If it’s good weather, one can walk the length of the I10 freeway hotels and shop among miles of street vendors. These vendors take over almost every inch of hotel space/rooms, parking lots and sidewalks, ballrooms and lobbies, and even around the pool and courtyard areas.Here one will find anything and everything you can image from raw materials cut from the mine, custom cut materials strung for beading, jewelry and gift items, equipment and tool for the beading enthusiast to the professional lapidary, and even see geodes the size of small buildings! There are merchants local to the area, vendors from across the country and many from around the world. Some vendors sell direct to the public while others will only sell wholesale; check with each vendor before purchase to determine if they sell to the public or wholesale only.
Last year, this is where we found a lot of great deals and very unusual gemstones; our resident gemologist added more raw materials for his collect during our Street Vendor day than anything time in Tucson.
For more information on one of the big Street Vendor shows check out the Pueblo Gem & Mineral Show, see their website.
For information on the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show 2009 visit Jewelry Show Guide or Tucson Show Guide.
