Artefice By Dianda

If you love cars, then make plans to be in Reno for Hot August Nights, a festival that features hundreds and hundreds of custom hot rods and restored muscle cars. It happens the first week in August every year and entire parking lots across the city turn into car shows. So get revved up and don't forget your camera and a big tube of sun screen to survive the heat.

Reno's downtown area is rife with historic buildings and architecture; to enjoy it while staying relatively cool, take a walk along the historic The River Walk District. The walkway winds through downtown and is not only scenic in its own right, it highlights the whole downtown area giving it an added touch of natural beauty amid the busy commercial landscape.

The Nevada Opera is a nationally recognized group that consistently delivers accomplished performances of classics, and creates some of its own in the form of themed engagements and special nights like Opera in Blue Jeans held at the local Wingfield Park during the summer months. There's also the very popular Juke Box Opera fund raiser that lets you choose the music the opera will interpret. And, of course, there are the touchstone works like The Marriage of Figaro and Trial By Jury that keep opera newcomers and veterans equally satisfied.