From late January through March, the biggest events in the Southwest arrive within a few miles of each other. They set the calendar for furnished and seasonal leasing, and they are why the same home can command very different rent depending on the month.
The biggest swings are in nightly and furnished stays, where prices reset daily. Annual lease rents move far less, but the season still decides when good homes rent fastest.
Short-term rental figures: AirROI, August 2025 to July 2026. Hotel figures: Arizona Office of Tourism / CoStar county lodging reports, Q1 and Q3 2025. Percent differences are our calculations from the published averages.
Dates change every year. We list the confirmed dates for the coming season and update them as organizers announce. Always confirm with the organizer.
Ten nights of free large-scale light art along the Arizona Canal. The first busy fall weekend in Old Town.
The PGA Tour Champions season finale.
Phoenix-Scottsdale nightly rates rose 5.2% year over year over Thanksgiving 2025, to about $300.
A College Football Playoff quarterfinal, with the Cactus Bowl in Tempe on December 26.
Holiday visitors fill furnished homes, and most winter leases that start in January are settled by now.
A ten-week juried art show with artists working on site.
The flagship collector car auction, now nine full days. Other collector auctions run the same week, and it is one of the strongest weeks of the year for North Scottsdale stays.
Rare and classic cars on the Civic Center lawns, with seminars the day before.
The best-attended week on the PGA Tour. Its record week drew 719,179 people, and rates near TPC and across North Scottsdale peak this week.
About 300,000 attendees over eleven days, overlapping the Open.
Spring training opens February 19, and games run through late March.
A one-time event, at the same time as the horse show and spring training.
A record 1,753,849 fans attended in 2026. 60% came from out of state, and the median stay was four nights. The MLB labor agreement expires December 1, 2026, so 2027 dates could change.
March runs 68% above July on nightly rates, at 68.5% occupancy and about $543 a night.
One of the last big event weeks of the season.
Resort pricing drops as the heat arrives. Summer offers ran up to 60% below winter pricing in 2026.