Each spring and winter, the Fourth Avenue Merchants Association highlights local and out-of-state food, musicians, street performers, dance groups, businesses and artists during the Fourth Avenue Street Fair.
In its 55th year, the spring street fair is Friday, March 22, to Sunday, March 24. During the event, more than 300,000 attendees can experience entertainment, food and beverages and artwork.
Casey Anderson, consultant and chief operating officer for the Fourth Avenue Merchants Association, said the event highlights everything the area has to offer, including its local businesses. It also financially supports local shops, restaurants and organizations.
“We definitely pride ourselves in being a community event,” Anderson said.
“We go above and beyond to include our community. We want to continue making a $55 million economic impact in the community. We partner with several nonprofits that make revenue off of the event and use it to serve their underserved populations. We partner with service groups. We hire a lot of the unhoused people who live in the area to give them job opportunities. The fair is an event that not only promotes arts, culture and community, but it really brings together people and is far more reaching than the three days.”
During the event, many of the local bars, restaurants and shops along Fourth Avenue will host live performances or specials.
“We reach out and encourage them to not only open their stores and do specials but to reserve a booth space,” Anderson said.
“We really go out of our way to work with them because that’s the reason it all started back in the day is working with the local vendors and merchants here.”
Often, visitors will stay on Fourth Avenue after the festival in the evening.
“Once the fair ends for the day, Fourth Avenue definitely gets popping,” Anderson said. “People still want to go out to the restaurants and the bars, and the other establishments stay open later.”
Anderson said folks come from around the world to attend the event. Some festivalgoers have been attending for decades.
“I just talked to a lady today who has been coming her entire life, went to Tucson High and has been coming since she was a baby with her parents,” Anderson said. “Now, she brings her grandbabies to the fair.”
This year, there will be new entertainment at the street fair, including a Euro trampoline at Seventh Street, west of Herbert Avenue.
The Ben’s Bell Activity Center in Haggerty Plaza will offer performances from the Unicycling Unicorn, craft and axe-throwing activities and chances to try new gadgets from Verizon. Anderson said there will an abundance of hands-on activities, too. This year, the festival will have 350 vendors, many of whom are local.
“We try to give preference to those vendors. We want to represent our community and our culture here in Tucson,” Anderson said.
The fine artists represent various mediums, such as painting, jewelry, photography, drawing, ceramics, woodworking and leather and glass arts.
Fourth Avenue Street Fair will have artisan food vendors selling items such as kettle corn, freeze-dried candies and snacks, soups and spices.
The vendors go through a juried process, as the items must be handmade.
“The way that we define ‘handmade’ is if it touches three hands or less,” Anderson said.
Anderson said he has seen an uptick in CBD vendors. Many of the vendors travel to festivals throughout the state or region. Anderson said for this reason, they often work closely with other festival planners, such as those with the Tempe Festival of the Arts.
“We try to be mindful that these are small mom-and-pop businesses that are selling their handmade wares,” Anderson said.
“We really try to coordinate the dates and times of our fairs together because we know a lot of our people travel. … It’s interesting. Sometimes, they travel together. It’s almost like a traveling group of artists. They will go from New Mexico to Tempe to here to Palm Springs.”
Around 45 to 50 food vendors will serve food such as ostrich burgers, barbecue, Mexican cuisine, popsicles and lobster rolls. Food courts will be on Fourth, Fifth, Seventh and Eighth streets.
Two stages will host 32 performers of all genres.
“They have to submit samples of their performances to us,” Anderson said. “We really try to change up the genre. The unique thing about the fair is there’s something for everyone. You might have a country singer starting off, and you might have a rap artist as No. 2 in line. Or an Irish swing dance performance. Or mariachis. It’s a masterpiece of blending all the different cultures and producing this unique, exciting, amazing community event.”
This year, the Fourth Avenue Street Fair is hosting a coloring contest, with pages available on its website. Kids can drop off the coloring pages at Haggerty Plaza to be entered into a drawing for a Fourth Avenue swag bag.
The merchants association tries to give back to local nonprofits during the festival, too. Volunteers from nonprofits work beer booths, and the organization splits revenue with them. Volunteers also help with other tasks, and the association gives them a check for their volunteer hours. Nonprofits receive discounts on spaces, too.
“We give a lot back to other organizations in the community. The fair isn’t a one-man show. It definitely embraces everyone in the community, all socioeconomics, all demographics. It’s such a unique event in that way,” Anderson said.
Fourth Avenue Spring Street Fair
WHEN: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, March 22, and Saturday, March 23; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, March 24
WHERE: Tucson’s Historic Fourth Avenue District
PRICE: Free admission
INFO: https://fourthavenue.org
