First Fridays on Phoenix's Roosevelt Row returns with new pilot program for vendors

PHOENIX - A new program aimed at bringing vendors back to Roosevelt Row for First Fridays kicks off on Oct. 2, with organizers saying it follows a years-long effort to reshape the monthly event to make it safer and return it to its roots, which were all about celebrating the arts.

"We're going to see a First Friday that looks a lot more like it originally looked when this event started many, many decades ago," said Cindy Dach, board member of the Roosevelt Row Community Development Corporation. "There won't be any street closures with pop-up vending or pop-up markets."

The backstory:

 The changes come after the event’s growing popularity sparked crowd control and safety issues, including multiple shootings.

"Because it was so open to the public, it allowed people to come in and just hang out and those became issues at times, as it transitioned over the years from an arts-focused event to much more of a street vending, street fair type of activity," said Alan Stephenson, deputy city manager for the City of Phoenix.

This led organizers to halt the vendor market last spring. But a new Phoenix City Council pilot program, passed at a meeting last month, aims to safely bring some vendors back, moving the action off public streets and onto private property.

"What we're going to see is the art taking place inside the buildings and on the property of some of the buildings that exist in this area," Dach said.

What we know:

Now, business owners can apply for permits to host vendors themselves.

"It’s the hope that by doing that we will then allow for different property owners to cultivate what artists are there," Stephenson said.

The goal is to put the spotlight back on homegrown art and food—a shift everyone is eager to see.

"What was really important to everybody was that the artist experience stay front and center," Dach said. "And to do that, we had to create a different model. So, this brings it back to the locally-owned businesses that are in the area."

What we don't know:

It is not known if the pilot program will be made permanent.

What's next:

The city says so far only one business applied and received a permit, but they expect more to follow as the word gets out.