An annual alternative to Black Friday tradition

La Prensa de San Antonio.- The idea is to bring people together as a community, not as retail customers. For the past 20 years, the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center has taken the global tradition of open-air markets to the corner of San Pedro and Evergreen Street with their annual Mercado de Paz (or Peace Market).
Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) and the weekend that follows has traditionally been the busiest shopping weekend of the year for as long as most people can remember. People spend hours shuffling through traffic and crowds at area shopping malls and department stores to find that perfect gift at just the right price.
What Esperanza’s Mercado de Paz offered was an alternative to the busy retail landscape overrun by consumers and congestion. Instead of crowded malls filled with mass produced products, the Peace Market presented a relaxed, indoor/outdoor market environment that offered handmade arts and crafts, clothing and jewelry from local merchants and artisans, as well as from countries such as Africa, Ecuador, Guatemala, India, Panama and Peru. Artisans from areas in Mexico such as Puebla, Chiapas, Durango and Jalisco also joined the cause.
Last year, about 8,000 shoppers spent time and money at the Mercado de Paz, enjoying handmade crafts centered on themes of peace, social justice, ecological concerns and cultural diversity. The open-air market also offered informative literature, contacts and ways of supporting the peace and social justice issues that concern organizations like the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center.
El Mercado de Paz also offered homemade food and live music, as well as an hourly raffle with prizes contributed by participating artists and vendors. Each year, admission for the two day event is free and open to the public from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, starting on Black Friday.