Tucson Meet Yourself

We really were pretty disappointed with Meet Yourself this year. They always had tons of vendors and food booths. This year there was all but a few. They had plenty of music going on and we listened to some. The best part for us was the Japanese drumming. They were amazing with their songs and drumming. So much energy that brought to the crowd. I wonder if the food venues just didn’t make enough money to keep it going. I missed the Thai food, Russian food, Had some barbeque. The weather was a bit iffy and we even had some lite sprinkles. We’ve been coming to these events for the 20 or so years and not overly happy with the lack of the ethnic varies that really show the example of how diversified Tucson is as a city.

The best Tucson has to offer. 50+ food vendors, from ethnic clubs, selling homemade dishes from exotic places. A flavor explosion.
Native music and dances on 4 stages.
Arts and crafts.

This was a lot of fun! A lot of different restaurants had booths here to try. My biggest complaint is that everything is too expensive; I think the restaurants should have stuck to small sample-​sized portions for a few bucks. An event my wife and I would go to, Taste of Atlanta, would sell tickets (usually worth a dollar each), and then the vendors charged tickets for food, with a maximum of three tickets for anything. Here, it was more like 7 dollars for a meal-​sized portion, which means you don’t get to try as much!
Still had a lot of fun! And we didn’t go home hungry!

This festival is nice from a foodie standpoint but in my opinion lacks some basic stuff
— 2 dollars for a small bottle of water is really expensive
— parking on a saturday should be free downtown not 5 to 7 dollars
— while walking with my baby i almost tripped at two places. the walkaround is not well managed
I would revommend going to this festival if you are a foodie and you like dancing and you do not have any kids below 5 years of age and dont mind wasting money in mineral water

This yearly event is held in downtown Tucson every October. It is a great way to learn about other cultures and especially the food. I enjoy all the dances and entertainment too. I would recommend riding your bike or taking the bus. I think the parking would be limited nearby. I would not know since I always bike downtown.

I volunteered at this festival each of the past two years, and this is seriously my favorite festival in Tucson. Between the Tucson Festival of Books and this one (both of which sees at least 100,000 people each year), I would have to give the edge to Tucson Meet Yourself, and it’s not just because I don’t have as much of an interest in books as I do in the cultural diversity of Tucson.
The Festival takes place downtown in the El Presidio Park/​Jacome Plaza area. It’s pretty huge that you wonder how a group of 500 volunteers could run the whole show over the three-​day period. As a volunteer myself, I don’t even know how to answer that! All I can tell you is that it costs between $ 300,000 and $ 400,000 to put up the festival each year, and most of the money depends on donations from people like you! Three ways (that I know of) of doing that are: 1) Selling water and soda at $ 2 each, 2) Selling t-​shirts at $ 5 each, and 3) Collecting donations in kiosks or buckets that we carry around. Yes you can argue that a 16.9 oz bottle of water and a regular can of soda is pricey, but just remember that it’s all for a good cause: to ensure that Tucson Meet Yourself can be held FREE OF CHARGE. I was one of the volunteers who ran a beverage booth around the Festival grounds, and you would be surprised at how many people were willing to spend that much for a simple drink. Not only are they getting a refreshment, but they are also making a donation to Tucson Meet Yourself. About 99% of the customers I interacted with were very nice and didn’t complain about the high price at all (though one customer did try to bargain with me, but I had to remind her about the high cost of putting up the free festival each year).
I can’t say much about the selling of t-​shirts, but I heard they sold out certain sizes like hot cakes. I also got to collect donations, and it was a pretty rewarding experience as well. I don’t remember a single person who was rude to me for asking for money; those who didn’t donate said things like «I don’t have any money right now» or «I already donated», which is perfectly fine to me. But for those who did, kudos to you for giving back to your community like that. I even remember a couple people who had to get my attention from far away just to drop off a $ 1 or a $ 5 bill in my bucket. Donations like these put a smile on my face and allowed me to keep going.
The volunteers get treated pretty well. I’m not going to go into the details of how well since I’d rather you, the reader, find out by volunteering yourself. Without volunteers, there would be no festival. You want to raise $ 300,000 and come up with a festival that could potentially result in chaos? If not for us volunteers, who knows how this festival could have gone? It felt awesome to be a part of such a diverse team who ran one of the biggest festivals in the state of Arizona. Getting to work with different people from different backgrounds who live in different parts of town is such a rewarding experience. I felt like for that one weekend only, I was truly a part of the Tucson Meet Yourself family. All the staff members were awesome to work with, and they were thankful for everybody whether they volunteered or simply showed up for five minutes. If they had the time as well as the full list of people who showed up, they would go all around Tucson, knock on everyone’s doors, and thank them for supporting Tucson Meet Yourself.
And, of course, let’s not forget about the amazing food there! There are about 50 food vendors located all around the festival grounds with each vendor representing a different culture (though I do remember seeing three Thai vendors during the 2014 festival). All of the food there I had was great! I had some chicken asada nachos from Little Mexico, a chicken rice plate from an Indian truck whose name I couldn’t remember, a Chicken Combo Box from Saffron Indian Bistro, an Asian BBQ Pork Bun, a combo meal from Thai Tucson, and another combo meal from Wat Buddhametta. All of them were great! Too bad my stomach couldn’t handle more.
They have a lot of other cool activities at Tucson Meet Yourself as well. Unfortunately, I can’t really comment on them since I didn’t partake in those activities, but I’ve heard about other people having fun with those activities too. Check out Tucson Meet Yourself when you can! It only comes once a year, so don’t miss out!

It’s a wonderful time every year to get around and see all the cultural venues be able to witness many different traditions and you can’t forget the delicious variety of different cultural foods. From song and dance to drumming you get it all, and I particularly love to hear the bagpipes playing. This year I saw foods from the Danish, Iranian, Jamaican native American and of course our typical American foods also being Represented in the fullest. I can never leave Tucson Meet yourself festival without getting some delicious roasted corn! Tonight we were even treated with a little bit of singing from the Japanese culture, Long with the drummers drumming and a flutists that was playing along, it’s a fun time for all young and old; recommend this for anyone new residents as well as old time residents; get there early because parking can be a little bit of a hassle. Make sure you come hungry because theres so many different choices choose from.

Looking forward to being at next years event with Drum and Drummer School of Percussion! :)

This place is always great. With lots of different cultural food, vendors, and people. It’s a great place to try out all those different type of foods that one has always been wanting to try. From different type of Asian dishes (Lao, Thai, Filipino, Vietnamese, Hawaiian), Greek, BBQ, etc.
I helped out several of the Asian booths and it was great to see the smile on people’s faces after trying the dishes that they ordered. Aside from food there is also entertainment like a live band, dancing, there was even this ice cream vendor where the guy was playing tricks on the customers slipping the cones out their hands. I found that really entertaining.
I will definitely come back here and enjoy more of what Tucson Meet Yourself has to offer. If you’ve never been, you have to at least check it out once! :)

I think this is a really fun event– even if you don’t spend a dime there’s plenty to see (you’ll eventually break down and buy food though, trust me).
We showed up on the last day of the event around mid-​day and it was packed! People were a bit umm. pushy…which doesn’t bother me too much, but if you’re not into that, attempt to come on the Friday when everyone else is at work. There are a few stages placed here and there… we managed to see some amazing traditional Native American dancing (on two stages), a funk band, and a gospel group. Not my cup of the, (the latter of the three) but it was fun to watch the crowd get super into.
We popped over to the low rider car show for a bit– not too much going on over that way, but the cars were well worth the walk. There was a stage over there too, but they were doing mass choreographed group dancing.
The food is unique and varied– our strategy was to try the stands run by clubs and organizations rather than the restaurants. We figured we can check out the restaurants any time, but this is the only event where some of these clubs represent. We started with the Polish stand– had three perogie (‘shrooms and sour cabbage) which were very yummy, but very small. They didn’t cost too much at $ 3, but this was tiny even by my standards and I don’t eat much. Then to Indian to get some mango juice (1 $) because, why not. Over to the Turkish stand for a doner kebab (7 $) (husband is English and this is a huge deal for him…, then to the Swedish stand for cardamom cake and a traditional juice (can’t remember the name.). The food for us wasn’t stellar– we’ve actually been to all these countries (ok, Sri Lanka, not India) and while nothing was bad, nothing was amazing as we had hoped.
There were sooo many other stands– I really regret not trying to Peruvian stall– I looked for it the entire time I was there and only managed to locate it on our walk out. The Philippine place looked good and offered authentic items…(no balut though! ;)), as did the Costa Rican and Hawaiian stalls. I would have loved to be able to try more– come here on an empty stomach! One thing we were a bit disappointed about was that many stalls had really Americanized their food offerings– for example, the Thai place was selling Lo Mein and cheese puffs. We lived in Thailand and don’t remember these being a normal meal… but I cold be wrong.
For those who have not sampled food from the countries represented at the event, I think you’ll be very happy. Also, if you want to try Indian fry bread you have the option of ordering it from about 15 different stands.
Towards the end of each day (especially the last day) prices were cut, but so were menu options as they sold out. I will be back next year to try what I missed and hopefully find some new favorites. Great event with lots of energy.

Been in Tucson for about 5 years now, and I’ve totally been missing out! Can’t believe I have never been to one of these festivals! We could not take it all in on one night, so we had to come back the next day to check out the rest of the food that we missed, and even then, my stomach could not get enough! =)
What an amazing combination of cultures all in one place! We enjoyed Indian, Greek, Filipino, Danish, Turkish, Singapore, Thai, & Mexican cuisine! A bunch of different restaurants or food trucks around town all in one place! I wanted to sample everything!
Here are some of the foods I really liked:
Zen Dog & BBQ Pork Buns-T.C.A. Kitchen
Philly Style Roast Pork sandwich-Frankie’s (cheesesteak place)
Ableskiver & Kringle-​Danish Club of Tucson
Bhelpuri-(can’t remember which Indian booth)
Pepperkaka (ginger cookie)-Swedish booth
Turon & Pancit-​Filipino American Sampaguita Club
Hainanese Chicken w/​Jasmine rice-​Indonesia & Singapore booth
Turkish ice cream & coffee-​Turkish booth
Roasted corn… Always a hit for me. Lol.
What I also enjoyed was the entertainment. Live music, singers, and traditional folk dances from these different countries were very entertaining. The Turkish arts & craft booth was cool too. I really liked their style of painting.
I admit, if I wasn’t so busy on Sunday, I would’ve gone again! Lol. Absolutely loved the TMY. Will definitely make it a tradition to come back every year from now on. =)

Seriously, this is the MOST international food fair I been to. And they are legit international food. As in the people running the food stands are from that country.
When is the last time you saw that happening? I think it’s because a lot of those food stands are run by U of A clubs. LOL.
I don’t know how many food stands there were, but there were a lot. Jamaican food, Chinese food, Vietnamese food, Turkish food, Danish food (which was only serving danish pastries), Swedish food, Thai food, American food, Costa Rican, Mexican, Japanese food, and oh the list goes on and on.
Be aware, you might spend a lot of money here but your options are almost endless. You’ll probably get full before you even eat at half the food stands. And that’s a good thing because it will save you some money.
I didn’t really care for the entertainment but the crowd and atmosphere was great. Perfect to grab some friends and hang out for the night and munch away at whatever you fancy.
Notable things were the Japanese hotdogs and the $ 1 Thai iced teas!!! And the all little old Asian ladies behind the Thai food stand chopping vegetables.

This was more spread out this year, then my recollection from years past. It is a great place to people watch, and some but not all of the food is good. I ate BBQ4U this time and I was very happy. I also went on Friday night after going to the Gym. Friday was less crowded and I had a great time.

I’m at the TMY with fellow Unilocalers manning the Unilocal booth. It’s such a happy place. Great place to get in touch with local Tucson business and sample delicious ethnic food. Come to TMY and visit us at the booth!!!

Good food, good music, good people! MORE EATING TABLES PLEASE! (and more napkins from vendors with menus offering messier food items) …sorry about all the oxtail stew & indian taco juice and frybread honey that got all over everywhere!
With all the great food, could have used some refreshing (local) beer!
lol @ «tucson eat yourself» …thankfully there were no cannibals or zombies present.

WOW!!! Tucson has it going on and knows how to throw an event! If this was Michigan, you would have to pay 15 – 20 bucks to park, food would be 5 – 15 bucks, entrance at least 5 – 25, crowds that you can not move through and lines for hours… but not here!!! Most food items were about 2 – 3 dollars and entrance was a suggested donation of a dollar-​make me wanna holla!
I beelined it to the Thai temple for 1 dollar fried bananas, 1 dollar Thai Tea, and 2 dollar satay… I chatted it up with the monks, telling them about my beloved MBMC Sunday Thai Market in Michigan (you should know, I have a big soft spot for Thai street food) and how I was super curious about the Sunday buffets at the temple. Super welcoming and friendly.
I then had my favorite dish of the day at Sultans, seriously, how cruel is this world… you offer me one of the tastiest things I have ever put in my mouth, only to let me Unilocal my way into finding out that this gem is closed… so I must wait until next year?! Anyway, try Afghan food, it is spectacular! The bulani (think naan stuffed with potatoes) topped with a citrus herbacious sauce… I am like a zombie in need of brains, instead I need bulani.
I also had the 2 dollar for 3 potato pancakes from Amber which was served with apple sauce and sour cream… I lived in deutschland and these were spot on!
Then I got FREE henna!
Free arts and crafts, like Ukrainian eggs, water marbling, Japanese fiber arts (which I think I might sign up for a class)…
Like kids in native garb abound, men doing some sort of karate like they were fresh out of the dojo, bag pipers in full kilt…
No obnoxious crowds, sunny day (isn’t every day here)…it was truly a AMAZING event!!!

Tucson Meet Yourself, now coined Tucson «eat» Yourself really is an incredible festival celebrating the different cultures and traditions that make Tucson so special. I’ve attended TMY both as a visitor and as a participant and both experiences have been awesome. It’s amazing to see how many people come out for this event. This three day festival continues to expand every year and is spread across downtown Tucson. If you’ve never been, you MUST go next year. Why should you go? It’s free to attend and it’s an opportunity to taste food (not free) and see performances and shows that most normally won’t experience. Places like the Turkish Cultural center, Chinese Cultural Center, Greek, Afghan, Polish, French, Thai, Vietnamese, Brazilian, Columbian and more come out just this one time to share their amazing cuisine and traditions with the rest of Tucson. The food is so incredible all of these cultural centers should have their own restaurants! In addition to crazy good food the live music is phenomenal! Everything from Cuban Salsa, to Mexican Mariachi, Capoeira and more. The Tucson lowrider club even comes out to display their cars. And this year the festival partnered with the AIDSWALK. Already looking forward to next year! Still craving those Turkish doners and gourmet Chinese Hotdogs.

Wow. This event is huge. I have lived here for about 6 years and this was my first time going. There is so much going on you can almost get lost. But what a great event.
I got to see a lot of different vendors and see tons of food I would normally never experience. Most of the other reviews have covered everything else.
Overall, it was a lot of fun and I highly recommend everyone in Tucson to check this event out.

Like a fine wine, TMY gets better with age… A lot better.
After working a schwaged out Unilocal booth all afternoon, I met up with two friends who decided we needed to eat everything… and we did! Vietnamese springrolls, Greek pancakes (the name of which escapes me), sweet potato pie, BBQ beef ribs, Thai chicken skewers and even though our quest for a fried plantain fell short, we had two different versions of battered/​fried banana — oy. Even with all that food, the thing that really stuck out tonight was the scale of this event. It’s grown to become so large, and every year it seems to run smoothly. There are shirted volunteers everywhere, well informed and willing to guide you to what you need. Kuddos to the countless people that keep this event alive. It’s an important one for our city and it makes me proud that I’m surrounded by all of this culture.

Fun event although I didn’t walk around to all the venues because I had 2 elderly gentlemen with me (who cant walk far distances). We had a good time though! We ate indian tacos for dinner… which was indian fried bread topped with beans, ground beef, tomatoes. Only @ Tucson Meet Yourself can you find the marriage of these two foods :).
There was a band stand set up and people of all ages getting silly to the music. It was nice to see people out and about, cruising to the music, hanging out in the streets, and enjoying the company of each other.