The Tempe City Hall Farmers Market was supposed to open Sunday, Oct. 11. It now opens Sunday, Oct. 18. The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory for the Tempe area and told city officials conditions would be unsafe for a market that morning, so the City moved the launch back a week. Some listings haven't caught up. Tempe Tourism's event page still shows the series starting Oct. 11. The City's market page has the current date.
The schedule after opening day changes more about downtown Sundays than the delay does. The City says the market will run on "most Sundays," from 8 a.m. to noon October through April and from 7 to 11 a.m. May through September. Until now, downtown Tempe's main Sunday market ran on just a handful of dates each season. Starting Oct. 18, there is a reason to come downtown nearly every Sunday morning.
Four Sundays a season, and then most of them
The baseline is the Downtown Tempe Authority's 2nd Sundays on Mill. It returns in November and runs on the second Sunday of November, January, February and April, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Each date has a theme. The market covers Mill Avenue between Third Street and University Drive with Arizona-based artists, makers and small businesses, plus a Kids Market where young sellers offer their own creations.
Here is the 2026–27 season next to the new market, using the dates the organizers have published:
| Tempe City Hall Farmers Market | 2nd Sundays on Mill | |
|---|---|---|
| Where | City Hall Plaza, 31 E. Fifth St. | Mill Ave., Third St. to University |
| When | Most Sundays, starting Oct. 18 | Nov. 8, Jan. 10, Feb. 14, Apr. 11 |
| Hours, Oct.–Apr. | 8 a.m. to noon | 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. |
| Focus | Produce, baked goods, ready-to-eat food, handmade items | Arizona makers, Kids Market, performances |
| Themes | None announced | Multicultural, Create, Love on Mill Avenue, Urban Adventure |
The two events do different jobs. 2nd Sundays is a themed street event built for browsing makers' booths. The City Hall market is built around groceries. The City describes small-business vendors selling produce, baked goods, ready-to-eat foods and handmade items. A Sunday market isn't new in Tempe. In 2014, KTAR reported that the Tempe Community Action Committee was starting a Sunday Tempe Community Market under the Loop 202 bridge at 620 N. Mill Ave. What's new this time is the location at City Hall and a weekly schedule that runs all year, with summer hours moved earlier rather than a summer break.
A baker and a market founder are running it
The people organizing the market explain what will be on the tables. The Daily Independent reported that the market is organized by Jon Przybyl of Proof Bread and Meg Kabotie Adakai, founder of the Flagstaff Mountain Town Market, in partnership with the City of Tempe. One organizer runs a bakery and the other has already built a farmers market in another Arizona town. The City still runs a vendor sign-up form. It asks for local farmers, artisan food makers, pet treat makers, health and wellness producers, musicians and artists.
Before the postponement, a Phoenix New Times weekend preview named Ransom Farms Microgreens, Bagelwick, Mortimer Farms, Shelter Dog Coffee, Twisted Bee Honey and Proof Bread as vendors, "among others." It also said a yoga class followed by live music would open the first market. That list was planned for Oct. 11, so the lineup on Oct. 18 may be different. The organizers post vendor updates on Instagram at @TCHFarmersMarket.
The City presents the market as more than shopping. In the same Daily Independent article, Mayor Corey Woods said, "We're supporting entrepreneurship in our community and creating a space where people can shop, spend time together and enjoy downtown Tempe." The City also ties the market to its sustainability goals, since buying locally grown food cuts down on long-distance shipping.
The logistics that decide whether it becomes a routine
A weekly market only becomes a habit if getting in and out is easy. The City's page covers most of the details:
- Parking. Street parking in Downtown Tempe is free on Sundays. The City Hall garage at 117 E. Fifth St. is free for the first hour. The Brickyard garage at 98 E. Seventh St. costs $4 per hour.
- Payment. EBT/SNAP and Double Up Food Bucks aren't accepted yet. Organizers say they are working on it.
- Restrooms. City Hall's bathrooms are open to shoppers during market hours. There are more public restrooms at the Tempe Transportation Center at Fifth Street and Forest Avenue.
- Streetcar. The Tempe Streetcar runs on Mill and Ash avenues and has a stop at Sixth Street and Mill Avenue. The market page doesn't give streetcar directions, so the Sixth and Mill stop is just the closest one on the published route.
Streetcar riders should know about this week. Repairs close northbound Mill Avenue to cars and bikes between Fifth and Third streets from Oct. 12 through Oct. 16, and the streetcar runs a shortened route during the work. That window ends two days before the new opening date, so the closure isn't scheduled to affect Oct. 18.
November 8 puts two markets downtown on the same morning
The first 2nd Sundays of the season falls on Nov. 8, with a Multicultural theme. If the City Hall market also runs that day, downtown would have two markets about a block apart. The farmers market would open at 8 a.m., 2nd Sundays would start on Mill at 10 a.m., and the two would overlap for two hours before the farmers market closes at noon.
The City's page doesn't list which Sundays the market will skip, so Nov. 8 isn't confirmed. The same goes for Sunday, Dec. 6, the last day of the Tempe Fall Festival of the Arts. That festival runs Dec. 4 through 6 at Mill Avenue and Fifth Street, just steps from City Hall Plaza. Tempe Tourism's fall guide says the festival brings more than 350 artists downtown, along with street performers and entertainment. "Most Sundays" leaves room for the market to take a week off when downtown is this full. The market's Instagram is the place to check the week before.
If both markets do run on Nov. 8, the morning could look like this:
- Arrive at City Hall Plaza at 8 a.m. for produce and bread before the larger crowd shows up.
- Drop the bags at the car while street parking is still free, then walk west to Mill Avenue.
- Get to Mill between Third Street and University after 10 a.m., when the 2nd Sundays booths, Kids Market and performances are set up.
- Head back to City Hall Plaza before noon for anything you missed, since the farmers market closes three hours before 2nd Sundays does.
Lunch after noon on Mill
The farmers market closes at noon, which leaves time for lunch on Mill Avenue, where several places have opened since late summer. PHOENIX magazine reported that Culinary Gangster opened at 501 S. Mill Ave. Downtown Tempe's business list shows Phantom Fox Beer Co. with Goat & Ram opening Oct. 8, and Phoenix New Times gives its address as 525 S. Mill Ave. Farther north, near the lake, Roman God of Fire serves wood-fired Italian food on Rio Salado Parkway, with the Mea Culpa cocktail bar next door.
None of these sources list Sunday hours, so check before you go. Other announced Mill Avenue openings, including Carmen and Novel Ice Cream, haven't confirmed opening dates yet.
The City has set the market's hours through April 2027, and the vendor list should become clearer after a few Sundays. If you're wondering how a weekly downtown routine like this fits into a move within Tempe or across the East Valley, Mark Palacio is happy to talk it through. Let's connect.
