorts & Casinos, Wild Horse Pass in Chandler on Nov. 18. Fun fact: Grand Funk Railroad added the words “reefer” and “nickel bags” to their 1969 cover of The Animals’ “Inside Looking Out.” On the other hand, Jefferson Starship formed in 1974 with Jefferson Airplane’s Grace Slick and Paul Kanter, who once tried to smuggle LSD into the White House to dose Richard Nixon. It sounds like a great time all around with so many memories.

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Monument Valley

Does this view look a bit familiar? Many films with a backdrop of the valley’s red sandstone mesas and buttes can be found in Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, which occupies land spanning across both Arizona and Utah. This includes movies like Forrest Gump and Lone Ranger. Take the 17-mile-long Valley Drive from the visitor center to see some of the Arizona side’s most popular destinations.

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Lake Havasu

Crack open a cold one and visit Lake Havasu to enjoy water activities at one of Arizona’s top destinations for boating, water skiing, fishing and swimming. You can explore hidden coves accessible by kayak and see its London Bridge, which was relocated here from London, England in 1971. At this time of year, it’s in the pleasant 70s in Lake Havasu, and the water is fine.

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Rat Rod Addiction’s 4th Annual Car Show

Want to check out some vintage hot rods and the people and restorationists behind the wheel? Come out to Rat Rod Addiction taking place on Nov. 18 located at 3715 E Sage Brush Ave in San Tan Valley, and join the show for good music, food, and family for the 4th annual car show. 

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Phoenix Reptile Expo

The Phoenix Reptile Expo takes place Nov. 18-19, at the Mesa Convention Center in Mesa. Adults are $12 and children are $5. Beardie lovers can browse through multiple colors of bearded dragons, as well as iguanas, snakes, chameleons, turtles, and practically every other slithery creature you can imagine. Get all the food and supplies you need as well.

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Harvest Festival

Stoners love harvest time more than others. The Harvest Festival at Encanto Park’s Enchanted Island on Nov. 18 and 19 in Phoenix provides family fun like carnival games, bouncy jumpers, pony rides, corn box, petting zoo, pumpkin golf, and bowling, or ride a hayride through the historic Encanto Park neighborhood. Encanto Park neighborhood was the first community development in the valley, going back to 1939. It’s $17 per person for unlimited access to the Harvest Festival and $32.75 per person for unlimited access to the Harvest Festival and amusement park rides. 

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John Fogerty

Fogerty is one-fourth of the legendary band Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR), who helped shape the sound of ‘60s rock ‘n’ roll. He’s performing Sunday, Nov. 19, 7 to 11 p.m. at the Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale. Despite being among the best, CCR had the No. 2 curse—the same curse that afflicted Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen—as several of the band’s songs rose to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, but suddenly stopped there. Fogerty himself said that he smoked “a little” pot, but not as much as his bandmates.

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Dane Cook

As part of The Perfectly Shattered Tour, comedian Dane Cook will perform live at Arizona Financial Theatre on Nov. 18, and the next day Nov, 19. Cook just got married to Kelsi Taylor last September in Hawaii, so he’ll be on high terms and ready to make you laugh. His wildly popular tours catapulted him into fame.

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Ganja Flow Rooftop Yoga

We discussed the weekend, but what about mid-week seshes on Wednesday? Join Elevations Nation on the 5th floor SkyDeck for Ganja Flow rooftop yoga, where you’ll be treated to breathtaking Phoenix sunsets and the freedom to partake. Free your mind through slow yoga flows, cannabis, breathwork, and meditation. It’s every other Wednesday at The Clarendon Hotel and Spa in Phoenix.

High Times Cannabis Cup Arizona: People’s Choice Edition

Or you can sample Arizona’s best cannabis by becoming a Cannabis Cup judge, with Judge Kits dropping this Saturday, and it’s open to the public. We’ve got brands like Alien Labs, Baked Bros, Sol Flower, and Noble Herb on deck.

The High Times Cannabis Cup Arizona: People’s Choice Edition is back and it’s been refined to be bigger and better than ever before, presenting Arizona’s finest cannabis. People’s Choice means that anyone can participate in the judging process regardless of expertise and background. Arizona will be the last stop of the 2023 year for Cannabis Cup: People’s Choice Edition competitions, with crowd-sourced judging beginning soon.

Judge Kits go on sale on Saturday, Nov. 18, and Judges can login to the Judging Portal and critique products based on flavor, bouquet, potency, burnability, and so forth. Judging deadline is Sunday, Jan. 21. Winners will be announced via a digital Awards Show on Monday, Feb. 5.

The event will be the second Cannabis Cup that is open to the Arizona public after going virtual in 2021, and the event will host the largest pool of judges in the state’s history, providing an ideal way for brands to get their products into the hands of consumers in the state. This year’s event is recreational only, and all products must be licensed by the Arizona Department of Health Services (AZDHS). 

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Montana Judge Pauses New Fees For Weed Dispensaries

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A Montana judge has ordered state cannabis regulators to delay the enforcement of steep new fees for marijuana dispensary business licenses while a suit challenging the new fee structure is heard by the courts. The 60-day preliminary injunction was ordered by Lewis and Clark County District Court Judge Mike Menahan, with the move agreed to by attorneys for the state and three cannabis businesses that filed the legal action in August.

The plaintiffs in the case are challenging new fees established by the Montana Department of Revenue’s Cannabis Control Division under a law passed by the state legislature earlier this year. Under the new fee schedule, business owners are required to pay a fee of $5,000 for the first dispensary, with the fee increasing by $5,000 for each additional dispensary license.

“This means a license’s initial dispensary fee is $5,000, its second dispensary renewal fee is $10,000, its third is $15,000, and so on,” Angela LeDuc, an attorney for the plaintiffs, wrote in court documents filed last month, as reported by the Independent Record.

The owners of the businesses that brought the suit—Granite Peak Holdings, Inc. doing business as Elevated; TSB Montana LLC, and MariMint LLC—say that if the new licensing fees were to go into effect, they would be forced to close several dispensary locations. Such a move would result in layoffs for the employees who work at the shuttered weed dispensaries and a lack of access to medical marijuana for patients, the plaintiffs argued. Elevated noted in court documents the license fees for 10 of its dispensaries would increase by 680%, from $50,000 to $280,000.

“Enforcement would require Plaintiffs to cease many of their business operations through the state; it jeopardizes their licensure with the state and would result in the loss of their interest in those licenses; it would cause the loss of hundreds of jobs and expose Plaintiffs to liability based on their inability to continue to honor their leasehold interest in those dispensaries and it would jeopardize the medical marijuana patrons that they serve,” attorneys for the plaintiffs wrote in their amended complaint, according to a report from the Daily Montanan.

State Attorneys Defend New Fees

Attorneys for the Montana Department of Justice and the lawyers for the plaintiffs have spent months arguing if the new fee structure is legal. Under state law, the Montana Department of Revenue is prohibited from collecting fees beyond the costs of regulating the cannabis industry. Attorneys for the plaintiffs say that the new fees are far more than the revenue department’s costs to regulate the marijuana program.

Attorneys for the state countered that because Montana is the fourth-largest state in the union by land mass, regulators need more funding to adequately regulate the state’s marijuana industry.

“All of this takes time and resources for which the taxpayers of Montana should not be on the hook,” the state argued in a brief opposing a preliminary injunction.

The state’s attorneys also argued that the plaintiffs’ claims of injury by the new fees should not be upheld by the court because the business owners can avoid the charges by simply operating only one dispensary. The argument also suggested that the legal action was filed purely over money.

“There exists one reason and one reason only that Plaintiffs seek to open different marijuana industry locations under the same license – they want to make money,” the state argued in an October 24 court filing. “Logic dictates that if a fee of $5,000.00 for a new location is going to make or break that location, then it is not a profitable location and should not be opened in the first place. Plaintiffs just want to make more money at the expense of the taxpayers.”

The plaintiffs are also challenging the new fees on procedural grounds, arguing that they were added to the bill without an opportunity for public comment after the legislation had been approved in committee. Other legal issues in the case revolve around separate legislation that changes the conditions for preliminary injunctions like the one issued by Menahan.

Last week, attorneys for both sides agreed to a 60-day preliminary injunction to pause enforcement of the fees while the lawsuit is litigated. Under the agreement, the new license fees will be put on hold for all licensees, not just the dispensaries owned by the plaintiffs.

Menahan’s order allows him to extend the injunction beyond its current 60 days if both sides agree to an extension. The order also reinstates the fee structure in place before the new hikes and directs the Department of Revenue to return any of the new fees already collected. 

Attorneys for both sides in the case told the judge they are negotiating and hope to reach a settlement in the next 60 days.

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