St. George Scoop - Week of June 1, 2026

Welcome to June, St. George. The thermometer is about to remind us where we live, with the first triple-digit reading of the season likely by Thursday, so this is the week to lean into early mornings and warm desert evenings. Les Misérables is running under the stars at Tuacahn, downtown gets its monthly street party on Friday, and the Saturday markets are back on their summer schedules. Here's what's worth your time.

When: Select evenings through summer (Les Mis around 8:45 p.m.; Finding Nemo showtimes vary) Where: Tuacahn Amphitheater, 1100 Tuacahn Drive, Ivins Price: Varies by seat and date, available through tuacahn.org

Tuacahn's 2026 Broadway season is in full swing, with Les Misérables playing in rotation against the red rock. The sweeping score and the canyon backdrop make this one of those shows that lands differently outdoors than it ever could in a standard theater. Performances run select evenings, with curtain around 8:45 p.m. once the sun is down.

If you've got younger kids, Disney and Pixar's Finding Nemo: A 70-Minute Family Musical is the easier lift. It's short, colorful, and built for shorter attention spans, and it plays on alternating dates from the main show. Check tuacahn.org for which title is on a given night before you buy.

A practical note for first-timers: the amphitheater sits in a canyon that holds the day's heat and cools quickly after dark. Bring a light layer for the second act, and give yourself extra time for parking and the walk-in.

Friday gives you a choice between two free events, and they're a 15-minute drive apart, so an ambitious evening could hit both.

George Streetfest When: Friday, June 5, 6 to 10 p.m. Where: Historic Downtown St. George, around Main Street Price: Free

Streetfest takes over downtown on the first Friday of every month with live music, local artists and makers, food, and an outdoor jazz garden that runs later into the night through the summer. It's an easy, walkable evening once the temperature drops, and a good way to catch local musicians you won't find anywhere else. The lineup shifts month to month, so check the George Streetfest social pages to see who's playing.

First Friday at Kayenta When: Friday, June 5, 4 to 8 p.m. Where: Kayenta Art Village, 881 Coyote Gulch Court, Ivins Price: Free

Out in Ivins, Kayenta Art Village opens its galleries with live music, food vendors, and extended browsing hours. The setting against the red mountain is the draw here, and it starts earlier than Streetfest, so you could begin in Kayenta and finish downtown.

Both major markets are on their summer hours now, which means early starts to beat the heat.

The St. George Museum of Art is between exhibits right now, with the Unbound: Art of the West show having wrapped its run at the end of May. The museum rotates its galleries quarterly, so it's worth a quick check of the city's arts page before you plan a visit.

If you want art you can see any time, Art Around the Corner is in its 22nd year downtown. The outdoor sculpture gallery lines the streets near Main and Town Square with rotating pieces you can walk among for free, day or night, making it a good companion to a Streetfest evening.

Looking ahead, St. George Musical Theater opens Best of Broadway 4: Stars, Stripes & Showtunes on June 25, a showtune revue timed for the run-up to the Fourth. More on that closer to opening.

Where: St. George Animal Shelter, 605 E. Waterworks Dr. Adoption fee: $60 (includes vaccines, microchip, and spay/neuter)

This week's spotlight goes to Clara, a roughly six-month-old black Lab at the St. George Animal Shelter. She's about 45 pounds, house-trained, spayed, and fully vaccinated, so the practical side is already taken care of.

The shelter is refreshingly honest about her. She's a teenage puppy who currently thinks manners are optional, and she'll need training, structure, and an owner with a sense of humor. Underneath the puppy chaos is a smart dog with a lot of potential, and she's reported to do well with kids and other dogs, though cats are still a question mark.

If you've raised a high-energy Lab before, you know the early work pays off, and she'd make a natural partner for those sunrise walks before the heat sets in. Call the shelter at 435-627-4350 to set up an appointment, and you can find Clara's full profile and other adoptable animals on the St. George Animal Shelter's Petfinder page.

Now that the heat is settling in for the season, the smartest hour of the day shifts to the one most people sleep through. Snow Canyon State Park is 15 minutes from downtown, and at sunrise, the low light turns the white and red Navajo sandstone into something you don't see at midday, when the sun flattens everything out. The Petrified Dunes are an easy scramble with no real trail, just open rock to wander, and Jenny's Canyon is a short walk to a slot that stays cool well into the morning. Go before 8 a.m. in June, and you'll have shade, quiet, and a parking spot, all three of which disappear by mid-morning. Bring more water than you think you need, and skip the midday visit entirely until fall. This is the kind of thing that's easy to take for granted when it's in your backyard.

Hot and dry all week, with the season's first triple-digit day arriving midday Thursday. Here's the early-week outlook:

The pattern points to more of the same heading into the weekend. The takeaway for the week: front-load your outdoor plans into the morning, save the evenings for Tuacahn and Streetfest, and keep water on hand everywhere. If you're heading to the amphitheater, the canyon cools nicely after dark, so a light layer is worth tossing in the car.

It's a strong week to be out after sundown. Les Mis is the marquee draw at Tuacahn, Friday gives you a choice of two free First Friday events between downtown and Kayenta, and both Saturday markets are on summer hours for early risers. With the heat climbing toward 100, lean into mornings and evenings and you'll hardly notice the midday. Know about a local event we should cover? Reply to this email and let us know. See you out there, St. George.