From now until Christmas, the Upper Valley Artist & Farmers Market holds a themed market almost every Sunday in the Hobby Lobby parking lot at Mesa Plaza, 7930 N. Mesa St. Hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. each time. Two of the season's biggest dates break that pattern. They fall on Saturdays, with different hours, at different locations. If your plan is "Sunday on North Mesa," you'll catch most of the season and miss those two.
For Upper Mesa Hills, the plaza is a short drive up Mesa. The City of El Paso's map of neighborhood association boundaries puts Mesa Plaza about 2.7 miles west of the western edge of the Upper Mesa Hills association area. It's close enough for a late-morning outing that still leaves the afternoon free.
The constant: same lot, same four hours
The Sunday market has been going long enough to feel like part of the street. The UTEP student paper, The Prospector, profiled it in January 2025. It reported that Beto Hernandez founded the Upper Valley Market in 2017, still owned it, and was hosting just over 90 local vendors at the time. That vendor count is from early 2025. Booth numbers rise and fall with the season, so you may find more or fewer tables on any given Sunday.
The market's own site states its case plainly. Going local, it says, "means nurturing locally owned businesses which use local resources sustainably, employ local workers at decent wages and serve primarily local consumers." The site sells vendor spaces month by month, with October, November and December 2026 and January 2027 all on sale.
The themed weeks are where the market sets the pace for the holidays.
October: two themed Sundays back to back
Pumpkin Palooza, Sunday, Oct. 18, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Todo El Paso calendar listing calls it a free fall market with local vendors and pumpkin painting at Mesa Plaza. It's a returning event. El Paso Matters included last year's edition, held Oct. 19, 2025 at Mesa Plaza, in its weekend roundup and described it as free and family-focused.
The market's homepage calls this year's date "Saturday, Oct 18th." Oct. 18, 2026 is a Sunday, though. The event listing and the market's own vendor page for that date both show the usual Sunday schedule. Plan on Sunday.
Adventure Land Halloween, Sunday, Oct. 25, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Todo El Paso listing places it at Mesa Plaza, "Front of Hobby Lobby West." Costumes are optional, but the theme gives kids a reason to wear the ones they already have, a week before Halloween.
Also on the market's site for October, and easy to confuse with the Mesa Plaza dates:
- A Spinferno Haunted House Market, which the site advertises as running "every weekend in October"
- An October edition at The Outlets
- An Eastside October market
These are the same organizer's events at other locations. The Sunday you can count on near home is still Mesa Plaza, 11 to 3.
November: five themed Sundays, then the Saturday break
November keeps the themes going. The market's November calendar lists all five Sundays, and the artwork on each vendor page names a theme:
- Nov. 1: Día de los Muertos Mercado
- Nov. 8: Kidtopia
- Nov. 15: Boots and Buckles
- Nov. 22: Fork Yeah
- Nov. 29: Shop Small Sunday
None of those has a separate public listing in what we reviewed. Treat the names as the theme for each week, and expect the usual Sunday setup at Mesa Plaza.
The first exception arrives that month. The 9th Annual Christmas Market is on Saturday, Nov. 28, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at The Canyons at Cimarron. It differs from the usual Sunday in three ways at once:
- Day: Saturday, not Sunday
- Hours: seven hours, starting an hour earlier than the usual 11 a.m.
- Location: The Canyons at Cimarron, not Mesa Plaza
The Sunday market at Mesa Plaza still meets the next day, Nov. 29. Holiday shoppers get two chances on one weekend, but only if they know both exist.
The site also lists a Thanksgiving Eve Food Truck Festival. The page we reviewed asks food trucks and vendors to sign up but doesn't yet give public hours or a venue. Check the market's website closer to the holiday for details.
December: three themed Sundays and a downtown Saturday
December goes back to themed Sundays at Mesa Plaza, with one more Saturday exception in the middle.
| Date | Day | Event | Where | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec. 6 | Sunday | Resting Grinch Face Market | Mesa Plaza, 7930 N. Mesa St. | 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. |
| Dec. 12 | Saturday | Santa Run 2026 Market | Downtown El Paso | 8 a.m. to noon |
| Dec. 13 | Sunday | Polar Express Market | Mesa Plaza, 7930 N. Mesa St. | 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. |
| Dec. 20 | Sunday | Last Minute Christmas Market | Mesa Plaza | 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. |
The Grinch and Polar Express dates are on Todo El Paso's calendar with full Mesa Plaza addresses. The Dec. 20 market is on the organizer's site with the standard Sunday hours and artwork that names it the Last Minute Christmas Market.
The Santa Run market is the odd one out. Its page lists Saturday, Dec. 12, from 8 a.m. to noon, in Downtown El Paso, without a street address or venue. It's an early-morning event tied to a run, held across town from North Mesa. If you plan to go, confirm the exact spot with the organizer that week.
Those morning hours also land at the opposite end of the day from the Sunday market. The Mesa Plaza Sundays open at 11, after a slow breakfast. The Santa Run market is over by noon.
Around the lot: what else is at Mesa Plaza
Mesa Plaza is a multi-tenant center anchored by Hobby Lobby and next to Sam's Club. That's the practical reason a market Sunday can double as an errand run. A few named stops within the same address or just down the street:
- Westside Pizza Express, 7930 N. Mesa St. #B13, inside Mesa Plaza
- Popcorn Extravaganza, 7930 N. Mesa St., Suite A-3
- Starbucks, 7829 N. Mesa St., a short hop from the plaza
For anyone shopping for the season and not just browsing it, the same building offers more. A themed market and a Hobby Lobby run happen in the same parking lot, so Pumpkin Palooza or the Polar Express Sunday can cover ornaments, wrapping supplies and a vendor's handmade gift in one stop.
A new stop on the way up Mesa
North Mesa has a new independent business this fall, along the route from central west El Paso. El Paso Inc. reported that Quiltfield, an independently owned fabric shop at 5200 N. Mesa St., Ste. A-108, was scheduled to open Oct. 6. For crafters, a fabric shop on the way to a market full of handmade goods makes for an easy holiday-project Sunday, with supplies first and gift-browsing second.
One traffic note for the Pumpkin Palooza weekend. TxDOT has scheduled a 51-hour full closure of eastbound I-10 between Anthony and Transmountain from Saturday, Oct. 17 through Monday, Oct. 19 while crews place bridge deck. A trip from Upper Mesa Hills up North Mesa won't use that stretch. Friends or family driving in from the Upper Valley or Anthony that weekend may want to check TxDOT's El Paso closure updates before they leave.
The season at a glance
The full run from this coming Sunday to Christmas, with the exceptions marked:
- Sun., Oct. 18: Pumpkin Palooza, Mesa Plaza, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Sun., Oct. 25: Adventure Land Halloween, front of Hobby Lobby West, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Sundays, Nov. 1 to Nov. 29: weekly themed markets, Mesa Plaza
- Sat., Nov. 28: 9th Annual Christmas Market, The Canyons at Cimarron, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., a Saturday at a different location
- Sun., Dec. 6: Resting Grinch Face Market, Mesa Plaza
- Sat., Dec. 12: Santa Run 2026 Market, Downtown El Paso, 8 a.m. to noon, a Saturday at a different location
- Sun., Dec. 13: Polar Express Market, Mesa Plaza
- Sun., Dec. 20: Last Minute Christmas Market, Mesa Plaza
Every Sunday on this list is at the same address and the same hours. The two Saturdays are the ones to put on the calendar by hand.
A market that counted just over 90 local vendors in early 2025, a pumpkin-painting Sunday and a Christmas market in its ninth year are all a short drive up North Mesa. If you're curious how your own place on this side of town is valued this season, Longenbaugh Group can get you started with an instant home valuation, and we're always glad to swap notes on where the good pumpkins are this year.
