It's been more than 12 years since the Tohono O'odham Nation purchased land in Glendale, Arizona to build it's Desert Diamond Casino West Valley.
The Tohono O'odham had purchased the property near the the Westgate Entertainment District and University of Phoenix Stadium to replace land destroyed by a federally constructed dam years earlier. The tribe then had the land legally converted into reservation land.
In 2011, the State, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and the Gila River Indian Community filed a federal lawsuit against Tohono O'odham in an attempt to block the West Valley Casino, arguing that the gaming compact passed by Arizona voters in 2002 capped the number of casinos allowed in the Valley.
On 12/20/15, the tribe had won it's first major court battle, that lead to the casino's opening of a Class 2 gaming facility which plays competitors against one another in poker or bingo-based slot games.
For more information follow this link.
This week Desert Diamond Casino West Valley and the Tohono O'odham Nation received the blessing of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals to expand its Glendale casino to include Class III gaming and incorporate slot machines and table games. The ruling marked the 19th decision by courts and federal agencies in favor of the project.
Class 3 gaming features games against the casino, such as blackjack, roulette and slot machines.
Visit the Desert Diamond West Valley Casino website to see current promotions.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected legal challenges by the State and two rival tribes. The Gila River tribe has three Valley casinos south of Phoenix, and the Salt River tribe has two casinos east of Scottsdale.
The Tohono O'odham tribe has three southern Arizona casinos.
The courts found that the Tohono O'odham properly acquired the unincorporated land near Glendale for the casino, and complied with terms of the gaming pact several tribes reached with the state in 2002 that regulates tribal casinos.
The court stated: "...compact negotiated at length by sophisticated parties expressly authorizes the Nation to conduct game on its 'Indian Lands.'" and "... language is unambiguous and not reasonably susceptible to plaintiffs' interpretation that the compact implicitly bars the Nation from gaming ...".
The Desert Diamond West Valley Casino will include table games, as well as slot machines. The location will eventually include a resort and spa which market research will determine number of rooms and design.
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Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Saturday, February 6, 2016
The 28th Annual Arizona Renaissance Festival
The 28th Annual Arizona Renaissance Festival & Artisan Marketplace – 2016
📍 Location: East of Apache Junction on US Highway 60, near the Superstition Mountains
📅 Event Dates: Saturdays & Sundays from February 6 – March 27, 2016 + Presidents’ Day (Monday, February 15)
🕰️ Festival Hours: 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM, rain or shine
🚗 FREE Parking courtesy of Fry’s
🏰 Step Back in Time at Arizona’s Largest Renaissance Festival!
The Arizona Renaissance Festival is back for its 28th annual season, bringing history, fantasy, and adventure to life! This 30-acre medieval amusement park features a bustling artisan marketplace, live jousting tournaments, immersive entertainment, and incredible food & drinks.
✨ What to Expect at the 2016 Arizona Renaissance Festival:
- Over 200 artisan craft shops featuring unique, handcrafted goods
- 13 stages of nonstop entertainment, including comedy, music, acrobatics & magic
- Authentic full-contact jousting tournaments in a 5,000-seat arena
- Delicious medieval feasts & drinks – Enjoy turkey legs, honey mead, Da Vinci Coladas, and more!
- Exciting medieval rides & games, powered by people instead of electricity!
- Live demonstrations from expert blacksmiths, weavers, glassblowers, and jewelers
🎭 Entertainment & Live Performances
The Arizona Renaissance Festival is home to more than 2,000 costumed performers, transporting you to a 16th-century European village full of knights, rogues, jesters, and nobles.
🏆 Daily Jousting Tournaments – Cheer for your favorite knight in thrilling, full-contact jousting battles!
🎤 Comedy & Theatre Shows – Enjoy hilarious interactive performances on 13 stages!
🎶 Music & Dance – Watch minstrels, belly dancers, and medieval musicians perform live!
🔥 Live Craft Demonstrations – See artisans weaving, blacksmithing, glassblowing, and jewelry-making!
🍗 Feast Like Royalty – Food & Drinks at the Festival
🍖 Indulge in hearty medieval delicacies, including:
- Giant roasted turkey legs
- Steak-on-a-stick
- Warm bread bowls filled with stew
- Handmade chocolates & cinnamon-roasted almonds
🍻 Quench your thirst with:
- Honey Mead, Beer, and Medieval Margaritas
- Da Vinci Coladas & Specialty Cocktails
- Fresh lemonade & soft drinks
🥂 For a truly immersive dining experience, join the exclusive Pleasure Feast!
- A 90-minute, five-course medieval banquet
- Live music, comedy entertainment & unlimited drinks
- Festival souvenir included
- Advance reservations recommended
🎟️ Arizona Renaissance Festival Ticket Information
Advance Discount Tickets:
- Adults: $22
- Children (5-12): $10 (Kids under 5 are FREE!)
- Seniors (60+): $21 (Available only at the Festival Box Office)
Gate Prices: $2 more per ticket if purchased at the Festival Box Office.
📢 Buy tickets online at or visit your local Fry’s Food Store to save!
🚗 FREE Parking courtesy of Fry’s
📞 More Info: Visit www.RenFestInfo.com or call (520) 463-2700
🏹 Experience the Thrill of Medieval Games & Rides!
⚔️ Test your warrior skills with:
- Archery & battle axe throwing
- Climbing challenges
- Paintball castle sieges
🎡 Family-friendly rides & attractions:
- Da Vinci’s Flying Machine
- The Enchanted Maze
- Puppet shows & interactive storytelling
🛍️ The Artisan Marketplace – Shop Unique Handcrafted Goods
🛒 Discover a marketplace filled with medieval treasures, including:
- Handmade swords, armor & chainmail
- One-of-a-kind Renaissance clothing & leather goods
- Exquisite jewelry, glassware, and pottery
- Henna tattoos, intricate hair braiding & palm readings
🏰 Why Visit the Arizona Renaissance Festival?
Whether you’re a history enthusiast, fantasy lover, or just looking for a fun-filled family outing, the Arizona Renaissance Festival is an unforgettable experience. Enjoy a spectacular day of entertainment, shopping, feasting, and medieval merriment!
🔥 Don't miss your chance to create magical memories—mark your calendar and join the fun!
Thursday, February 4, 2016
2016 Arizona Renaissance Festival
2016: The 28th Annual Arizona Renaissance Festival & Artisan Marketplace
📍 Location: 12601 U.S. 60, Gold Canyon, AZ 85118
📅 Event Dates: Saturdays & Sundays – February 6 – March 27, 2016
🎟️ Special Opening: Presidents’ Day – Monday, February 15, 2016
🕰️ Festival Hours: 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM, rain or shine
🚗 FREE Parking courtesy of Fry’s Food Stores
🏰 Step Into a Magical 16th-Century Village!
The Arizona Renaissance Festival is one of the largest Renaissance fairs in the United States, featuring a 30-acre medieval amusement park filled with knights, jesters, artisans, and live performers. This family-friendly event offers:
✔️ Over 2,000 costumed actors, dancers, and musicians performing throughout the village.
✔️ 14 entertainment stages featuring music, comedy, acrobatics, and theater.
✔️ Full-contact jousting tournaments held three times daily.
✔️ 200+ artisan shoppes selling handmade crafts, swords, jewelry, and clothing.
✔️ Delicious Renaissance food & drinks, including turkey legs, honey mead, and Medieval Margaritas.
✔️ Interactive games & rides, from archery and axe throwing to a medieval maze and dragon slides.
Whether you're a history enthusiast, fantasy fan, or just looking for a fun day out with family and friends, the Arizona Renaissance Festival is an unforgettable experience!
⚔️ Exciting Attractions at the Arizona Renaissance Festival
🏆 Jousting Tournaments – Witness Knights in Battle!
One of the most thrilling attractions, the full-contact jousting tournament takes place three times daily in the Jousting Arena. Watch as knights in shining armor charge at each other on powerful warhorses, competing for glory and honor!
🎭 Live Entertainment & Street Performers
The festival’s 14 stages showcase more than 100 live performances daily, including:
- Jesters & Comedians – Hilarious interactive performances!
- Acrobatics & Fire Jugglers – Daring stunts and incredible feats of balance!
- Minstrels & Dancers – Medieval musicians, belly dancers, and live storytellers!
🎭 Want to be part of the show? The festival’s street performers will pull visitors into the action, making every experience unique!
🍗 Feast Like Royalty – Food & Drinks at the Festival
🍖 Indulge in delicious Renaissance-style feasts, including:
- Giant roasted turkey legs
- Steak-on-a-stick & bread bowl stews
- Handmade chocolates & cinnamon-roasted almonds
🍻 Quench your thirst with:
- Honey mead, Medieval Margaritas & Da Vinci Coladas
- Craft beer, ales, and refreshing soft drinks
🔥 For the ultimate dining experience, join the exclusive Pleasure Feast!
- A 90-minute, five-course medieval banquet
- Live music, comedy entertainment & unlimited drinks
- A festival souvenir included
- Advance reservations highly recommended
🎡 Family-Friendly Games & Rides
⚔️ Test your medieval warrior skills with:
- Archery & axe throwing
- Climbing challenges
- Siege paintball battles
🎠 Kid-Friendly Rides & Attractions:
- Da Vinci’s Flying Machine – A people-powered ride!
- The Slider Joust & Piccolo Pony – Perfect for young knights!
- The Enchanted Maze & Dragon Slide – Fun for all ages!
🎟️ Arizona Renaissance Festival Ticket Information
✅ Discounted Tickets Available at Fry’s Food Stores:
- Adults: $22
- Children (5-12): $10 (Kids under 5 are FREE!)
- Seniors (60+): $21 (Available only at the Festival Box Office)
🎟️ On-Site Ticket Prices: $2 more per ticket if purchased at the Festival Box Office.
📢 Buy tickets online to save time!
👗 Costumes are encouraged! Don’t have one? Costume rentals are available behind the ticket booth at the main gate.
🚗 FREE Parking courtesy of Fry’s Food Stores
📞 More Info: Visit www.RenFestInfo.com or call (520) 463-2700
🏰 Why You Should Visit the Arizona Renaissance Festival
If you’re looking for the best Renaissance festival in Arizona, this annual event offers an unforgettable mix of history, fantasy, and entertainment. Whether you’re:
✔️ Cheering on knights in a live jousting tournament
✔️ Exploring the artisan marketplace for unique medieval gifts
✔️ Feasting on legendary turkey legs & sipping honey mead
✔️ Enjoying live performances on 14 stages
🔥 Mark your calendar, grab your friends, and prepare for a day of adventure at the Arizona Renaissance Festival!
Sunday, December 20, 2015
Desert Diamond Casino - West Valley Wins and Will Open in Glendale 12/20/15
Glendale Arizona and Metro Phoenix Area local Gamblers will have a new venue to shake hands with Lady Luck starting December 20th, 2015 when the Tohono O'odham Nation opens a casino in the West Valley.
The Tohono O'odham Nation is a southern Arizona tribe who is scheduled to unveil its fourth casino in Arizona in Glendale, about a mile north of the Westgate Entertainment District near the University of Phoenix Stadium.
The Desert Diamond Casino West Valley marks a turning point regarding the limits of gaming compacts that have governed American Indian casinos in Arizona since the 1980's. The tribe has prevailed in a ruling over opponents that include other casino-operating tribes, city, state and federal officials and entities which have used the courts and public opinion to challenge the new casino.
Those that sought to quash the casino, claimed that agreements reached by the state and tribes during the purchase of the land don't allow the Tohono O'odham to open a casino on the land it purchased miles outside of its reservation boundaries. The Tohono O'odham fought back claiming that federal law allowed it to replace flooded reservation land and the state agreements do not prevent the tribe from building a casino on purchased land.
The tribe has prevailed in the legal battle and the tribe's temporary casino is set to open to the public on Sunday 12/20/15 and will remain open 24/7 while the fight continues to go from Class II Bingo Style Gaming Machines to a Class III Vegas Style gaming facility.
The concessions were made in part because the Arizona Department of Gaming withheld a full Class 3 gaming license, claiming the tribe committed fraud by not disclosing plans for the West Valley casino while negotiating its state compact.
Currently 16 different tribes operate 24 Class III gaming facilities in Arizona. Those Class III casinos may offer “Las Vegas style” gaming activities (slot machines, house-banked poker, and blackjack).
The Desert Diamond West Valley Casino and Resort will be built in phases. The Tohono O'odham are developing 135 acres at Northern and 95th avenues.
The first phase of the development is a low-profile building that will serve as the Class II casino.
The temporary casino is set to open with 1,089 gaming machines, which by cosmetic appearances look and operate like slot machines. The devices' mechanisms differ from true slot machines internally. They're actually bingo-based gambling devices, but the odds of winning are approximately the same as the odds of winning on traditional random number generated slot machines.
Some few machines in the Desert Diamond West Valley Casino will be linked to a network of other casinos nationwide and offer $1 million jackpots, which tend to pay out somewhere in the country 4-6 times a year.
Later, the tribe will convert the current building into a warehouse and a larger permanent Class III casino, hotel, shopping and convention center complex will be developed. If it is successful in court in overturning the state's ruling.
The Arizona Department of Liquor also has not yet granted a liquor license, it is expect to obtain it's liquor license around February 2016.
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The Tohono O'odham Nation is a southern Arizona tribe who is scheduled to unveil its fourth casino in Arizona in Glendale, about a mile north of the Westgate Entertainment District near the University of Phoenix Stadium.
The Desert Diamond Casino West Valley marks a turning point regarding the limits of gaming compacts that have governed American Indian casinos in Arizona since the 1980's. The tribe has prevailed in a ruling over opponents that include other casino-operating tribes, city, state and federal officials and entities which have used the courts and public opinion to challenge the new casino.
Those that sought to quash the casino, claimed that agreements reached by the state and tribes during the purchase of the land don't allow the Tohono O'odham to open a casino on the land it purchased miles outside of its reservation boundaries. The Tohono O'odham fought back claiming that federal law allowed it to replace flooded reservation land and the state agreements do not prevent the tribe from building a casino on purchased land.
The tribe has prevailed in the legal battle and the tribe's temporary casino is set to open to the public on Sunday 12/20/15 and will remain open 24/7 while the fight continues to go from Class II Bingo Style Gaming Machines to a Class III Vegas Style gaming facility.
The concessions were made in part because the Arizona Department of Gaming withheld a full Class 3 gaming license, claiming the tribe committed fraud by not disclosing plans for the West Valley casino while negotiating its state compact.
Currently 16 different tribes operate 24 Class III gaming facilities in Arizona. Those Class III casinos may offer “Las Vegas style” gaming activities (slot machines, house-banked poker, and blackjack).
The Desert Diamond West Valley Casino and Resort will be built in phases. The Tohono O'odham are developing 135 acres at Northern and 95th avenues.
The first phase of the development is a low-profile building that will serve as the Class II casino.
The temporary casino is set to open with 1,089 gaming machines, which by cosmetic appearances look and operate like slot machines. The devices' mechanisms differ from true slot machines internally. They're actually bingo-based gambling devices, but the odds of winning are approximately the same as the odds of winning on traditional random number generated slot machines.
Some few machines in the Desert Diamond West Valley Casino will be linked to a network of other casinos nationwide and offer $1 million jackpots, which tend to pay out somewhere in the country 4-6 times a year.
Later, the tribe will convert the current building into a warehouse and a larger permanent Class III casino, hotel, shopping and convention center complex will be developed. If it is successful in court in overturning the state's ruling.
The Arizona Department of Liquor also has not yet granted a liquor license, it is expect to obtain it's liquor license around February 2016.
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