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

100 creates and defines the Union Plaza Artist Market, an outdoor market for locally made, homemade or hand-assembled arts and crafts run by the museums and cultural affairs department. including setup and teardown. A vendor must be a resident within 100 miles of the plaza, at least 18 years old, and generally cannot already sell from a storefront. The artist market manager issues a permit naming the vendor and the authorized merchandise category; spaces are first-come, first-served each event, and a vendor must purchase at least four weekly space uses at a time at the council-set fee.

Grounds to deny, suspend or revoke a permit include violating the chapter or causing a public disturbance that disrupts the market; a denied or disciplined vendor has 21 business days to request a review conference with the museums and cultural affairs director, whose findings go back to the city manager for a final decision. Vendors must carry proof of state sales-tax collection capability (a permit or exemption certificate), must allow inspection of their work for authenticity, must display their permit at all times, and cannot sell drug paraphernalia.

Two spaces are specially reserved, fee-exempt, for vendors 60 or older or with a certified disability. Vehicles must clear the plaza 15 minutes before the market opens, and bicycles, skateboards and roller skates are barred from the area during market hours except for licensed pedicabs.