TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — This weekend, Downtown Tucson is going to be alive with cultural music and performances, the smell of food from over 25 businesses and organizations, and lined with people from all across the area.
The annual Tucson Meet Yourself Festival is bringing together many local small businesses and cultural organizations, and it’s one of their biggest boosts in business of the year.
Many vendors, like On the Fly Kitchen, don’t have brick-and-mortars, so they rely on festivals like Tucson Meet Yourself to connect with customers.
“More exposure, more connection with the community,” said Anthony Ingram and Kareem Hopkins, the owners.
Both said events like this weekend’s festival are helping them move closer to their dream of opening a permanent restaurant.
“The main goal is to get a brick and mortar, so we’re in the process of that,” they added.
For Tomomi Katz, the owner of Takoyaki Balls, Tucson Meet Yourself has been an annual tradition since 2015. She’s seen how her business has grown from being at the festival every year since.
“Because of more awareness of takoyaki and Japanese food, that helped our sales,” Katz said.
While she said she makes five times the amount compared to a regular weekend, business at the festival was not always as strong. In her first year, she said many people didn’t know what takoyaki was, so she had to hand out samples of the octopus dumpling.
“People know what takoyaki is, and we feel that our mission is accomplished,” she said about the business change now.
Organizations like the Tucson Chinese Cultural Center are using the festival to reach more people to get their name out there.
“This festival gives us an opportunity to reach people we couldn’t otherwise,” said Susan Chan, the center’s executive director.
The exposure not only supports the center’s mission but also boosts collaborative efforts with other cultural events, like the Asian Night Market and the Arizona State Museum’s history tour bus.
For the organizations and businesses at the festival, every little bit of exposure helps.
“The more support we get, the better,” Hopkins and Ingram said.
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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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