Canal Convergence 2026 in Scottsdale: dates, hours, parking and a chauffeured art night

An art night with Scottsdale Sprinters starts with the event’s own dates, the night you want and a rider count. Couples and VIP groups lead with the Ultra Luxury Party Sprinter; friends’ crews ride a Limo Party Sprinter or the party bus; families and company groups take the Executive Sprinter or the Mini Bus, alcohol-free. This guide uses only published facts, from Scottsdale Arts and the City of Scottsdale, and turns the night into a written pickup, dinner, art walk and ride home.

Last updated: September 27, 2026

What is Canal Convergence, and when and where is it in 2026?

Canal Convergence is Scottsdale Arts’ free, 10-night public art event of large-scale, light-based installations, running November 6 to 15, 2026, at the Scottsdale Waterfront in Old Town Scottsdale, in and above the Arizona Canal and along its pathways and bridges between Scottsdale Road and Goldwater Boulevard. The address Scottsdale Arts prints for the event is Solstice Park, 4420 N Scottsdale Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85251. The art is spread along the water on both banks, so the night is a walk: from one installation to the next, over the bridges, with Old Town’s restaurants a few steps away. 2026 is the event’s 15th year, and it falls in the City of Scottsdale’s 75th anniversary year. Scottsdale Arts produces it with annual support from the City of Scottsdale.

What are the Canal Convergence hours each night?

The installations are on from 6 p.m. every night: 6 to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, November 6 and 7, and again November 13 and 14; 6 to 9 p.m. Sunday, November 8, through Thursday, November 12; and 6 to 9 p.m. on Sunday, November 15, the closing night. That makes four late nights, the two Friday-Saturday pairs, and six earlier ones. A dinner-first plan fits the Friday and Saturday nights best; a family with young children often prefers a weeknight and an early walk. Scottsdale Arts has not yet published the times of the workshops, performances or fire shows; it says that programme information is coming soon. Check its Canal Convergence page before you set the pickup.

Where do you park for Canal Convergence?

Scottsdale Arts publishes no event parking plan, but the City of Scottsdale says every public garage in Old Town is free and street parking has a three-hour limit; the city’s Old Town map marks public lots and garages on both banks of the canal around the Waterfront and the Soleri Bridge, and a chauffeured group skips parking altogether. Old Town is compact, and the city says wherever you park you will not be far from the action. The catch on a busy November evening is the garage nearest the water, and a three-hour street limit that a dinner and a long art walk can outlast. With a chauffeur, the parking question goes away: the group steps out where staff and police direct, walks the canal, and walks back to a vehicle that has been waiting nearby. Nobody circles the garages, and nobody drives home after the night out.

How do you get to Canal Convergence without driving?

By rideshare or a chauffeured ride: the City of Scottsdale says rideshare is widely available in Old Town, from Lyft, Uber and Waymo; no Canal Convergence drop-off zone is published, so a driver drops where staff and police direct near the Waterfront. A booked ride keeps the group together from the resort or home to the canal and back, and the vehicle waits through dinner and the walk, so there is no queue for a car at 10 on a Saturday night. If the night goes on to the bars of the Entertainment District, the city’s Transportation Safety Zone covers that district, east of Buckboard Trail from Sixth Avenue to Camelback Road, every night from 5 p.m.: hired vehicles load and unload only in the marked vehicle-for-hire lanes and Passenger Convenience Areas, never in a through lane, so your chauffeur stops where the city allows.

Is Canal Convergence free, and what is there besides the art?

Yes, Canal Convergence is free; alongside the light installations, Scottsdale Arts lists nightly fire shows, live music and dance performances, family-friendly workshops and activities, special events, rotating food trucks and vendors, and a beer and wine garden. There is no ticket to buy, so the only booking for the night is dinner and, if you want one, the ride. The food trucks rotate, so the waterfront itself can be dinner for a family or a crew in a hurry. The beer and wine garden is the event’s. We sell no alcohol, and nothing on this page sells a drink service.

What is the 2026 Canal Convergence theme, and which artworks are in it?

The 2026 theme is Western Nature: artworks on the environmental and cultural landscapes of the American West, the Southwest and Arizona, from water and native plants and animals to the region’s cultures and histories; Scottsdale Arts lists 11 artworks, among them APOGEE, Desert Choir, KaKtos, Prairie Fire, Sky Wrangler and Western Fire Garden. The full list, as Scottsdale Arts prints it: APOGEE by Chalk River Labs (Melbourne, Australia); Another Slice of Reality: An Evolving Nature by Shaoyu Su x LedPulse (Tempe); Dream Rider and Sky Wrangler by William Nemitoff with Curious Form (New Orleans); Desert Choir by Ottomata (Montreal); grandmother turtle by In Theory Art Studios with Laura Tohe and Nora Naranjo-Morse, and the weight of light by In Theory Art Studio (Huntsville, Utah); KaKtos by Amigo & Amigo (Marrickville, Australia); Prairie Fire by True North Absurdities (Calgary); The Way The West Was Sold by Jolly Productions and Western Fire Garden by Walter Productions (Phoenix). The pieces sit in and above the canal and along its bridges, so walking the whole run takes the group from one bank to the other and back.

Is Canal Convergence good for kids and families?

Yes: Scottsdale Arts lists family-friendly workshops and activities among the event’s highlights, and the art starts at 6 p.m., so a family can walk it early; for a family or school group aboard, our house rule applies: If even one passenger is under 21, the trip is alcohol-free for the whole group, adults included. Families ride the executive row on this page: the Executive Sprinters, black or white, and the Mini Bus for a reunion or a youth group. No party unit is offered to a family group. Put a parent’s or guardian’s cell number on the reservation, so the chauffeur has one point of contact, and set the pickup for the end of the walk rather than the close.

What does a chauffeured Canal Convergence night cost?

An art night is billed by the hour at each vehicle’s published rate, from pickup to drop-off, with its minimum hours: the Ultra Luxury Party Sprinter is $250/hr and seats 15, a Limo Party Sprinter (12-13 Pax) is $175/hr, the Executive Black Sprinter is $145/hr; the event itself is free, and prices are before tax. Split across the group, the hourly rate becomes a per-person figure. 15 riders in the Ultra Luxury Party Sprinter for 4 hours is about $67 each before tax. 28 riders sharing the Party Bus (28 Pax) for 5 hours at $250/hr is about $45 each. That is arithmetic on the published rates, not a flat event fare. The hours run from the pickup to the drop-off at home, and the vehicle waits in Old Town in between, so dinner, the canal and the ride home are one booking, not three rides. The ready-made packages on this page are priced the same way, with the extras they carry, and show the total before anyone books. Not in the fare: dinner, anything bought at the food trucks, vendors or the beer and wine garden.

Which vehicle fits a Canal Convergence night?

Couples and VIP groups lead with the Ultra Luxury Party Sprinter, our pick for an Old Town art night, then the Maybach Jet Sprinter, the Maybach Shuttle Sprinter and the Suburban; friends’ crews ride a Limo Party Sprinter or the 28-seat party bus; families and company groups take the Executive Black Sprinter, the white Executive Sprinter or the Mini Bus (24 Pax). The table uses current published names, seated capacities, hourly rates and minimums, in three groups. VIP: the Maybach Jet Sprinter, the Ultra Luxury Party Sprinter, the Maybach Shuttle Sprinter and the Luxury SUV (Suburban). Friends’ crews: the Limo Party Sprinter (12-13 Pax), the Limo Party Sprinter (16 Pax) and the Party Bus (28 Pax). Families and company groups: the Executive Black Sprinter, the Executive White Sprinter and the Mini Bus (24 Pax). A VIP party larger than the Ultra Luxury Party Sprinter rides in two vehicles, one booking each for the same night and times: the Ultra Luxury Party Sprinter with the Maybach Jet Sprinter seats 24, and with the Luxury SUV (Suburban) it seats 21.

What is the best night to go, and how does a chauffeured Old Town night work?

For a dinner-and-art night, the Friday and Saturday nights (November 6 and 7, 13 and 14) run to 10 p.m., an hour later than the rest; for a quieter walk or young children, a weeknight from Sunday to Thursday, when the art closes at 9; a chauffeured night is pickup, dinner in Old Town, the walk along the canal, and the ride home. The plan most groups book: pickup at the resort or home before dinner, a table in Old Town, then the installations along the water from one bank to the other, and the vehicle waiting when the group is done. A crew that wants the bars after adds the hours; the chauffeur moves the vehicle with the group. Opening weekend and closing weekend are the nights most groups ask for, so book those first. A group with a flexible date gets the best choice of vehicles midweek.

How far ahead should a Canal Convergence ride be booked?

Availability varies by night and vehicle, so no fixed lead time applies; the Friday and Saturday nights go first. Send the night, the rider count, the pickup address and the dinner reservation, and the reservations team confirms what is open. The first request needs the night, the hotel, resort or home pickup, a likely passenger count and the dinner time. A group does not need every name to begin. It does need to say which group is riding: a couple or VIP guests, a friends’ crew, or a family or company group with anyone under 21. During the final 48 hours, confirm addresses, phone numbers and the dinner time. Reach the reservations team at (623) 986-6339 or reservations@scottsdalesprinters.com.