When Eileen Spitalny was in high school, she remembers eating sandwiches on the lawn outside Duck and Decanter in Phoenix, enjoying the shade of the trees and a place to gather with friends.
Years later, she returned to that same neighborhood for a different kind of gathering: the very first Local First Arizona Fall Festival.
It was 2006, and Spitalny was there representing Fairytale Brownies, the business she'd started with her best friend from kindergarten. She brought samples of their brownies, hoping to introduce more people to the company they were building.
But what stayed with her wasn't just the opportunity to find new customers. It was the feeling of being part of a community that was growing up together.
“I definitely remember it as an old Phoenix vibe, before we had a big growth thing,” she recalled. “I used to live in Tempe and all my neighbors were in bands and they’d help Fairytale Brownies. It was kind of like, we’re all becoming adults now in our big city.”
Twenty years later, Phoenix is a different place. Fairytale Brownies has grown into an established Arizona business, and that first gathering of 27 locally owned businesses has become the Certified Local Fall Festival, welcoming thousands of visitors and approximately 250 vendors.
But for the entrepreneurs who were there at the beginning, something important hasn't changed.
A Growing City, a Lasting Connection
The first Fall Festival took place in the parking lot of Duck and Decanter, a longtime Phoenix business that helped provide a home for Arizona's growing independent business community.
This year, Duck and Decanter will return to the celebration, connecting the festival's 20th anniversary to the place where it all began.
“The beginning vibes were great at Duck and Decanter. I just remember it being like, of course, it made sense,” Spitalny said. “Now, 20 years later, Phoenix is a totally different town and that’s why it’s great for us to keep doing it.”
As the Valley has grown, so has the challenge of helping people discover the locally owned businesses in their own communities.
For Spitalny, Fall Festival still offers something that online advertising and digital shopping can't replicate: the chance to put a product directly into someone's hands and start a conversation.
And those casual encounters can lead to lasting business relationships.
“A lot of what we do is business gift giving,” she explained. “Even though it’s a hangout, we definitely meet new B2B customers, and that’s an important factor for Fairytale Brownies.”
A visitor who stops for a brownie sample might become a customer buying gifts for employees, clients or business partners. What begins as a festival interaction can turn into a relationship that lasts well beyond the weekend.
More Than Customers. A Community.
For Mike Banks, owner of Samurai Comics, the connections are what made the first Fall Fest memorable.
As a business owner accustomed to attending events, Banks wasn't sure what to expect from the gathering at Duck and Decanter.
“I wasn’t sure what it would be like, but it was just really cool,” he recalled. “The vibe is what struck me. And it’s continued. People are just engaged and excited to be there and excited to hear about our business. It’s one of our favorite events of the entire year.”
Over the years, Fall Fest became a family tradition. Banks brought his two children to work alongside him at the Samurai Comics booth, where they met customers, fellow entrepreneurs and families who returned year after year.
“The fall festival isn't just about promoting local businesses. It's about bringing together the people and families behind those businesses with the community that supports them,” Banks said. “My kids grew up working the Samurai Comics booth with me, and along the way we met so many other Arizona families who became customers, friends, and part of the Samurai Comics family. That's what being local is all about.”
Puppy participation is a long-standing tradition at the Certified Local Fall Festival!
Those relationships have become even more meaningful as shopping habits have changed.
Today, consumers can order almost anything with a few taps on a screen. But convenience doesn't always tell the whole story of a purchase — or the people and communities behind it.
At Fall Fest, Banks has an opportunity to make those connections visible.
“It’s super important, especially in today’s age where so much shopping is done online. I do it, too. It’s easy,” he said. “Being able to communicate to people that we’re local, we have like 20-25 employees that count on us for their paychecks and money goes back into the state…it makes it more likely for them to stop in our shop rather than pick up their phone or tablet.”
It's a reminder that a locally owned business is more than a storefront or a product. It's the people who work there, the families who depend on it and the relationships it builds within a community.
Twenty Years of Showing Up for Local
When Local First Arizona launched Fall Festival in 2006, the goal was to bring people together around the businesses that made their communities distinctive.
Two decades later, the festival has grown, but that purpose remains.
For Local First Arizona Founder and CEO Kimber Lanning, the anniversary is a chance to reflect on the people who have made the festival possible.
“I honestly can’t believe this is the 20th anniversary of Local First’s Fall Festival. Some of you have been with us since the beginning at the Duck and Decanter! It’s been a wild journey, and I’m grateful to all of you who love this place as much as I do.”
That shared love of place is what connects the entrepreneurs who were there in 2006 with the businesses and festivalgoers who will experience Fall Fest for the first time this November.
The festival has always been about discovering what makes Arizona special. But it's also about recognizing that the character of our communities isn't something that happens by accident.
It's shaped by the people who open businesses, create jobs, take chances, build relationships and invest in the places they call home. And by the people who choose to show up for them.
Twenty years later, that spirit is still going strong.
And if you ask Spitalny or Banks, there's still nothing quite like experiencing it in person.
Celebrate 20 years of local with us! The 20th Annual Certified Local Fall Festival takes place Saturday, November 7, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Margaret T. Hance Park in Phoenix. Admission is free.