Amanda Beekhuizen, co-owner of Tiny Town Surplus and Gallery, can be seen behind Fourth Avenue Street Fair t-shirts from previous years in the store at 408 N. Fourth Avenue. The store sells vintage Street Fair shirts and posters to help the Fourth Avenue Merchants Association raise money for the winter event.
Rebecca Sasnett, Arizona Daily Star
After canceling events since March 2020, the Fourth Avenue Merchants Association plans to revive the popular Fourth Avenue Street Fair in December.
But the three-day semi-annual event, which has been held in spring and winter for 25 years, is going to need a huge injection of cash if organizers hope they make it.
Casey Anderson, the association’s chief operating officer for marketing, said they must raise $ 250,000 immediately to cover upfront costs, security, police services, port-a-potty and other expenses related to the Fourth Avenue lockdown for vehicle traffic include the influx of 100,000 buyers per day.
The association estimates the event will cost $ 280,000, and most expenses will have to be paid for months in advance, Anderson said.
“I don’t think everyone in the community is aware of this,” she said, adding that the association does not receive any government funding. “We were a self-sustaining organization that ran the fair and kept Fourth Avenue going. The loss of 18 months of sales and the continuation of operations is devastating. “
When the association canceled the 2020 spring event after the COVID-19 virus was declared a global pandemic, officials had to reimburse many of its 300+ providers for rental fees. They also had to try and get refunds from local contractors who prepaid them, which was a tough one, according to Anderson. The pandemic put a financial burden on many of these companies that couldn’t raise the money, she said.
