Plaza priority for Pride?
S.F. City Council considers allowing vendors at small Plaza events; LGBTQ celebration not on top list
The Santa Fe City Council is considering an ordinance that would allow vendors to sell their goods on the Plaza during up to eight smaller-scale cultural events each year, in addition to the eight larger art markets and community events permitted for commercial sales.
Which events would get first dibs on new commercial permits is still under discussion.
The proposed ordinance, sponsored by City Councilors Renee Villarreal and Chris Rivera, names Juneteenth and Indigenous Peoples’ Day events as those that would receive priority each year. Some community members noted at a City Council meeting last week, however, that Santa Fe Pride — which will celebrate its 30-year anniversary in 2023 — was omitted from the list.
Six other events would be selected via a lottery, the ordinance says.
Villarreal wrote in an email Santa Fe Pride’s was initially omitted because the city wanted to come up with a different option for Pride — one of the larger public events held on the Plaza — but decided after discussing the issue with organizers to add Pride to the ordinance through an amendment.
The amendment was submitted prior to last week’s meeting, she wrote, adding she “was happy to see folks come out in support … including Pride, Indigenous People’s Day and Juneteenth.”
City code now allows for only eight large commercial events on the Plaza: the Challenge New Mexico Arts and Crafts Show, the Fourth of July Pancakes on the Plaza, Traditional Spanish Market, Contemporary Hispanic Market, the Santa Fe Girls Inc. Arts and Craft Show, Santa Fe Indian Market, the Fiesta Fine Arts and Craft Market over Labor Day weekend and Fiesta de Santa Fe.
Events like Pride and Juneteenth — recognized as a federal holiday in 2021 — have to obtain annual permits to host their events on the Plaza, but those permits don’t allow vendors to market any items. Only the organizer presenting an event can sell goods.
Villarreal wrote in an email the commerce component was the main reason for the ordinance.
“Organizations can’t even sell T-shirts without making this change,” she wrote.
Kevin Bowen, president of the Santa Fe Human Rights Alliance, which organizes Santa Fe Pride, said it’s difficult to get larger LGBTQ allies or supporters to open information booths or displays at the event because they are not allowed to sell anything.
“You are a queer artist, you want to show your work, especially with gallery owners walking by,” he said. “But they can’t sell their work. It is a service, in my opinion, to showcase them together.”
He added, “We would love to have a section of artists on the Plaza.”
Rivera, the ordinance’s co-sponsor, said Monday he hadn’t reviewed Villarreal’s proposed amendment but is in favor of figuring out a way to include Santa Fe Pride on the list of priority events with commercial permits.
Still, he said he had questions about whether Pride would fit the description of a “small” cultural event, defined in the ordinance as one that would not result in street closures around the Plaza.
“Pride, to me, is a large event and might be better placed in our large event category, along with Indian Market and Spanish Market,” he said. “I agree Pride should be an event, just not sure if it is a small one or not.”
Bowen said he was thankful for Villarreal’s amendment but is still curious how the new regulations would apply to Pride, considering its annual festivities — including a parade and Plaza celebration — call for street closures.
His preference, he said, would be to see Pride added as a large event.
The lottery system for the five or six other cultural events with commercial permits would occur every January. Organizations hoping to vie for a permit would have to have presented the same city-permitted event in at least two of the past five years, Villarreal wrote in an email.
“The idea of the lottery option is to give potentially other existing cultural events an opportunity to enhance their event by allowing vendors as a secondary use,” she wrote. “The small commercial event permits would not function like the major commercial events already in place (which won’t be affected by this change) that are designed to raise money for the sponsoring organization, in most cases.”
Rivera said much of the discussion surrounding the lottery system depends on how many smaller events would apply or “want to have a seat at the Plaza.”
“I don’t think you really know until you make some allowances for it,” he said.
The ordinance will be discussed at four council committees, starting Wednesday with the Quality of Life Committee, before returning to the City Council for a vote Aug. 31.