5th Street Market to feature music and 35 vendors

Friday Night 5th Street Market brings an evening growers market, arts and crafts, music and more to the southern end of Downtown Albuquerque.

The newly created event begins today. The plan is to hold the event from 4 to 9 p.m. every Friday through October.

“Through the city with One Albuquerque: Engage and all that, we’ve been doing a lot of stuff Downtown with First Friday, the Artwalk and all of that,” said Alex Paramo, Friday Night 5th Street Market organizer. “One of the venues that I was bringing music to, they have a lot of space, indoor and outdoor, it’s called La Luna (Bakery & Cafe), and we just started talking and said, ‘Let’s just do a Friday night market here.’ ”

About 35 vendors will be part of each Friday Night 5th Street Market and will be selling their arts, crafts, produce, prepared foods, almond milk, fresh eggs and more.

“Kind of what we’re doing is for every market we’re trying as much as we can to have a whole new roster of vendors for each one so not have the same vendors for each week you go there,” Paramo said. “This way it gives people more opportunity.”

Local music acts will rotate each Friday. The grand opening will feature Felix y Los Gatos and other local bands. The Riddims and Reviva have been booked for future events.

Friday Night 5th Street Market is aiming to attract the after-work crowd seeking to enjoy a craft beer and listen to good live music at nearby Downtown breweries.

Paramo is the founder of Mariposa Music, which promotes a number of local bands and gets them involved with various community events, including Friday Night 5th Street Market.