Local artisans, vintage resellers, food, drink and live music will fill the Hotel Congress plaza on Saturday, Feb. 22, when two local markets unite to bring community members and local entrepreneurs together. 

#ThisIsTucson’s annual Tucson Together Market will share the plaza space with Desert Haze, a monthly vintage clothing market.

“We hope that it can ultimately be a giant celebration of local art and small businesses,” said #ThisIsTucson Editor Gloria Knott, who curates the annual Tucson Together Market with local food artisans and makers. 

The collaboration is a first for Desert Haze, hosted by Gabrielle Smoyer.

Attendees can expect to find vintage goods from eight vendors at the Desert Haze Market and more than 100 from Tucson Together Market. The event runs from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Each year #ThisIsTucson, a sister site to the Arizona Daily Star, holds its market at 55. N. Fifth Ave. The Market is run by Knott, 29, and her two #ThisIsTucson teammates.

“I think #ThisIsTucson’s goal is really to help people discover what to do, eat and talk about in Tucson,” Knott said. “We just really want to foster a community that knows and loves Tucson.” 

This will be the third year local artists and vendors come together and share downtown at the Tucson Together Market. 

Smoyer, 37, originally from Michigan, owns Cowtail Vintage, a curated secondhand clothing site that she has been running for about two and a half years. 

“I’ve always loved clothing and had always bought vintage clothes from people, or like thrifted,” Smoyer said. “Eventually, I just got over that imposter syndrome of, ‘you know I can actually resell the things I love to people.’ ” 

Smoyer said she began Desert Haze in August 2023 as a way for people like her to come together and collaborate. 

“I feel like it’s really created a cohesiveness between people and their brands and these small businesses that they have. That’s kind of why I started it,” Smoyer said.

Smoyer explained that as an outsider to Tucson, the city feels like an “incubator” for the growth of people and their projects, businesses and community. 

Guests can expect to enjoy vintage vendors, a beer garden, food and drink at Desert Haze. 

There also will be a free live performance from The McCharmlys, the Santa Ana, California, surfer/1960s -style doo-wop band set to play two sets on the Hotel Congress patio beginning at 3 p.m. 

“It’s really good music and I think it will really add to the atmosphere. I think it’s the perfect kind of music for this event,” Knott said.

“They’re an amazing band, and they love Tucson,” Smoyer added.

Admission to the markets is free. For more information, visit hotelcongress.com.

Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.