El Paso, TX Special Events & Permits: Street Fair Rules (2026)

El Paso does not leave the artist market to private promoters. Section 2.40.100(B) authorizes the city manager or a designee to create an outdoor artist market where vendors sell handmade or hand assembled merchandise, in the designated market area set out in the traffic control plan and at the designated time. The Museums and Cultural Affairs Department (MCAD) develops the Artist Market Policies and Procedures that fill in the operating details, and the artist market manager administers them.

Who qualifies is defined tightly in subsection (A). A vendor must be a resident of the region, which the code defines as inside the El Paso city limits, and must be eighteen years old or older. Members of the same household can sell alongside the vendor. A vendor cannot have a storefront or sell the artwork from a store, with a narrow exception for applicants whose storefront is also inside the city limits. Goods must be locally made, home crafted or hand assembled by the seller or the seller's household. "Homemade or hand assembled" means an item with two or more distinctive parts, permanently attached by the vendor's own labor, creativity and skill. The listed categories include leather goods, paintings and prints, photographs, woodwork, metalcraft, ceramics, weaving, needlework, beadwork, sculpture, jewelry, clothing, glasswork and basketry, plus live street music performers without amplification.

Under subsection (C), the artist market manager issues the vendor permit, and it must contain the vendor's name and the type of handmade merchandise authorized for sale. Vendor spaces are available at the discretion of the artist market manager, and the fee for weekly use of a space is whatever the city council sets in the budget resolution or another resolution. The city manager or a designee can approve, deny, revoke or suspend a permit. The two stated grounds for denial, revocation or suspension are a violation of Chapter 2.40, or a public offence or disturbance that disrupts the operation of the market.

The review path is short. A vendor must send a written request for review to the artist market manager within seven business days of the denial, revocation or suspension, identifying the applicant, the craft covered by the permit and the basis for review, such as administrative error, conflict of interest or misinformation. The MCAD director then schedules a conference, and a written response with findings goes to the applicant within ten business days. If the director finds grounds, the city manager or a designee re-evaluates the application.

The ordinance was last amended by Ord. No. 019852 on April 1, 2026.