Starting Sunday, Oct. 11, the plaza at Tempe City Hall, 31 E. 5th St., becomes a weekly farmers market. The City has scheduled it for most Sundays, 8 a.m. to noon from October through April and 7 to 11 a.m. from May through September. The building is normally closed on weekends. On Sunday mornings it will now be one of downtown's busier spots.
Downtown Tempe has had Sunday markets before, but only on a few dates a year. 2nd Sundays on Mill puts an outdoor maker market on Mill Avenue between 3rd Street and University Drive, and its remaining 2026–27 dates are Nov. 8, Jan. 10, Feb. 14 and Apr. 11. At the April 12, 2026 edition, Downtown Tempe Authority added what it called Tempe's "first ever pop-up farmers market." The City Hall market takes that one-day pop-up and runs it nearly every Sunday of the year.
How the Hours Compare With Nearby Markets
Before this, the closest weekly farmers markets on our list were outside Tempe. Only one of them ran on Sundays.
| Market | Day | Cool-season hours | Summer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tempe City Hall Farmers Market, 31 E. 5th St. | Sunday | 8 a.m. to noon, Oct. to April | 7 to 11 a.m., May to Sept. |
| Ahwatukee Farmers Market, 4700 E. Warner Road, Phoenix | Sunday | 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Oct. to May | 8 to 11 a.m., June to Sept. |
| Old Town Scottsdale Farmers Market, 3939 N. Drinkwater Blvd. | Saturday | 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., Oct. to April | 8 a.m. to noon in May, 7 to 10 a.m. in June, closed July to Sept. |
| Roadrunner Farmers Market, 3502 E. Cactus Road, Phoenix | Saturday | 8 a.m. to noon, Oct. to May | Open year-round |
Most of the difference comes down to the clock. From October through April, the Tempe market opens at 8 a.m., an hour before Ahwatukee. It also switches to its 7 a.m. summer schedule in May, a month before Ahwatukee changes its hours. During summer it opens an hour earlier than Ahwatukee and closes at the same 11 a.m. Old Town Scottsdale's market doesn't run at all from July through September, and both Scottsdale and Roadrunner are Saturday markets. That leaves the City Hall market as the only one on this list that's in Tempe, runs on Sundays and keeps going through summer.
The calendars don't agree yet. Tempe Tourism lists the market from Oct. 11 through Dec. 27, 2026. The City's page describes it as running year-round with seasonal hours. Until the market posts a 2027 schedule, the safe assumption is that the fall season is set and the rest of the year is planned.
Why City Hall Works on a Sunday
The organizers picked the site with Sunday in mind. Co-organizer Jon Przybyl gave the case for it in the City's announcement:
"Tempe is centrally located, has the infrastructure to support a farmers market, enjoys free Sunday parking on all the streets, and has a diverse population primed for this kind of event."
Axios also reported that street parking around City Hall is free on Sundays. For anyone who doesn't want to drive, Downtown Tempe Authority lists light rail service at 3rd Street and Mill Avenue and at the Transportation Center, plus the Tempe Transit Center bus hub at 5th Street and Forest Avenue. That hub is on the same street as City Hall.
The City also ties the market to its sustainability goals. "Small choices, when made across a community, can contribute to broader sustainability efforts," said Eric Iwersen, Tempe's Transportation and Sustainability Director. Mayor Corey Woods said the market is about "supporting entrepreneurship in our community and creating a space where people can shop, spend time together and enjoy downtown Tempe."
Both Organizers Started Small
The two people running the market have each grown something from very little before.
Przybyl co-owns Proof Bread with Amanda Abou-Eid. The bakery already has a downtown Tempe shop at 699 S. Mill Ave. Phoenix New Times reports that Jared Allen founded Proof in 2014, and that Przybyl and Amanda Abou-Eid, both regular customers, bought it in 2017. According to the bakery's own history, the new owners learned the craft from Allen and moved production into their Mesa home garage. From there it grew into an 1,800-square-foot cottage bakery. A move required by the City of Mesa then took Proof into a historic building in downtown Mesa. Phoenix New Times reports that this downtown Mesa shop, Proof's first brick-and-mortar location, opened in 2021. Today Proof Bread also has locations in Phoenix and Litchfield Park.
Meg Kabotie Adakai brings experience running markets. She managed the Flagstaff Community Market for four years before founding Flagstaff Mountain Town Market. The Arizona Daily Sun reported her goals for that market. She wanted to let more people take part, stretch past Flagstaff's usual outdoor-market season, bring in more Indigenous vendors, and add programming such as yoga and dance lessons. The same paper reported that her Flagstaff market also began at City Hall. "I truly believe food is medicine and art," she said in Tempe's announcement.
That Flagstaff history suggests what to expect in Tempe. Her market there grew past a single season and brought in more types of vendors. The Tempe market starts with a year-round schedule and a vendor call that goes well beyond produce.
What We Know About Opening Day So Far
Most of what's public so far comes from announcements made before the market opens, so here is what's confirmed and what isn't.
- Confirmed: Sunday, Oct. 11, 8 a.m. to noon, at City Hall, 31 E. 5th St.
- Confirmed: The City says to expect produce, baked goods, ready-to-eat food and handmade items from small-business vendors.
- Not yet published: A vendor list. As of Sept. 17, Axios reported the City was still recruiting vendors, including produce growers, ready-to-eat food, pet treats and lifestyle products, plus artists and musicians.
- Worth checking: Which Sundays are skipped. Both the City and Axios say "most Sundays," not every Sunday.
If you make, grow or bake something, the vendor application is still linked from the City's market page. Since the market is still adding vendors, the lineup on Oct. 11 may look different from later in the fall.
What Else Is Happening in Tempe This Month
The market is downtown, and the City has scheduled more free events for the same weeks.
The next 2nd Sundays on Mill falls on Nov. 8, which is also a market Sunday. That day, City Hall's market and the Mill Avenue maker market between 3rd Street and University Drive will both run downtown. It will be the first time the yearly-calendar event and the new weekly one land on the same morning.
Friday nights are in south Tempe at Kiwanis Park. Movies in the Park is back on the north soccer fields at Baseline Road and Ash Avenue, just west of Mill Avenue, with movies starting at dusk, around 6:30 p.m. The rest of the October lineup:
- Friday, Oct. 9: Hoppers (PG)
- Friday, Oct. 16: The Goonies (PG)
- Friday, Oct. 23: Family BOO Bash Festival, 6 to 10 p.m., with a costume parade and contest at 6:30 p.m., train rides, face painting, a dance party, and Toy Story 5 (G) at 7:30 p.m.
The movie series is sponsored by Tempe Diablos Charities. The Tempe Play Mobile runs activities before the show, and Casey Ryan plays live music. Next to the fields is the Kiwanis north play area at 5233 S. Ash Ave., which reopened with a ribbon cutting on Sept. 23. It now has an expanded playground with all-new equipment and accessible rubber surfacing, a large group ramada, new shade structures, a new restroom and concession building, and a climbable public art sculpture by Bobby Zokaites.
Taken together, a Tempe weekend in October can now include a free movie on a Friday night and a farmers market on Sunday morning, both run on regular schedules. Once the downtown market moves to its 7 a.m. summer start in May, it will be one of the few early-morning outdoor events in the area that keeps going through the hot months.
A new weekly market a short walk from Mill Avenue makes downtown Tempe more appealing on a Sunday morning, and that kind of change matters to people who own homes nearby. If you live near downtown Tempe and want to know what your home is worth right now, The Bray Team can give you a clear, local number. Request your home valuation and we'll get back to you quickly.
