Photos: Tucson Food Fest Launches Summer with Innovative Vegan Delights and Bold Flavors

This month’s Tucson Vegan Night Market attracted over 60 diverse vendors, encompassing everything from food trucks to tattoo shops, for its second event of the year.

Hosted every three months, the market took place Saturday night along the dry banks of Rillito Park at the Heirloom Farmers Market Pavilions. Vendors showcased a variety of ethnic cuisines, all vegan-friendly.

Patricia Espinosa, a Cuban vendor debuting at the market, emphasized creativity in plant-based cooking. “There’s such a fixation on the meat in a culture’s food, that we forget we can be creative,” she said, highlighting her chickpea empanadas as a tasty alternative to traditional meat versions.

Celebrating its two-year anniversary, the festival was co-founded by Shane Reiser, owner of Tucson Foodie, and vegan food influencer Hannah Hernandez. “It started at a house club and we were expecting 200 people but 1,300 showed up,” Reiser recalled. Today, even on a sweltering 103-degree day, attendance ranges from 3,000 to 5,000.

Interestingly, not all attendees are vegan. “Eight out of ten people here are not vegan, but they come for the experience, for good food,” Reiser noted.

This month’s market featured chefs Pablo Valencia and Christian Padilla, Tucson natives, who curated a special VIP dinner. Their innovative dish, fried yakisoba yakitori stixxx—fried Japanese noodles on a stick—offered toppings like smoked ancho elote, grilled nopal, and mushroom crema. “It started as a stoner idea,” Padilla admitted, reflecting on the desire to elevate traditional noodle presentations.

While this was Padilla’s first venture at the vegan market, Valencia had participated in the previous two events. They both aimed to blend their formal French culinary training with their Sonoran heritage. Padilla, who returned to Tucson from Seattle, expressed a newfound connection to local culture. Valencia emphasized a return to fundamental cooking methods, stating, “If a cowboy walked into a French kitchen with only a fire and a cast iron, that’s what we focus on.”

Other vendors, like Diego Diaz, brought family traditions to the event. Diaz crafted burritos inspired by his grandmother, offering two varieties throughout the night alongside his father, Victor Diaz.

For those interested in exploring vegan options or reducing meat consumption, Reiser invites the community to the next event on September 6. “We’ve got vintage clothing, nonprofits, jewelry, tattoos, and food vendors from Phoenix and El Paso,” he said. “It’s really something to get excited about.”