Tourism staff previews Old Town website refresh and reports thousands attended Scott’s Dazzle and Western Week
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Summary
Scottsdale tourism staff updated the Tourism Development Commission on a redesigned Old Town website and recapped Scott’s Dazzle and Western Week, saying the events drew thousands, spotlighted merchants and involved multiple city and external partners.
Scottsdale Tourism and Events staff summarized a website refresh for Old Town and recapped the 2024–25 Scott’s Dazzle and January Western Week at a Scottsdale Tourism Development Commission meeting on Feb. 25, 2025. Angelica Capullo, with the tourism and events division, delivered the presentation and answered commissioners’ questions.
Capullo said the Old Town website refresh replaces a seven-year-old backend and adds features intended to drive visits to merchants and attendance at events. New functionality will include a blog, a social media feed and a directory searchable by district so visitors can find restaurants, galleries and merchants by neighborhood. Capullo estimated the site would enter testing in a “six to eight weeks” timeframe.
The presentation then reviewed Scott’s Dazzle, the holiday program in its ninth year. Capullo described district-specific decor (for example, elves in planters on Fifth Avenue, elegant lighting in the Arts District and a family photo area at the Civic Center), an “enchanted winter village” on the waterfront that included three floating trees in the canal, and a Peppermint Plaza activation in the entertainment district. She said the stroll format spreads programming across Old Town to drive visitors to multiple merchant locations and reach different age groups and interests.
Capullo provided attendance figures she said were “very similar” to past years: about 4,000 people at the sing-along and tree lighting; about 10,000 over three weeks of Scott’s Dazzle strolls; about 300 Santa photos taken at the farmers market; roughly 200 attendees at a starlight movie night; and sold-out small-ticket events that hosted between about 20 and 60 guests.
She listed external partners involved in Scott’s Dazzle and other Old Town programming, including Experience Scottsdale, Scottsdale Artist School, Scottsdale Gallery Association, the Old Town Farmers Market, Hotel Valley Ho, Barrio Queen and multiple restaurants, plus internal city departments such as police, economic development, city services, parks and the library.
Turning to Western Week (Jan. 25–Feb. 2, 2025), Capullo said the week’s signature events — including the Gold Palette Art Walk, Pony Express and the Arizona Indian Festival — drew about 30,000 attendees across the week. She described expanded offerings this year: a Pony Express theme focused on women in the West and additional interactive experiences (ornament making on the Marshall Way Bridge, a fry-bread class and a pop-up hat bar), museum programming with free entry periods, and line-dancing and live Western music on event weekends.
Capullo credited Experience Scottsdale with national and international promotion and noted a variety of paid and earned media, digital advertising and partner placements used to publicize both event programs. She closed by thanking volunteers and city operations teams and invited commissioners to provide feedback as staff finalizes planning for next year’s 10th Scott’s Dazzle.
The commission asked when the refreshed Old Town website would go live; Capullo responded that testing would start soon and estimated a six- to eight-week timeline. Michelle Myers, vice president of marketing for Experience Scottsdale, was mentioned as available to answer advertising questions.
