FORT SMITH — Hopes are high as the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority prepares to launch its next round of monthly outdoor markets.

The Chaffee Crossing Farmers and Artisans Market will kick off its third season with a Hispanic fiesta-themed event May 13, according to the authority. The markets will run from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the second Saturdays of May through October in the Chaffee Crossing Historic and Entertainment District at 7300 Ellis St.

Lorie Robertson, director of marketing for the authority, which oversees development of the Chaffee Crossing area, said the market is a community-building event that allows people to come together and both showcase their talents and sell their work. It also gives residents a chance to come to Chaffee Crossing and enjoy the sense of community that comes with the markets.

“It has such a warm, welcoming, friendly vibe to it,” Robertson said. “People just enjoy coming and staying. They enjoy visiting with the vendors, with the farmers, with the food service providers and listening to the live music, as well as just visiting with their neighbors, encountering people they haven’t seen in years or perhaps making new friends.”

The market’s focus is homegrown, homemade and handmade products; original art, designs and creations; and local musicians and performers, according to Robertson. The authority is interested in having more farmers participate.

Robertson said the authority expects this year’s markets to start strongly May 13. At least 60 vendors were registered as of April 3. Robertson believes it will “easily” have more than 100.

“We have a lot of repeat vendors, but we also have new vendors, and we have quite a few folks that are signing up to be season vendors because they see the value of the market,” she said.

Robertson said the first Farmers and Artisans Market in May 2021 featured 15 vendors and capped that initial season with about 120 vendors in October 2021. More than 150 vendors attended the most recent market in October, with the 2022 season seeing more than 250 total unique vendors participate, according to a news release.

One such vendor is Payton McMahan, owner of Payton’s Custom Designs in Chaffee Crossing. McMahan said 2023 will be her third year as a season vendor for the market, meaning she’s set to sell her wares at every event. Payton’s Custom Designs makes a variety of items, such as T-shirts, hats, cups and bags.

McMahan said she enjoys seeing the market grow. She believes her participation as a vendor has given her confidence.

“I don’t think that my business would be what it is today without the market, 100 percent, just because of how many people have come out and told me, ‘We came just to see your booth,'” McMahan said. “Things like that are what give small businesses the courage to keep doing what they’re doing, take that leap of faith every day because you never know how business is going to be with this world being the way it is.”

Each market will carry a specific theme. Robertson said the authority wants to showcase and celebrate the Hispanic community in the River Valley with its fiesta kickoff.

The authority is organizing the event with two senior students from the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith: Angel Fernandez and Daniel Lafuente.

“Dr. Kristin Tardif teaches a community leadership class at UAFS and she contacted us and asked if we could work with two students who are doing a capstone project, and they had the idea to do a Hispanic fiesta,” Robertson said.

Fernandez and Lafuente are both pursuing business administration degrees. They said Tardif told them and their classmates they would come up with some type of project to work with community leaders that would also involve the community at large.

Lafuente said Tardif connected him and Fernandez to Robertson after they thought about doing something in detail with the Hispanic community, which led to their involvement in the market. Fernandez said they didn’t realize the full scope of the event until Robertson explained it to them.

“It was definitely surprising,” Lafuente said. “It was a bit more than we probably anticipated, but looking at it now, if it works out the way we imagine it to, then I can see it being something really, really good for the community. I mean, it would help out a lot of people.”

Fernandez said one of his objectives with the Hispanic fiesta is to have the Hispanic community involved at Chaffee Crossing to increase the community’s awareness of the area. Lafuente said he wants the event to foster greater collaboration between Hispanic-owned businesses.

“I feel like there’s a lot of us out here, but we’re all just separated and doing our own thing, so it would be nice to see these businesses working together and helping each other, boost each other up and bring the Hispanic economy up in Fort Smith even more,” Lafuente said.

The fiesta will feature local Hispanic music, food trucks and other forms of entertainment and vendors, according to Fernandez and Lafuente. The musical groups slated to perform include Inseparables De San Luis and Fuego Cruzado, with Fernandez being part of the former.

Vendors have until May 5 to register for the kickoff event, according to the news release. They can apply online at chaffeecrossingfam.com or ask for an application by emailing [email protected] or calling (479) 452-4554.

Dates and Themes 

The Chaffee Crossing Farmers and Artisans Market will take place on the following dates with the themes listed:

May 13: Hispanic Fiesta

 June 10: My City is a Fort

 July 8: American Pie

 Aug. 12: Back to School Bash

 Sept. 9: Rockin Good Time

 Oct. 14: Oktoberfest

Source: Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority