In 2025, the Gilbert Days Festival ran for two days at Gilbert Regional Park, 3005 E. Queen Creek Road, with concerts both days. The 2023 festival was in the same place and also ran two days.
This year it is one evening, Saturday, November 21, from 4 to 9 p.m. It takes place on the deck of the new Ocotillo Bridge. The Town of Gilbert says the bridge opens to traffic in December and calls the festival an exclusive, once-in-a-lifetime chance for the community, project stakeholders, and neighboring HOAs to stand on it first. So for one night, the road that will change how south Gilbert reaches its biggest park is a free concert venue. The rest of Gilbert Days weekend makes the most sense planned around that.
What you are standing on
The bridge is part of the Ocotillo Road extension from Greenfield Road to Higley Road. It is 0.85 miles of new road, and the town describes it as a direct connection to Gilbert Regional Park and a new east-west route for south Gilbert neighborhoods. The project builds three vehicle bridges and one box culvert. They cross the Roosevelt Water Conservation District Canal, the East Maricopa Floodway, the Chandler Heights Regional Basin, and Queen Creek Wash, and the design includes dedicated pedestrian bridges. Town Council approved the $112 million investment in June 2024.
Residents picked the look. In March 2022, the town put four design concepts to a public vote and received about 3,500 responses. The choice was narrowed to two, Palo Verde and Desert Falls. Nearly 2,900 people voted in the June runoff, and Palo Verde won. In its August 2026 construction update, the town said crews were installing decorative lighting, shade structures, and hand railing on the Park Bridge. Saturday's crowd will walk on that finish work.
Sundt Construction, Haydon Companies, LLC, and Earnhardt Auto Centers are presenting the festival. Admission is free because the bridge project partners are covering it, though the town asks everyone to RSVP through the Gilbert Days Festival page.
Saturday, November 21, from the starting line to the bridge
The festival is the last event of a long Saturday that starts at dawn at the other end of town. Here is the day in order:
- 5:00 to 11:00 a.m. Gilbert Road is closed from Guadalupe Road to Hackamore Street for the parade. Elliot Road is also closed in all directions at Gilbert Road, between Burk and Ash Streets. The town expects Gilbert Road to reopen at 11 a.m.
- 6:00 a.m. Road closures begin on Williams Field Road and Recker Road for the Gilbert Days Half Marathon, 10K and 5K. The town lists the Recker Road closure from 6 to 11 a.m.
- 7:00, 7:20 and 7:40 a.m. The half marathon, 10K, and 5K start in that order. All three start and finish at Verde at Cooley Station, 3975 E. Williams Field Road. The organizer, Shun the Sun Foundation, says the half marathon course uses SRP canals.
- 8:30 a.m. The Gilbert Days Parade steps off on Gilbert Road in the Downtown Heritage District. It heads south to the Gilbert Public Schools District Office, just south of Elliot Road.
- 4:00 p.m. The festival opens on the Ocotillo Bridge. Double Deuce plays from 5 to 6:30 p.m. and Nineball from 7 to 8:30 p.m. The festival closes at 9.
The town describes Double Deuce as an East Valley rock band whose past gigs include Water Tower Plaza. Nineball is a Phoenix band that has played around the Southwest since 2003, and its town listing ranges from Phil Collins and Third Eye Blind to Chappell Roan and Little Big Town.
Getting onto a road that is not open yet
The bridge is not open to traffic, so nobody drives to the festival. You park at Gilbert Regional Park, and free shuttles run between the lot and the bridge for the whole event. ADA parking with a valid placard is at 5656 S. Higley Road. The festival goes on rain or shine.
There will be eight food trucks. The named vendors are Sunshine Funnel Cakes, Craft Cheesecake Parlor, Bahama Bucks, Roxie's Drive N' Diner, The Chicken Joint, and Sbuds, and the town notes that vendors can change without notice. The event is alcohol-free. Vendors take cards, and there are no ATMs on site.
Because everyone arrives by shuttle, the packing rules matter more than usual:
- Bring: chairs or blankets, bug spray, and factory-sealed water.
- Leave at home: coolers, backpacks, wagons, canopies and tents, umbrellas other than chair umbrellas, glass, outside food, drones, and Camelbaks.
- Dogs: leashed dogs are welcome. Other pets are not.
The rodeo runs four days, over the town line in Queen Creek
The rodeo is the only Gilbert Days event that starts before Saturday and runs past it. The town lists Gilbert Promotional Corporation as the rodeo's organizer. It takes place at Horseshoe Park & Equestrian Centre, 20464 E. Riggs Road in Queen Creek, and gates open two hours before each performance. It starts on Thursday, November 19, at 6:30 p.m., when admission is free with a new pair of socks.
| Performance | Time | General admission before fees |
|---|---|---|
| Friday, Nov. 20 | 7 p.m. | $25 adult, $20 child or senior |
| Saturday, Nov. 21 | 5 p.m. | $25 adult, $20 child or senior |
| Sunday, Nov. 22 | 2 p.m. | $20 adult, $10 child, $15 senior |
Children 5 and under get in free at every performance. Family packs for two adults and two children cost $80, and premium box seats are $40. Parking costs $10, or $20 for VIP. Mutton busting is open to riders ages 4 to 7 who weigh under 55 pounds. Entry is $25, and sign-ups start one hour before the gates open.
The Saturday rodeo starts at 5 p.m., an hour after the festival opens, so a family can't easily do both that night. Friday or Sunday at the arena leaves Saturday evening free for the bridge.
What the bridge changes after the stage comes down
When the extension opens, the town expects it to take traffic off Queen Creek Road and Chandler Heights Road for a while. It also expects traffic on nearby roads to rise again as residential growth and development continue. By 2040, the town projects about 28,000 vehicles a day on this stretch of Ocotillo Road. On park event days, traffic will be heavier around start and end times, and big events like the Fourth of July may get extra traffic control. The town is not adding a signal at Ocotillo Road and Freeman Farms Road. Instead, a pedestrian-activated crossing will sit about 350 feet east of that intersection.
The park is changing too. On September 15, Town Council approved the second construction contract for Gilbert Regional Park Phase 2. It includes a six-field youth softball complex, parking, lighting, and a road connecting the park to the Ocotillo bridge. ABC15 reported that the council's approvals that night totaled more than $99 million in construction across Gilbert Regional and Desert Sky parks. The town's Phase 2 page also lists playgrounds, a bike park, a skate park, a dog park, and a disc golf course, and expects Phase 2 to open by summer 2028.
That links the two ends of Gilbert Days. The Gilbert Days softball tournaments are Saturday and Sunday, November 14 and 15. The six-field complex now under contract is being built on the same park that the new bridge leads into.
Into December, back downtown
After Gilbert Days, the town's holiday events move back to the Heritage District and then to the Riparian Preserve.
The Water Tower Holiday Lighting is on Monday, November 30, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at Water Tower Plaza, with music, crafts, and Santa and Mrs. Claus. Families heading downtown should know that the Heritage Center playground closed on November 2. It is getting lighting, ADA access, signage, drainage, and sewer upgrades, with work expected to finish in early January. The town suggests Veterans Park, 70 W. Park Ave., in the meantime.
Riparian After Dark runs December 11 through 22, from 5:30 to 9 p.m., at the Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch, 2757 E. Guadalupe Road. Thousands of lights line 1.5 miles of trails and walkways. Tickets are required: $5 online plus taxes and fees, or $10 at the gate. Gate tickets are credit card only. Children 3 and under get in free, and the entrance closes at 8:45 p.m.
The town expects the Ocotillo Bridge to open to cars sometime in December, so the night of November 21 is the one time the town has planned for people to walk across it as an event.
If you are thinking about how the new Ocotillo Road connection and the coming Regional Park phases fit your plans for the next few years in south Gilbert, we are glad to talk it through with you. Morales Group Real Estate is happy to answer questions, whether you are staying put or weighing a move. Contact Us.
