SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Ariz. — Patagonia Arizona is home to fewer than 1,000 people, but, on the second week of October, about 15,000 people pass through for their annual Fall Festival.
This year, the festival takes over the square in the middle of town Saturday Oct. 12, from 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., and Sunday Oct. 13 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m..
Nearly 135 vendors will be there selling food, canned goods, clothing and crafts of all mediums.
The festival officially started with the help of Patagonia 35 years ago, but seven years before, artists in and around the town gathered together for a more unofficial gathering.
Owner of Shooting Star Pottery Martha Kelly was at that first event, which she described as "low key."
“Very small,very small," she said. "We were hand painting our own posters."
She says that like many other artists in the area, the Fall Festival marked the beginning of her selling season.
During the summer, she says, “it’s too hot to even think sometimes, so we wait for October, then start moving it along.”
Organizers of the festival say it's gives the entire town a bit of an economic boost, bringing customers from the festival to surrounding brick-and-mortar shops.
Linda Shore is President of the Sky Islands Tourism Association.
“This festival’s all about economic impact, and so it’s all about connecting community with local artisans," she said. "This town is little, there’s only 780 people in the town itself, maybe 1,200 in the surrounding area, and that’s not enough to support local businesses.”
She and Kelly both say they hope those who come to Patagonia for the festival want to come back.
"Come back in the spring and summer when you don't have the crowds," Kelly said. "Stop in at Patagonia and have food, stop and see the community garden. Do other things than just driving on the highway."
