M7 street fair. The event will have live music, a car show and food trucks. (Courtesy of Kathy Cano-Murillo)
Saturday will mark the 12th year of the Melrose District’s M7 street fair, a well-known local event with festivities that offer a taste for every kind of appetite.
Spanning several blocks of Seventh Avenue, between Indian School and Camelback roads, M7 features a bustling crafts fair, live music, children’s activities and an extensive classic car show. Local food trucks and vendors including Short Leash and Pizza People will be in the middle of the activity as lunchtime options for hungry fair-goers.
M7 drew more than 20,000 people in 2012 and is expected to bring in close to 25,000 on Saturday, said Meghan Oleson, the M7 event coordinator.
For the crafting portion of the fair, patrons can expect to explore more than 150 booths selling handmade pieces.
“We’re trying to have mostly handmade and handcrafted vendors so most of the vendors are crafters of some sort,” Oleson said. “They’re either what you typically think of crafters or they’re fine artists that do jewelry, photographs, et cetera.”
Kathy Cano-Murillo, also known as Crafty Chica, is a prominent Phoenix crafter who will be at Saturday’s fair. This is her fourth year as a part of M7, which she said is one of her favorite events of the year.
“I just love being in the city when the weather’s beautiful and everybody’s out and there’s just so many cool artists,” Cano-Murillo said. “Everybody’s work is so different.”
Cano-Murillo’s crafts vary from decorative pillows to handmade jewelry that all reflect her self-described “Mexican Boho” style. She is also the author of two books — “Waking Up in the Land of Glitter” and “Miss Scarlet’s School of Patternless Sewing.”
Her husband, crafter and artist Patrick Murillo, will be selling some of his paintings and other work as well.
This year, the Murillos will bring a new type of craft for them: painted ceramics.
“We always try to do something different,” she said. “It’s very colorful and sparkly with a lot of fun imagery, from religion to Day of the Dead.”
Aside from selling her crafts, Cano-Murillo said she is looking forward to the “hot rod” car show put on by Gwen and Bill Chester, owners of Chester’s Garage.
When the car show started in M7’s first year, it featured just 15 classic cars, said Gwen Chester.
Now, more than 200 participants have registered their cars for this weekend’s event.
All of the cars are judged based on their classes, which include vintage trailers, antique cars, antique trucks, classic cars, classic trucks, hot rods and custom cars. In addition, one car will be crowned “Best in Show”.
Though last year’s Best in Show winner was a 1964 Chevy Corvette, Gwen Chester said the title has had winners from every category.
“We’ve had Rolls-Royces win, Buicks and Chevrolettes win. We’ve had different types of cars win the show every year,” she said.
Registration for showing a car will run through noon on Friday. There is no fee to register a car, though the Chesters suggest a voluntary $10 donation to help cover costs of the fair.
The M7 street fair begins at 11 a.m. on Saturday and runs until 5 p.m. For more information, visit m7streetfair.com.
Contact the reporter at linnea.bennett@asu.edu
