TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The six-day TENWEST Festival ended Sunday, bringing conferences, mixers, and increased foot traffic to locally owned businesses and entrepreneurs in downtown Tucson.
Festival organizers utilized all local venues for the events, exposing new customers to downtown establishments. Highwire and The Grand, located at Sixth and Congress, hosted the festival's kickoff party on Tuesday for the second consecutive year.
"We did see an increase for sure this year especially how I said, the kickoff party. There was a lot more foot traffic," Barbara Zazueta said.
Zazueta, the general manager of Highwire, noted that business is usually slower during the week, but the festival events helped bring in customers.
"Most of the businesses downtown in Tucson are locally owned here so it brings out a big exposure to people who haven’t seen anything new," Zazueta said.
Downtown businesses are also supporting one another. For example, Highwire sold beer from Pueblo Vida during the festival.
"It helps out a lot to build that relationship with each other downtown," Zazueta said.
Liz Pocock, CEO of TENWEST and Startup Tucson, emphasized the festival's commitment to the local economy.
"Our swag and merch comes with partnerships with Presta and Pueblo Vida, so we’re all working with all local partners and entrepreneurs," Pocock said.
Organizers intentionally directed funds into the local community by utilizing spaces like Highwire and The Grand.
"We are currently standing in Highwire and the Grand, so this is a space that’s downtown, so we are spending a lot of dollars into our local community," Pocock said.
In 2023, TENWEST reported a $1.6 million economic impact for Tucson.
"Hundreds of people that travel in and stay downtown, spend money at our restaurants all week. That’s what makes it so special that it’s in the downtown core," Pocock said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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Andrew Christiansen is a reporter for KGUN 9. Before joining the team, Andrew reported in Corpus Christi, Texas for KRIS6 News, Action 10 News and guest reported in Spanish for Telemundo Corpus Christi. Share your story ideas with Andrew by emailing andrew.christiansen@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, or Twitter.
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