PAYSON — Hail, guest of the Hearth, and a fine grey Fredas to you — the clouds hang low over the Rim, the air is cool at sixty-two, and the Holds have filled this Friday with honest making. Potters open their festival at D.A. Ranch in Cornville, Santa’s craft fair fills the Elks Lodge in Show Low, holiday crafts spread out in Prescott, and here in Payson an estate sale and a cozy women’s gathering bookend the day. Wrap up warm, by the Nine, and go see what your neighbors’ hands have made.
Happening in the Holds Today
Payson— Estate Sale — 703 N Manzanita Dr, Payson, today from 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM, and again Saturday. Everything must go: furniture, Christmas decorations, wall art, camping equipment, and more, from a house full of Rim Country living. Treasure hunters should come early, for the good pieces walk out first. Bring cash, a truck if you can, and a hunter’s eye. This is the kind of sale that furnishes a cabin in one morning.— Jesus & Jammies — 1100 W Lake Dr, Payson, today at 6:00 PM, $5 tickets or donations, and no one turned away for hardship. A women’s slumber-party gathering with pajamas, childhood snacks, friendship bracelets, games, and sweet conversation about faith and friendship. You do not need to know anyone to come — you are welcome exactly as you are. Bring your inner little girl and a friend who could use a night of joy. Cozy is the whole point, and this Hold does cozy well.
Camp Verde— Verde Valley Pottery Festival — First Pick Friday — D.A. Ranch Vineyards, 1900 Dancing Apache Rd, Cornville, today from 4:00 to 6:00 PM, $25. The festival’s early-access preview gives guests first choice of handmade ceramic work, with D.A. Ranch wine, local food trucks, craft beer, and live music along Oak Creek. Arizona potters bring bowls, mugs, and sculpture to over a hundred acres of cottonwood-shaded farmland. Saturday and Sunday are free, but Friday is when the best pieces still stand on the tables. Makers and collectors, this is your hour.
Sedona— Gabriel & Co. Holiday Trunk Show — Renee Taylor Jewelry, Tlaquepaque Arts & Shopping Village, 336 State Route 179, Sedona, today from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, running November 13–15. Three festive days of jewelry sparkle to open the gift season, with Gabriel & Co. experts on hand for custom designs and festive refreshments while you shop. Bring the gift list and find the piece they will treasure for years. Tlaquepaque in the fall light is half the gift already.— Lil Fish with Govinda at Humankind — Humankind, 1730 W State Route 89A, Sedona, today from 5:00 PM to 1:00 AM. Frequency Friday opens the evening from 5:00 to 7:00 PM, Lady Merkaba opens the concert at 8:00 PM, Govinda plays live violin over deep bass at 9:15 PM, and Lil Fish closes from 10:45 PM. Tickets run $33 to $55, with the full Frequency Friday plus concert bundle at $55 ahead and $77 at the door. An intimate, full-body night of music under the red rocks — plan the drive home before the first set.
Show Low— Santa’s Winter Wonderland Craft Fair — Elks Lodge, 805 E. Whipple St, Show Low, today and Saturday, November 14, from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM each day. As many as 47 merchandise and craft vendors fill the lodge for the first great holiday shopping weekend on the mountain. Santa himself appears on Saturday, candy canes in hand for the children. Come start the holiday list early and support the makers of the White Mountains. A warm hall on a grey day — exactly right.— Live Music on the Mountain — Show Low, today in the evening. The Thirsty Band plays AZTEX Coffee and Taproom at 5:00 PM, and Ashley Westcott plays Charlie Clark’s Steakhouse at 6:00 PM. Two rooms, two sounds, one small mountain town that knows how to end a Friday. Pick the taproom for a lively set or the steakhouse for dinner with a song. Either way, the White Mountains will sing you into the weekend.
Prescott— Yavapai Hills 31st Annual Holiday Craft Show — 4975 Hornet Dr, Prescott, today and Saturday, November 14, from 9:00 AM. Thirty-one years running, this hometown craft show is handmade and local to its bones — gifts, decorations, and the first real taste of Arizona’s Christmas City season. Go in the daytime, take your time at the tables, and talk to the makers. Holiday shows like this one are where a town shows its hands. Bring the list; you will finish more of it than you expect.— Flag Retirement Ceremony — Embry-Riddle, 3700 Willow Creek Rd, Prescott, today from 5:00 to 6:30 PM. A solemn, fitting close to Veterans Week: worn flags retired with ceremony and honor, at the hour the light goes down. The city’s own notice lists the gathering, and all are welcome to stand respectfully. After a week of parades and wreaths, this quiet rite says the last word well. Arrive a little early and dress for the evening cool.
The Days Ahead
- Sat, Nov. 14— 2nd Annual Pasta Night — Elks Lodge, 1206 N Beeline Hwy, Payson, Saturday at 4:00 PM. Pasta night returns to the Elks for its second year, and the Payson Lions hold the tickets — they will also sell them Saturday morning at Noley’s alongside their bake sale. Expect a hall full of neighbors and heaped plates of the good stuff. Lodge suppers in this Hold do not stay secret long, so get tickets before the weekend. Write the Lions at paysonlionsfoundation@gmail.com if you need a hand.— Verde Valley Pottery Festival — Free Weekend — D.A. Ranch Vineyards, Cornville, Saturday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM and Sunday from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM, admission free. The full festival weekend brings live pottery demonstrations, hands-on clay activities for children, local food, live music, and estate-grown wine along Oak Creek. What began in Camp Verde in 2022 has grown into a regional gathering of makers and collectors. A handmade mug to bring home is a quest worth taking. Valley Dwellers up for the weekend pass nearly by the gate.— 3rd Annual GET LOUD Community Celebration — 3250 White Bear Rd, Sedona, Saturday from 2:00 PM. Sedona’s community celebration returns for its third year — an afternoon of neighbors, music, and good noise in a good cause. Community celebrations are where a Hold shows its heart, and this one has earned its annual place on the calendar. Bring the family and a little volume. The red rocks will provide the echo, free of charge.
- Sun, Nov. 15— Alice Cooper in Concert — Findlay Toyota Center, Prescott Valley, Sunday at 7:00 PM. The godfather of shock rock brings his show to Prescott Valley, a short drive from downtown Prescott. It is the loudest booking of the week by a considerable margin, and Rim Country rock fans will fill the arena. A bard of a very different school, to be sure — but every mead hall honors a legend. Get tickets ahead; this one will not wait at the door.
- Mon, Nov. 16— Banner Payson Cancer Center Groundbreaking — 807 S Ponderosa St, Payson, Monday at 10:00 AM, on the south side of the main building. Shovels turn for the new Banner Payson Cancer Center — changing the landscape of cancer treatment in Payson, one shovel at a time, as the hosts put it. For Rim Country families, care closer to home means fewer long drives down the Beeline at the hardest times. Come stand with the town for a hopeful morning. This is the week’s biggest good news, and it is ours.
- Tue, Nov. 17— The Dreamboats — 301 S McLane, Payson, Tuesday at 7:00 PM. The Dreamboats bring a revival of the golden age of rock and roll — Elvis, Chuck Berry, the Beatles, Buddy Holly — played with heartthrob shine that has audiences falling in love with the old tunes all over again. It is a school night, yes, but some music is worth the yawns tomorrow. Bring someone who remembers when these songs were new. The hall will be humming by the second chorus.— Festival of Trees — A Christmas City Gala — Sam Hill Warehouse, 232 N Granite St, Prescott, opening Tuesday at 5:30 PM, tickets $100 for the gala. The gala opens Festival of Trees week in Arizona’s Christmas City: decorated trees and wreaths, Santa, and vendors under one roof, with proceeds benefiting the Eric Marsh Foundation. The public festival follows Thursday through Saturday, November 19–21, from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM at $10 for adults. Go early in the run for the full forest. Prescott wears this season better than any town in the Holds.
- Wed, Nov. 18— Rim Country Camera Club Meeting and Rally Around the Flag Dedication — Payson Library Large Meeting Room, 328 N McLane Rd, Payson, Wednesday from 4:30 to 6:30 PM. The camera club gathers to share the month’s work — members sending photos for the 2027 calendar contest should note submissions were due Friday, November 13. The same morning at 10:00 AM, the Rally Around the Flag memorial is dedicated at its complex, flags raised in ceremony. Two gatherings, one theme: this town remembers, and it keeps the pictures to prove it.
- Thu, Nov. 19— Festival of Trees Prescott — Sam Hill Warehouse, 232 N Granite St, Prescott, Thursday through Saturday, November 21, from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM, adults $10 and kids $2. Decorated trees and wreaths to see, shop, and vote on, with live entertainment, hot cocoa, ornament-making for children, and visits with Santa. Net proceeds benefit the Eric Marsh Foundation, honoring the Granite Mountain Hotshots. It is the first great hall of the Christmas season — go in the daytime with the family. By the Nine, bring cocoa money.
