culture happens when we're together

VIVA PHX is an annual festival built on gathering in Downtown Phoenix to create and celebrate culture, music, food, and art together.

about

VIVA PHX was founded in 2014 as a one-day festival and has grown into a weeklong convergence of music, art, culinary experiences, and community programming across Downtown Phoenix. Built on collaboration and open participation, the event showcases the city’s creative pulse and the people who drive it. It’s an inviting space for Phoenix/Arizona to express who it is - and where it’s headed.

Hand holding a tray of grilled tacos topped with chopped onion and cilantro.
Lucha Libre wrester jumps into ring
Group portrait inside a gallery or warehouse space with unfinished walls and concrete floor.

festival ↔ network

VIVA PHX brings music, food and art into conversation with business, leadership and organizations in the city's heart to deepen relationships, create strong ties and encourage collaboration. VIVA PHX introduces international innovative talent to the city while also showcasing local talent.

The result is density, discovery, and measurable cultural impact.

Large nighttime crowd watches a band perform on an outdoor stage lit in orange and white.
Long line of attendees waiting outside a venue at VIVA PHX 2024.

vision As Phoenix rises to global influence, VIVA PHX can be an incubator and a vessel for the city's creative community to come together on common ground - a birthplace for collaboration and tomorrow's culture.

local ↔ national

VIVA PHX connects local culture with national attention. Independent artists, established acts, scenes, audiences and partners converge across a curated set of venues. The result is density, discovery, and measurable cultural impact.

Showcases our talent, but it also showcases our city's ability to support talent from across the country, and the world.

Group portrait of the Bad Jimmy's food crew under their event tent.
Visitors gather inside a gallery to view a large-scale installation and hanging artworks.
Band performs in a courtyard-like space at night, viewed from above the crowd.
Group of five attendees in white jumpsuits pose together outdoors.

Why Multi-Venue, multi-day?

Culture doesn't happen in isolation.

We build it in clusters, scenes, and neighborhoods, over time, together. Our multi-venue model preserves local identity while increasing exposure. It allows audiences to discover new artists organically and allows artists to plug into a broader ecosystem without losing their specific context. Too often festivals are experienced by artists, audiences, and crews as artificially intense density, in remote locations which are temporarily transformed for the event, and then abandoned and never visited until next year.

Presented by

VIVA PHX is made possible not only by the rich cultural life of Phoenix and the labor of the creators who produce all that makes the city magic, but also by the generous support of our presenting sponsors. Collaboration and partnership is crucial to what makes the festival successful.