Vegan Night Market – Bravo! But parking…

Someone must have been inspired by the famous 626 Night Market in Los Angeles when it came to planning the Tucson Vegan Night Market. (Note: 626 is the area code for the San Gabriel Valley, a predominantly Asian area of L.A.) This year’s Tucson version had food–lots of food–like the 626. The 626, however, offers primarily Chinese/Asian food, while here in Tucson we’re aiming at Vegan-for-Everyone. (FWIW, I went to a night market at MSA a couple of years ago and was disappointed, so this new version was great to see!)

Park at the back way into Rillito

One obvious issue is parking. When I arrived at about 6:30 the entire Rillito parking lot was full and overflowing. I think the next time I attend any market at Rillito Park I’ll leave my car at the foot of Mountain Street and walk across the bike path to the market site.

Elotes struck by Barbiedom

Okay. Let’s take a look at what I saw, starting with three women juggling those pink elotes shown below. Yes, those pink things on a stick are Mexican street corn, not some sort of sweet County Fair fantasy dessert. (Sorry, I missed the pink elote’s vendor’s name.) Nearby was the Green Heart Bakery booth with decadently delicious cakes, tarts and dessert bars. Green Heart has no brick-and-mortar; their ordinary location is the Sunday morning Rillito Farmers market.

Two other attractive food booths were Fatboy Sando–loved the banner!–and Cultura–loved the prices! Cultura had the longest lines of any food vendor, in part, I suspect, because their prices were significantly lower. (Maybe some of the other vendors should take note.)

There were plenty of places to eat all the deliciousness! Tables at the center, near the DJs and lineup of 5 food trucks were one choice. I was puzzled by the “bearded mask”on one DJ’s face and also puzzled by the white “hand” that rose up the back of a man’s shirt.

Others sat at tables further west and some simply sat on the curb near the bike trail.

Now for randomness starting with hair styles.

Sundown was coming so I decided to go home. I hope this market comes back to Rillito, soon!