Events & activities
Looking for activities in Reno usually starts with the calendar: what’s on tonight, this weekend, and the signature annual weeks that define the city’s year — plus everything else as the venue and district feeds come online.
Signature events
Burning Man
Black Rock City, about two hours north of Reno. Not a Reno event — but the reason Reno's hotels, hardware stores and airport are full for two weeks either side.
Best in the West Nugget Rib Cook-Off
Six days of competition barbecue on Victorian Square in Sparks, ending on Labor Day.
The Great Reno Balloon Race
Free, and the best morning of the Reno year — up to a hundred balloons launching from Rancho San Rafael before dawn.
International Camel & Ostrich Races
The 67th running, in Virginia City. Camels, ostriches and zebras, raced by people who mostly should not be racing them.
Street Vibrations Fall Rally
Motorcycles in downtown Reno and Virginia City over one weekend, with live music on the street.
Reno Zombie Crawl
Downtown Reno's largest bar crawl, and the one where everyone is in makeup. Starts at Circus Circus.
Reno Rodeo
One of the richest rodeos on the PRCA tour, run over about ten days in June at the Nevada State Fairgrounds.
Artown
Reno's month-long July arts festival — around 350 events at about 100 venues across the city.
Hot August Nights
The largest classic-car event in the country takes over downtown Reno and Sparks for ten days — cruises, show-and-shines, and several thousand pre-1979 cars.
Next 60 days
Let's Talk
October 8–9 · Great Basin Hall (GBH)
A Few of Our Favorite Things: 65 Years of Special Collections and University Archives
October 8–12 · Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center
On Location: Photographs from Robert Nuñez and Alejandra Rubio
October 8–9 · McNamara Hallway Gallery
Therapy Dogs
Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center
92 Events: A Fluxus Show
October 8–9 · Front Door Gallery
Earth's Winding Sheet
October 8–9 · John & Geraldine Lilley Museum of Art
Gather-Carry-Keep: Basketry from the Great Basin
October 8–9 · Front Door Gallery
UNLV Exchange Show: Death to Decorum
Student Galleries South
Without Mountains and Rivers Without End: Speculative Geographics on an Interior Northwest
Sheppard Contemporary Gallery
Pediatric head injuries and management
RRMC Sierra 101
Keeping heritage languages alive: Benefits and strategies
Jon Bilbao Basque Library
LAUNCHNEVADA | Networking + Fireside chat w/ Danny Nikolai
Joe Crowley Student Union
Faculty Colloquia Series - Carlos Mariscal Ph.D Presents "Game Theory as a Guide to Universal Biology"
Nazir Ansari Building (AB)
Visiting Artist Lecture: "Wait, is Reno part of the Pacific Northwest?”: UNR Art + Geography Panel Discussion
William J. Raggio Building (WRB)
Nevada Women's Volleyball vs. UTEP
Virginia Street Gym (VSG)
Howls Road, Rachael McElhiney, Pen
The Holland Project
Symphony Orchestra
Nightingale Concert Hall
Laugh Factory
Reno
Alex Ramon "Magic"
Lake Tahoe
Dragon Lights 2026 Season Pass
October 8 – November 1 · Reno
THE HALF LIFE OF MARIE CURIE: Bruka Theater
October 9–30 · Bruka Theatre
Laugh Factory
Friday, October 9 · Reno
Little Books and Little Cooks @ Wright Elementary School
William V. Wright Elementary
Emerging Techniques in 3D Modeling and Additive Manufacturing for Conformal RF Packaging and Metasurface Antennas
William N. Pennington Engineering Building (WPEB)
API Night Market
JCSU Plaza
Apex: American Soundscapes
Nightingale Concert Hall
Beauty School Dropout, Olive Vox
Reno
Bonnie Raitt: Live 2026 with Special Guest Jon Cleary
Grand Sierra Resort
Alex Ramon "Magic"
Lake Tahoe
CLUB SLAYYY: SLAYYYTER + HYPERPOP NIGHT
Cargo Concert Hall