Sam Nunez of Aurora says he likes to support his community and when the Aurora Regional Hispanic Chamber of Commerce offered its first Mercado in Aurora event on Saturday at Wilder Park, he and his family wanted to be there.
“Having all these merchants and groups here, it’s exposure for small businesses and local vendors and things of that nature for folks that may not have known they existed,” Nunez said. “Also, it’s good for the local economy and also the community.”
Wilder Park in Aurora was alive with dozens of local businesses and vendors, a handful of food trucks, music and more during the Mercado in Aurora event. The five-hour gathering at the park at 350 N. River St. in Aurora kicked off the event’s 2026 season.
The Aurora Regional Hispanic Chamber of Commerce offered Mercado in Aurora last year and carried them on into early winter. The new season will see the market offered on the first and third Saturdays of every month, beginning in May.
Karina Garcia, president and CEO of the Aurora Regional Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said the group began Mercado in Aurora earlier this year.
“We started last year in July but we began planning for this season at the end of last year and got the permits and everything, so we had plenty of time to get this started earlier,” Garcia said.
A total of 60 local vendors and businesses were scheduled to be on hand Saturday.
Garcia said the decision to have the mercado at Wilder Park “was to attract people to the downtown businesses.”
“We’re also partnering with a few other organizations as well as Phillips Park,” she said. “Depending on the weather, we normally get about 500 people at each mercado.”
The park itself was already filled with well over 150 people in just the first half hour of the event on Saturday.
Nunez’s wife Iliana said Saturday’s gathering “was a great event to get the Latino community out and creating fun, safe spaces for families.”
“It’s nice to have events like this for families in Aurora. It’s a nice excuse to get out and enjoy the little bit of sunshine that we’re getting,” she said.
Marisol Zamora of Hampshire said this was her first time coming to the event.
“We’re here to shop and also support my mom who is a vendor here today,” Zamora said.
“It’s great to see people with their small businesses here and trying to sell their products,” Zamora said. “A good find for me would be getting some food at the trucks and the kids playing and having fun.”
Marisol’s husband Juan Zamora said he also was interested in the food trucks and that he was ready to support the mercado in the coming months.
“Of course. I could see coming to one of these again. I like the idea,” he said.
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
