Tempe Festival of the Arts 2026: dates, parking and a chauffeured art day

A festival day with Scottsdale Sprinters starts with the festival’s own dates, the day you want and a rider count. Art buyers and couples lead with the Maybach Jet Sprinter; families take the Executive Sprinters or the Mini Bus, alcohol-free; friends’ crews ride a Limo Party Sprinter or the party bus. This guide uses only facts the Tempe Festival of the Arts publishes, and turns the day into a written pickup, drop-off and ride home.

Last updated: September 27, 2026

When is the Tempe Festival of the Arts 2026?

The fall 2026 Tempe Festival of the Arts runs Friday, December 4 through Sunday, December 6, 2026, on Mill Avenue in Downtown Tempe; it opens at 10 a.m. each day and closes at 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and at 4 p.m. on Sunday, and the spring festival follows on March 12 through 14, 2027. It is the 58th fall festival. The festival holds two a year, in early December and in early to mid-March, and calls itself one of the oldest festivals in the Southwest, with a history of more than 50 years in Tempe. The festival’s own dates page lists the 50th spring festival for March 12 through 14, 2027, and the 59th fall festival for December 3 through 5, 2027, and notes that the dates are tentative and subject to change. Check its site close to the weekend before you set the pickup.

Where do you park for the Tempe Festival of the Arts, and where is drop-off?

There is no parking inside the festival perimeter, so drivers use paid downtown lots and garages or ride light rail from one of 13 free Park-and-Ride lots; the drop-off areas by each entrance are only for vehicles with ADA tags or permits, so a chauffeured group is unloaded where festival security and staff direct, and the vehicle waits nearby. The festival names five major entrances with limited drop-off areas beside them: 3rd and Mill, 3rd and University, 5th and Ash, 5th and Myrtle, and 7th and Myrtle, near the water barricades. Security permits loading and unloading there only for vehicles displaying ADA accessible tags or permits. For accessible parking, the festival reserves accessible meters on 5th Street east of Mill to College Avenue and on 7th Street east of Mill, beside the festival, and ADA parking in the 201 S. Ash Garage, on Ash between Rio Salado and 3rd Street, where posted rates apply. On-street parking in Downtown Tempe is free for vehicles displaying current disabled access plates or placards. The festival also notes that motorized wheelchairs are not available at the event. With a chauffeur, the parking question goes away: we drive the approach, step you out where security directs, and meet you again at the pickup point agreed in advance. Nobody circles a garage, and the art you buy rides home in the vehicle.

Which streets does the festival cover, and can you take light rail or the streetcar?

The festival fills Mill Avenue between 3rd Street and University Drive, and 5th Street between Myrtle and Ash Avenue; light rail riders get off at Mill Ave/3rd St or the Tempe Transportation Center, and during the festival the Tempe Streetcar runs only between the Dorsey and 9th Street stops. The Tempe Transportation Center sits one block east of the 5th Street entrance. Valley Metro’s trip planner and app cover fares and times, and the festival’s Get Here page lists the 13 Park-and-Ride lots by name. Those streets are the festival’s, so cars do not reach the booths. A chauffeured day starts at your resort or home and ends where you want it, without a transfer or a walk from a garage with your purchases.

Is the Tempe Festival of the Arts free, and can you bring your dog?

Admission is free, and the festival is dog friendly: leashed, well-behaved dogs are welcome, and the festival asks that no dog wander at the full length of its leash, standard or retractable, so it does not block the crowd or disturb the artwork on display. Keep a short leash in the booths, where the work sits at nose height.

What is at the Tempe Festival of the Arts?

As many as 350 artist booths line Mill Avenue and the surrounding streets, with handmade work juried from more than 500 applications in 17 visual arts categories, plus live entertainment, food trucks, three beer and wine gardens, a Wine + Spirits Tasting in Centerpoint Plaza on Saturday and Sunday, and a Kids Block on Saturday and Sunday. The festival ranks among the Top 100 Classic & Contemporary Craft Shows in the nation in Sunshine Artist magazine and has won the Pinnacle Award from the International Festival and Events Association. Each spring and fall festival draws nearly 225,000 visitors to Downtown Tempe over its three-day weekend. Food comes from food trucks, snack stands and beverage vendors throughout the festival, with Food Truck Alley and the Festival Food Court for lunch between the booths. The festival announces its food and drink lineup closer to the weekend.

What should you bring to the Tempe Festival of the Arts?

Bring a credit card and photo ID: the festival’s bars are cashless, credit card only, and serve guests 21 and over with valid photo ID and a wristband, and the Young Artist Exhibition takes card payments only; bring a short leash for a dog, and leave room in the day, and in the vehicle, for what you buy. The festival publishes no bag rule or list of banned items on its pages. What it does publish is where things are: the Young Artist Exhibition sits on the west side of Maple Avenue between 5th and 6th Street, across from the Kids Block entrance. With a chauffeured day, a large canvas or a piece of pottery does not have to be carried for the rest of the afternoon: walk it back to the vehicle, and keep browsing.

Is the Tempe Festival of the Arts good for kids and families?

Yes: the Kids Block, open Saturday and Sunday only, has hands-on art projects, the Young Collectors Gallery and games, the Parent’s Lounge is open Friday through Sunday, and the Young Artist Exhibition shows K-12 work all weekend; for a family ride, our house rule applies: If even one passenger is under 21, the trip is alcohol-free for the whole group, adults included. The Young Collectors Gallery, on Saturday and Sunday, lets children buy a small piece handcrafted by one of the festival’s professional artists, with volunteers on hand to help them shop. The Parent’s Lounge is a place to sit, feed a baby or change a diaper. Families ride the Executive Sprinters or the Mini Bus, never a party unit, and no family package carries a drink service. The festival’s beer and wine gardens are the festival’s, for guests 21 and over; we sell no alcohol.

What does a chauffeured festival day cost?

A festival day is billed by the hour at each vehicle’s published rate, from pickup to drop-off, with its minimum hours: the Maybach Jet Sprinter is $295/hr and seats 9, the Executive Black Sprinter is $145/hr, a Limo Party Sprinter (16 Pax) is $175/hr; admission to the festival is free, and prices are before tax. Split across the group, the hourly rate becomes a per-person figure. 9 riders in the Maybach Jet Sprinter for 5 hours is about $164 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 festival fare. The hours run from the pickup at your resort or home to the drop-off at the end of the day, and the vehicle waits nearby in between, so the day is one booking, not two 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.

Which vehicle fits a Tempe Festival of the Arts group?

Art buyers and couples lead with the Maybach Jet Sprinter, our pick for a festival day, then the Ultra Luxury Party Sprinter, the Maybach Shuttle Sprinter and the Suburban; families take the Executive Black Sprinter, the white Executive Sprinter or the Mini Bus (24 Pax), alcohol-free; friends’ crews ride a Limo Party Sprinter or the 28-seat party bus. 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). Families: the Executive Black Sprinter, the Executive White Sprinter and the Mini Bus (24 Pax). Friends’ crews: the Limo Party Sprinter (12-13 Pax), the Limo Party Sprinter (16 Pax) and the Party Bus (28 Pax). A VIP party larger than the Maybach Jet Sprinter rides in two vehicles, one booking each for the same day and times: the Maybach Jet Sprinter with the Maybach Shuttle Sprinter seats 17, and with the Luxury SUV (Suburban) it seats 15.

How does a chauffeured festival day work, and how far ahead should you book?

Your chauffeur picks you up at your resort or home, unloads the group where festival security and staff direct, waits nearby while you browse and lunch on Mill Avenue, takes purchases aboard between laps, and drives you home at close; availability varies by day and vehicle, so no fixed lead time applies; send the day and the group early. The first request needs the festival day, the pickup address, a likely passenger count and which group is riding: art buyers, a family with children, or a friends’ crew. A group does not need every name to begin. During the final 48 hours, confirm addresses, phone numbers and the pickup point for the ride home. Reach the reservations team at (623) 986-6339 or reservations@scottsdalesprinters.com.