Scottsdale, Arizona at the foot of the McDowell Mountains, home of WestWorld and the Barrett-Jackson auction each January

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BARRETT-JACKSON FOR FIRST-TIMERS

The world's greatest collector car auction is also one of Arizona's great spectator events, and in 2027 it stretches to nine days and 2,000 cars. You do not need to bid on anything. Here is how a first timer picks the right days, works the grounds, and books the room before Scottsdale sells out.

You do not need to buy a car, register to bid, or know a Hemi from a hemi badge to have one of the great spectator days in Arizona. Barrett-Jackson's Scottsdale Auction, the flagship sale of the collector car world, runs nine days in 2027, Saturday January 23 to Sunday January 31, at WestWorld of Scottsdale, expanded for the first time to two full weekends with more than 2,000 vehicles crossing the block. For visitors it plays less like an auction and more like a rolling museum crossed with a state fair: every era of car you have ever loved, lined up in tents you can walk for hours, the block itself running live all day, and a crowd that treats Saturday night prime time like a championship game. This first timer's guide covers what a general admission ticket actually gets you, which days to pick, Family Day on opening Saturday, and the logistics, including the one move that cannot wait: Scottsdale hotel rooms for auction week should be booked by early December.

Barrett-Jackson 2027 at a glance

Where: WestWorld of Scottsdale, 16601 N. Pima Rd., Scottsdale, Arizona 85260. When: Sat Jan 23 to Sun Jan 31, 2027, nine days, gates typically open at 8 a.m. Pre-events: Rock The Block concert Thu Jan 21, invitation-only Opening Night Gala Fri Jan 22. Scale: 2,000 plus vehicles, the largest Scottsdale auction in the event's history. Tickets: general admission day tickets and multi day passes via the official site and AXS; official 2027 GA prices were not yet posted at the time this guide was checked in November 2026, so confirm there rather than trusting resale listings. A GA ticket covers the full grounds except bidder seating at the block and private skyboxes. Family Day: Coca-Cola Family Day on opening Saturday, Jan 23, with STEM programming for kids and kids 12 and under free. Stay: book Scottsdale rooms by early December; auction week fills the north Valley.

What it actually is

Old Town Scottsdale, Arizona, a few miles from WestWorld where the Barrett-Jackson auction fills the last week of January
Old Town Scottsdale, the dinner and gallery half of an auction trip. WestWorld sits about twenty minutes north, up the Pima corridor.

First timers arrive with two wrong ideas: that it is a dealer event closed to normal humans, and that one day is like another. Fixing both is the whole game.

The Spectator Sport · No Paddle Required

Two thousand cars, one block, and you are just watching

Here is the liberating fact: almost everyone at Barrett-Jackson is a spectator. General admission puts you on the full grounds, walking the display tents where the entire run of cars sits before and after they sell, close enough to read window stickers and hear cold starts, and into the auction arena's public areas to watch the block work: the chant, the lights, the seven figure sales rolling through on the big days. Around the cars sits the rest of the festival, the Barrett-Jackson Cup custom competition, fan zones, automotive clinics and symposiums, sponsor displays and a midway of food and gear. Bidders get reserved seats at the block and skyboxes sit above it all; everything else, which is most of the acreage and most of the fun, is yours on a day ticket. Verdict: treat it as the world's best car show that happens to be selling everything in it live. Spectating is not the cheap version of Barrett-Jackson. It is the main event for most of the crowd.

Nine Days · The 2027 Expansion

Two weekends change how to pick your day

The 2027 sale is the first nine day Scottsdale auction, stretched across two consecutive weekends, January 23 to 31, to handle record consignment demand, with the count at more than 2,000 vehicles. The week builds the way it always has, only bigger: the early days are heavy on automobilia, drivers and value cars and lighter on crowds, the middle of the week is the calmest walking of the run, and the big consignments are traditionally held for the two Saturdays, with the final Saturday, January 30, carrying prime time's biggest numbers. The week opens with two pre-events worth knowing about even if you skip them: the Rock The Block concert on Thursday, January 21 and the Opening Night Gala on Friday, January 22, which is invitation only. Vehicles start crossing the block the morning of Saturday the 23rd. Verdict: one day only and love the theater? Take a Saturday. One day only and love the cars? Take Tuesday or Wednesday and walk the tents in peace.

Tickets and family day

Tickets · What to Buy and When

Day tickets, passes, and the price that is not posted yet

Buy general admission day tickets for the days you will actually attend, or a multi day pass if the trip is built around the auction; both are sold through the official site and AXS, and buying ahead skips the gate line on weekend mornings. One honest gap, stated plainly because this site does not print prices it cannot source: Barrett-Jackson had not published official 2027 general admission prices when this guide was checked in November 2026. Resale sites already show numbers all over the map, which is what resale sites do before a price exists; the official ticket page is the only source worth trusting, and this guide will carry the real figures the moment they post. What is confirmed for 2027: gates typically open at 8 a.m., GA covers the grounds except bidder seating and skyboxes, and re-entry and bag rules follow the official event page. Verdict: pick your days now, set the ticket budget when the official prices post, and do not pay a resale premium for a ticket that will be sold at the gate.

Sat Jan 23 · Coca-Cola Family Day

Opening Saturday is built for kids

The expansion year put its family programming up front. Opening Saturday, January 23, is Coca-Cola Family Day: immersive STEM programming for young enthusiasts woven into the opening weekend alongside prime time bidding, and kids 12 and under attend free for the day. For a family that wants the auction's biggest energy with the kids actually catered to, this is the single easiest day to choose all nine: the full grounds, the first weekend's car count, activities designed for the under twelve set, and no ticket math for the children. Arrive at the 8 a.m. gate if you can; Family Day crowds build by late morning, and the tents are at their best before the arena peaks. Verdict: families, circle January 23 and build the trip around it. It is the cheapest big day of the nine, and the one your kids will describe correctly afterward.

Staying and getting there

Hotels · The December Deadline

Auction week eats north Scottsdale; book like it

Barrett-Jackson is the biggest hotel week of Scottsdale's winter, stacked into the same season as the Phoenix Open buildup and the best weather of the year. The queue of visitors who book in January and end up in Tempe learns the same lesson every year, so here it is free: book Scottsdale rooms for auction week by early December. Staying near WestWorld up the Pima corridor or in north Scottsdale shortens the morning drive to a few minutes; Old Town trades a twenty minute drive for the restaurants and galleries at night. Flying in is painless, since Phoenix Sky Harbor is about half an hour from WestWorld in normal traffic, and our flights to Phoenix guide and PHX rental car guide cover the arrival half. On the ground, plan on WestWorld's on-site parking and an early arrival on Saturdays; the official event page posts the current parking and shuttle details for 2027, and gates at 8 a.m. reward the people who use them. Verdict: the hotel is the only part of this trip with a real deadline. Everything else can wait for January; the room cannot.

The honest warnings

It is a lot of walking. WestWorld's grounds and tent rows run for acres, and a full day at the auction is a five figure step count on concrete; wear the shoes, not the boots you bought for the outfit. The arena is loud and the days are long. The block runs from morning into the night on big days, and small kids who are not car obsessed will fade by mid afternoon unless Family Day's programming is the plan. January in Scottsdale is mild, not warm at 8 a.m. Gates open to desert mornings in the 40s before the day reaches the high 60s, so layers again. Do not fall for early resale prices. With official GA pricing not yet posted at check time, third party listings are speculation wearing a price tag; wait for the official page or buy at the event's own channels. Facts in this guide were checked in early November 2026 against Barrett-Jackson's September 2026 announcement and Experience Scottsdale; the official site is the source of truth for prices and schedules as January approaches.

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