This post is a little bit late, but I wanted to share a quick video and some details about the annual snow day at Desert Ridge Marketplace. Each year, they haul in a truck full of real snow — probably from Flagstaff.
On December 13th, 2014 we stopped in around 10 am to see the snow — and got a sense of the popularity of this event! Pretty much everybody brings their toddler to this event, and so just about everybody and their brother is out there trying to keep their kid from slipping… all the while capturing keepsake memories and posting them to Instagram.
It’s a bit of a zoo, but you can still find your own patch of snow, and try to throw a snowball without anybody noticing. Despite the fact that there are a good dozen security guards (why?), nobody got kicked out and it was pleasant.
The bonus was the free food from the local restaurants. They had a bunch of samples for free, like chips and salsa, hummus and pita, as well as a free cookie decorating booth, as well as free milk and snacks for the kids. Overall, it’s an awesome event if you live in the area and since it’s free, you can’t beat it! Just be aware it gets crowded and will take you 5 minutes extra to exit the parking lot.
They hold this event only once each year, so watch for the announcement!