Starting Saturday, Oct. 3, the St. Philip's Plaza Weekend Market at Campbell and River stops ending at noon. All summer it ran Saturdays and Sundays from 8 a.m. to noon. Starting this weekend it runs 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The next morning, Heirloom's Rillito Park Farmers Market starts its winter hours of 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
These two changes on back-to-back days mark the start of the season along the River Road corridor. The weekend moves later in the day, and in the same few weeks a restaurant has closed at Joesler Village, a jeweler has opened at River Center, and a new brasserie is getting ready on Skyline. If you go to these places most weeks, your fall plans start now.
The Weekend Window Shifts Later
The plaza's own market page lists two seasonal schedules. The October through April hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and the May through September hours are 8 a.m. to noon. The switch adds an hour, but the bigger change is when those hours fall. The summer market closed before lunch. The fall market runs through lunch and into the afternoon.
| Market | Day | Summer hours | Fall hours | Starts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Philip's Plaza Weekend Market, 4280 N. Campbell Ave. | Saturday and Sunday | 8 a.m.–noon | 10 a.m.–3 p.m. | Sat., Oct. 3 |
| Rillito Park Farmers Market, 4502 N. 1st Ave. | Sunday | Not listed | 9 a.m.–1 p.m. | Sun., Oct. 4 |
The two markets are easy to confuse because both are close to River Road and both meet on Sunday, but they are different events with different operators. The plaza market is a makers' market. Its organizers list woodworking, silversmithing, pottery, Mexican and Native American goods, plants and cactus, and artisan soaps, along with live music under the plaza's sycamore trees. The Rillito market belongs to Heirloom Farmers Markets. It brings together farmers, ranchers, and artisan food makers selling local produce and fresh food. It sits in the southeast corner of Rillito Park, next to The Loop, under four shade pavilions that cover a 5,000-square-foot shopping area. Pets are not allowed at the Rillito market, so leave the dog at home that morning.
With the new hours, the two markets overlap on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. You can shop for groceries at Rillito and then go to the plaza, which stays open two hours after Rillito closes. In summer the two schedules mostly overlapped in the early morning. In fall they line up one after the other.
Heirloom also lists regular extras at Rillito. Taste of the Market and Heirloom Kids run every second Sunday, and the market hosts quarterly chef demonstrations and seasonal food festivals. In October, the second Sunday is Oct. 11.
The Plaza Stays Busy After the Market Closes
The later hours matter because St. Philip's Plaza doesn't empty out at 3 p.m. The restaurants with courtyard tables already have music booked for the first two October weekends. Reforma's calendar lists these St. Philip's Plaza shows:
- Friday, Oct. 2: Urban Heart Band
- Saturday, Oct. 3: Tesoro
- Friday, Oct. 9: Rock Addix
- Saturday, Oct. 10: The J5 Band
Union Public House lists the same Oct. 2 Urban Heart Band show, from 7 to 10 p.m. So the first weekend of the season has music Friday night, a five-hour market Saturday with Tesoro that evening, and the Rillito market followed by a second plaza market day on Sunday.
The rest of the plaza's food and drink is within a short walk. The plaza's dining directory lists Union Public House, Reforma, Ren Coffeehouse, Ren Bakery, Proof, Pure Love Juice, and Arizona Wine Collective. On Sept. 12, Ren Coffeehouse, Bakery by Ren, Alfonso Olive Oil, and Arizona Wine Collective took part in a plaza tasting crawl. When the market ran 8 to noon, a coffee at Ren was a natural start to the morning. With the market open until 3 p.m., there is now time for lunch or a wine stop before the vendors pack up.
River Road's Lineup Is Changing at the Same Time
The hours aren't the only change on the corridor. A short drive east of the plaza, the lineup along River Road has shifted in September.
At Joesler Village, Seis Cantina permanently closed its location at 1765 E. River Rd. Owners Jake and Erika Muñoz announced the closure on Instagram on Sept. 24. The space had been Seis Kitchen until June 2026, when the family turned it into a quick-serve cantina. The cantina was open about three months. As of Sept. 24, Tucson Foodie had not reported a replacement tenant, so the space is a corner to keep an eye on this fall.
If Seis was your usual River Road stop, three Seis Kitchen locations are still open, on Tanque Verde Road, in Oro Valley, and at Mercado San Agustín. The Mercado location sits in a district we covered in The Mercado District Turns 15, And The Center Of Gravity Has Moved. Elsewhere in Joesler Village, Zinburger's location page still lists 1865 E. River Rd., #101, with daily hours.
At the other end of the corridor, at Craycroft and River, Chorost & Co. opened its first brick-and-mortar store on Friday, Sept. 4, KGUN reported. The store is at River Center, 5615 E. River Rd. #121. The company's page lists business hours and also takes appointments. The plaza market's own vendor list includes silversmiths and jewelry makers, so this corridor now has handmade jewelry on weekends and a jeweler's storefront open during the week.
Between the September closure and the September opening, the River Road stops you plan around for fall are a little different from the ones you used in summer.
Late October Brings a New Dinner Spot on Skyline
The fall changes reach past River Road. Up the hill at La Encantada, Frida American Brasserie is preparing to open at 2905 E. Skyline Dr., in the former Living Room space. Owners Charles Hunt and Frida Hunt first planned to open in August and are now aiming for late October. In a Sept. 29 Tucson Foodie update, Frida Hunt said the team hopes to open Oct. 22 but called the end of October the safer estimate until the date is confirmed.
The early dinner menu leans toward seafood and brasserie classics. It includes a Crab Louie salad with blue crab, avocado, and shaved egg, French onion soup topped with melted Gruyère, crab cakes with Old Bay remoulade, and mini lobster rolls on toasted brioche. The team says the menu is still a work in progress and could change before opening.
If the opening date holds, the month will run in a clear order. The weekend market moves to later hours on Oct. 3, plaza music continues through Oct. 10, and Skyline gets a new dinner room in the last week or so of October. Our summer piece, What A Catalina Foothills Summer Actually Looks Like When The Tourists Leave, covered the Sunrise and Kolb corner. This October calendar mostly plays out a few miles away, along River Road and on Skyline.
A Practical First Weekend
If you want to try the new schedule this weekend, here is one way to do it using the posted hours:
- Friday, Oct. 2: Urban Heart Band plays St. Philip's Plaza, listed by Union Public House from 7 to 10 p.m.
- Saturday, Oct. 3: The plaza market's first day on fall hours, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with Tesoro on Reforma's calendar that evening.
- Sunday, Oct. 4: Rillito Park Farmers Market starts its 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. hours. Leave pets at home, then head to the plaza, which is open until 3 p.m.
Every stop on that list is within a few miles of Campbell and River. For more on the area's restaurants, trails, and shopping centers, see the Catalina Foothills neighborhood guide.
At Genardini Realty Solutions, we keep track of how River Road and Skyline change from season to season, including openings, closures, and which corners are drawing traffic. If you're wondering how the changes around your part of the Foothills relate to what your home is worth, you can request a home valuation, and we'll put together an estimate based on current local data.