Beating the summer heat while still having fun can be a challenge — but one westside event may be just what you’re looking for. The Mercado District is launching its Summer Night Market series at the MSA Annex. Now in its seventh year, the summer series will kick off Friday featuring around 60 local vendors, a live DJ, and a variety of food trucks.

Sometimes, just sometimes, working from home isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Sometimes a change of scenery provides as much of a jolt to your productivity as that cup of green tea or extra-large nitro cold brew. Sometimes it’s time to Google “cafe with Wi-Fi near me” and finally get that paper or proposal done that you DEFINITELY didn’t procrastinate on until the day before it’s due. Again.

The city of Tucson, Arizona, sits on America’s southern border, surrounded by the cactus-strewn landscapes of the Sonoran Desert. Its present-day creativity draws on its Native American and Mexican roots, Spanish colonial heritage and Wild West frontier days.

The Tucson International Mariachi Conference is making its way to the Westside. It’s five days of events, with the first day being El Mariachi Canta Vocal Competition at the MSA Annex on Wed. April 23 at 6 p.m. It’s a competition where 3rd-8th grade, high school, and open community finalists will be showing off their skills and battling it out to take home bragging rights.

“Is Tucson in Arizona?” John Lennon asked Paul McCartney as they worked out a hometown for Jojo in “The Beatles: Get Back” documentary. McCartney’s answer: “Yeah, it is, yeah – it’s where they make ‘High Chaparral’.” More than half a century later, Tucson’s vintage TV-Western identity lingers in the public imagination, and to be fair, this is still the kind of place where you’ll find working ranches, as many pickups as sedans, and citywide school closures during February’s Rodeo Break.

Three new local shops have arrived in the MSA Annex at the Mercado District this year: La Bella Luna Boutique, Desierto Books and Ortense. Arianna Luna opened La Bella Luna Boutique about two months ago. She helped run a store called The Underestimated City (TUC) for 12 years prior with a business partner and finally had the opportunity to start her own.

A new literary haven is preparing to make its debut in Tucson, offering book lovers a chance to explore and purchase rare, new and used books with a unique focus on the Southwest.  Desierto Books, set to open at the MSA Annex at the end of March, is the brainchild of local book enthusiast Cheron Taylor, whose vision is to create a space where the community can connect with both the written word and the cultural tapestry of the region.

Tucson’s coffee scene is getting some global recognition. Savaya Coffee Market and Presta Coffee Roasters have landed spots on The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops — an international ranking that highlights top-notch cafés from across the globe.

Tucson’s known for natural wonders. But for snowbirds after a different side of the Southwest, the dynamic downtown is emerging as a destination in its own right. Come winter, streams of snow-weary northerners pack their flip-flops and pickleball paddles and make for the Sonoran Desert.

Giovanni Zoppe tried life outside of the family business. The charismatic circus entertainer briefly built trusses for homes. “I did that for three weeks and I decided I couldn’t do it anymore,” Zoppe said. “It was boring. It was so monotonous. I was doing the same thing every day. I needed something else.”