Vendor Registration

First Friday Surprise is a monthly pop-up creative district at Arts HQ Gallery. Seven first Fridays, November 2026 through May 2027, built around a rotating featured discipline and a lineup of food trucks competing for the night.

Season Two is in a bigger space, which means more room for artists, more trucks, and a district that’s worth walking end to end.

Find your category below and apply.

ffs website v2 1350 x 1440 vendor patron
Artists
Makers
Food vendors
Food Trucks

Artists

Original work you made, not resold or mass-produced. Painters, illustrators, printmakers, ceramicists, sculptors, photographers, fiber artists, authors, sticker artists, and anyone working in a medium we didn’t think to list.

Each month spotlights a featured discipline, but the lineup is never limited to it. If your medium is featured, you’ll be in front of a crowd that showed up specifically for it.

Two ways to set up:

Table space. Exclusive to artists. About 6′ x 6′, room for your own table and chair, no canopy needed. Good for a first event, a smaller inventory, or anyone not ready to invest in a full setup.

Booth space. 10′ x 10′ space. Good for larger work, deeper inventory, or an established setup.

Either way you’re in the same lineup, in front of the same crowd.

Prints and reproductions of your own work are fine. Direct-sales companies aren’t a fit here.

APply

Makers

Handmade and small-batch goods from independent creative businesses. Woodworkers, candle and soap makers, leatherworkers, bookbinders, apparel and accessory makers, home goods, and anyone building a product line by hand.

You made it or your small business did. A representative or helper can run your space if you can’t be there yourself.

Setup: Booth space, 10′ x 10′. Bring your own canopy and weights.

Resale, dropshipping, and direct-sales companies aren’t a fit here.

APply

Food Vendors

Baked goods, sweets, snacks, coffee, and specialty drinks sold from a booth. Bakers, cottage food producers, roasters, and anyone with a small food or beverage line.

Setup: Booth space, 10′ x 10′. Bring your own canopy and weights.

You’ll need a current registration with the Arizona Department of Health Services Cottage Food Program.

Serving hot prepared meals from a truck or trailer? Apply as a Food Truck instead.

APply

Food Trucks

Trucks come here to compete. Every event, a lineup goes head to head on the month’s theme, a fan vote and a panel of judges both weigh in, and one truck takes the night. Monthly winners earn a seat at Champions’ Row in May, where the season’s champions return and one leaves with $1,000.

Not every truck competes. We also book trucks serving off-theme, so there’s always something for people who aren’t feeling that month’s category.

LEARN MoRE

What we look for

A district only works if the lineup is worth walking. We review every application for fit, and we’re actively looking to fill a bigger footprint this season.

We prioritize original work and vendors who make their space worth stopping at. That can look like a conversation, a live demo, or simply a display that invites people in.

How it works

  1. Apply. Submit the form with links where we can see your work, and tell us which events you want.
  2. We review. Applications are reviewed in the order received and weighed against event needs, category balance, and available space. You’ll hear back within five business days either way.
  3. You’re approved. You’ll get an email with your approved months, and you’re in. Load-in details, space assignment, and the month’s theme follow before the event.
  4. Sell and settle up. There’s no upfront cost. Before you pack out, you’ll pay 15% of that night’s sales.

The season

Apply for a single event or as many as you’d like.

November 6, Thankful
Featured discipline: Photography
Gratitude, harvest, and gathering. Warm palettes, comfort, and work that speaks to home and the people in it.

December 4, Enchanted Winter Market
Featured discipline: Books and Authors
Gifts, wonder, and winter. Ornaments, small treasures, storytelling, and anything that lands under a tree or in a stocking.

January 1, Exhale
Featured discipline: Fashion and Textile
The slow start to the year. Soft goods, wearables, candles, warm drinks, and work built around rest and reset.

February 5, Celebration of Fandom
Featured discipline: Stickers
The things people love loudly. Fan art, characters, collectibles, pins, patches, and anything a devoted audience recognizes on sight.

March 5, Spring Training
Featured discipline: Sketch Cards
Baseball season in the Valley. Sports art, vintage and nostalgic work, team colors, and anything that belongs at the ballpark.

April 2, Cowboy Spring
Featured discipline: Painting
Desert bloom and Western. Wildflowers, cactus flowers, and desert botanicals paired with leather, turquoise, denim, and boots. Two things the Valley does at once.

May 7, Wondergarden
Featured discipline: Watercolor and Stoneware
Earth, water, fire, and air. Watercolor, stoneware, glass, and work shaped by the element it came from.

Questions before you apply? Contact us.

Application

Enter your business's registered name. If you don't have one, use your name.
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Business Address
Enter the complete address of your business.
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Space & Offerings

No upfront cost. First Friday Surprise fee: 15% of your sales at each event you participate in.

Space Type
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Food Trucks please apply here.

Briefly describe what you plan to sell.
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Months

Please choose the month(s) you are interested in.
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Theme Acknowledgment
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Website & Social

Include at least one link where we can see your work.
If you don't have any of these, we'll follow up.

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Special requests, questions, or details about your setup. Optional.

Before you Submit

A few things to know before you apply. Everything else is in our Vendor Terms.

Payment and cancellation. All vendors pay 15% of sales at the end of each night they sell. No upfront cost. Cancellations within 14 days of an event, and missed events, move you to the flat rate for your space type for the rest of your booked months. Need to cancel more than 14 days out? Reach out and we'll review your request.

Bring your setup. We provide the space. You bring your table, chair, and lighting, since it's an evening event, plus a canopy with weights for booth spaces. Power isn't provided.

Approval books your spot. Once approved, your space comes off the board for everyone else and gets planned into the layout and what we promote.

Stay reachable. We'll send load-in details, theme reminders, and deadlines by email, so please check your spam folder. If a message doesn't bounce back to us, we consider it delivered. If you haven't heard from us when you expected to, reach out. We'd rather answer the same question twice than have you miss an event over a filtered email.

We build around reliable vendors. Repeated cancellations, no-shows, or missed communication may affect future participation.

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Text message consent
We use text messages for event-day communication. It's the fastest way to reach you about load-in, weather, and schedule changes.

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Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out or HELP for help.

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Signature

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