Tucson's Other Gem Show Runs Sept. 3-6, and Most of It Is Free
Three of Tucson's four September gem shows are free and open to anyone, September 3-6, 2026 — addresses, hours, and which two admit trade buyers only.
The winter showcase takes over more than 40 venues for two and a half weeks. The Labor Day edition is five shows across four days, with free parking at the biggest one and no hotel booked six months out.
Anyone who has lived here a winter can describe the gem show without being asked: tents down the I-10 frontage, hotel parking lots turned into showrooms, and a two-and-a-half-week stretch when nobody local tries to get a table anywhere. What almost nobody outside the trade mentions is that Tucson runs a second one every September. It opens Thursday, September 3 and closes Sunday, September 6, it fits into five venues instead of forty, and three of the five shows will let you walk in off the street without paying anything.
- Sept. 3-6
- Dates of the 2026 fall Tucson gem shows
- 3 of 5
- September shows open to the general public
- ~300
- Exhibits across 75,000 sq ft at the Casino del Sol show
- Jan. 27-Feb. 14
- The 2027 winter showcase, for comparison
Three Doors You Can Walk Through, Two You Can't
This is the part the roundups get wrong, and it is worth getting right before you drive across town. Two of the five September shows are wholesale events that check credentials at the desk. The other three are free, public, and want you there.
- Colors of the Stone / To Bead True Blue (Casino del Sol, Free admission, Free parking): 5655 W. Valencia Rd., in the Drexel Heights area on the southwest side — the resort's own directions are I-19 to Valencia, then six miles west. Thursday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free all four days and onsite parking is complimentary. The organizer counts roughly 300 exhibits across 75,000 square feet of glass artists, gem cutters, ceramists, bead makers and jewelry artists, and describes the floor as independent artisans, traditional designers, studio artists and small production rather than wholesale volume. Hands-on workshops in jewelry design, bead making and metalwork run daily; most take a separate registration and may carry a class or kit fee. Advance registration is encouraged but not required, and anyone 17 and under gets in free without registering.
- The Co-op Mineral & Fossil Galleries (1635 N. Oracle Rd., Free, No registration): A row of standing galleries on North Oracle Road rather than a four-day tent, listed as free, open to the public and needing no registration. Its fall showcase runs September 3-6, but the Co-op's own site was not responding when this was written and the schedule listings disagree on hours — a 9 a.m. and a 10 a.m. start both appear, both closing at 5 p.m. — and some member galleries suggest an appointment. Call ahead if you are going for a specific dealer.
- Kent's Jewelry, Lapidary, Tool & Supply (2745 N. 1st Ave., Midtown, Free): Free and open to the public, on North First Avenue in midtown. This one is tools rather than treasure — saws, cabbing supplies, findings — and it is the show to hit if you cut and set your own stones. Kent's is a year-round shop at the same address, and as of this writing its own site had not posted 2026 fall dates — the September 3-6 listing comes from the showcase schedule rather than from Kent's, so call (520) 461-1350 before you make the trip.
- JOGS and the G&LW Holidome (Trade only, Business license, Tucson Expo Center): JOGS runs September 3-6 at the Tucson Expo Center, 3750 E. Irvington Rd., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and to 4 p.m. Sunday. Its own buyer-qualification page is blunt: only active members of the jewelry trade are admitted, with a business license or tax-exempt certificate. Visit Tucson's FAQ describes non-wholesale buyers attending with a purchased ticket, so the two published policies disagree — call the show, not the venue. The G&LW Holidome at 3168 E. Michigan St. carries no such ambiguity: qualified trade only.
Why September Is the Manageable One
The scale difference is the whole argument for going. Visit Tucson counts more than 4,000 exhibitors across more than 40 locations in the winter showcase, and its 2025 economic impact study put direct spend at $286.3 million, up from $131.4 million in 2019, with buyer attendance rising from 65,000 to 113,342 and city taxes collected going from $8.2 million to $11.6 million. The show count hit a record 52 in 2020 and matched it in 2025. That is a civic event with a traffic plan. The fall version is a handful of shows you can cover in a long Saturday, at venues with their own parking lots.
Go for the Workshops, Not the Bargains
If you are picturing the winter show's warehouse aisles of pallet-priced rough, adjust. The public half of the September cluster is weighted toward the making side: the Casino del Sol show is organized around artisans and runs classes daily in wirework, bead making, metalwork and design, and Kent's exists to sell the equipment those classes teach you to use. The Co-op is the mineral-and-fossil counterweight, and it is a standing address rather than a four-day tent. Between them you can spend a morning learning a technique and an afternoon buying the stones to practice it on, which is a different day out than walking a wholesale floor you are not licensed to buy from.
Quick reference (August 28, 2026): Tucson's fall gem shows run Thursday, September 3 through Sunday, September 6, 2026. Free and open to the public — Colors of the Stone / To Bead True Blue, Casino del Sol, 5655 W. Valencia Rd., 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, free parking; The Co-op Mineral & Fossil Galleries, 1635 N. Oracle Rd., listed hours vary between a 9 a.m. and a 10 a.m. start, closing at 5 p.m.; Kent's Jewelry, Lapidary, Tool & Supply, 2745 N. 1st Ave., (520) 461-1350, listed dates vary between September 3-5 and September 3-6. Trade credentials required — JOGS, Tucson Expo Center, 3750 E. Irvington Rd.; G&LW Holidome, 3168 E. Michigan St. The Dealers Tucson Fall Gem & Mineral Showcase follows October 15-18, 2026, and the winter showcase runs January 27 through February 14, 2027. Dates, hours and admission policies change — confirm with each show before you drive out.
The Version You Can Do Without a Plan
February's showcase is something Tucson survives as much as attends — worth doing once, exhausting to do casually. The Labor Day weekend version asks for a tank of gas and an afternoon, and it is over before the holiday Monday. Same trade, same stones, many of the same dealers, on a scale that fits in a Saturday. The next one after this is October 15-18, and then the machine starts up again in January.
Sources
Colors of the Stone / To Bead True Blue — "Fall Show" — colorsofthestone.com/fall.php — accessed August 28, 2026 (for the September 3-6, 2026 dates, the 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday hours, the Casino Del Sol venue at 5655 W. Valencia Rd., free admission, complimentary onsite parking, the roughly 300 exhibits across 75,000 square feet of glass artists, gem cutters, ceramists, bead makers and jewelry artists, and the daily hands-on workshops in jewelry design, bead making and metalwork). Colors of the Stone / To Bead True Blue — "Register Online / Tickets" — colorsofthestone.com/tickets.php — accessed August 28, 2026 (for free admission on all event days, the shows being open to everyone rather than trade-restricted, encouraged-but-optional advance registration, free entry for children 17 and under without registration, and the separate registration and possible class or kit fees for workshops). Colors of the Stone — "Colors of the Stone & To Bead True Blue" — colorsofthestone.com — accessed August 28, 2026 (for the September 3-6, 2026 fall dates at Casino Del Sol and the show's description of its participants as independent artisans, traditional designers, studio artists and small production). Casino Del Sol — "Location" — casinodelsol.com/about/location — accessed August 28, 2026 (for the 5655 W. Valencia Rd. address and the resort's own directions of I-19 to Valencia and six miles west). Tucson Gem Show 101 — "Mineral & Fossil Co-op" — tucsongemshow101.com/co-op — accessed August 28, 2026 (for the Co-op's 1635 N. Oracle Rd. address, its September 3-6, 2026 fall dates, free entry with no registration and admission of both wholesale buyers and the general public, and for a 10 a.m.-5 p.m. listing that a separate 9 a.m.-5 p.m. listing contradicts; the Co-op's own site, mineralfossilcoop.com, did not respond when checked, so this post gives the hours as a range rather than as fact). Tucson Gem Show 101 — "Tucson Gem Show Schedule 2026-2027" — tucsongemshow101.com/schedule — accessed August 28, 2026 (for the September 3-6 fall cluster of JOGS, Colors of the Stone / To Bead True Blue, the G&LW Gem Mall and Holidome, the Co-op and Kent's, for Kent's address at 2745 N. 1st Ave. and its listing as open to the public, and for the Dealers Tucson Fall Gem & Mineral Showcase on October 15-18, 2026). Kent's Tools — "Gem Show - Tucson" — kentstools.com/gem-show-1 — accessed August 28, 2026 (for the 2745 N. 1st Ave. address, the (520) 461-1350 number, the year-round retail location open to the public, and the fact that the shop's own site had not yet posted its 2026 fall show dates). JOGS Gem & Jewelry Show — "Dates, Times & Location" — jogsshow.com/tucson-gem-and-jewelry-show-fall/dates-times-location — accessed August 28, 2026 (for the September 3-6, 2026 dates, the 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday hours, and the Tucson Expo Center venue at 3750 E. Irvington Rd.). JOGS Gem & Jewelry Show — "Buyer Qualification Requirements" — jogsshow.com/buyer-qualification-requirements — accessed August 28, 2026 (for the statement that only active members of the jewelry trade are admitted and the business-license or tax-exempt-certificate and employment-proof requirements). Visit Tucson — "Tucson Gem Show FAQs" — visittucson.org/tucson-gem-mineral-fossil-showcase/gem-show-faqs — accessed August 28, 2026 (for the September 3-6, 2026 Labor Day shows and the October 15-18, 2026 Dealer Showcase, the January 27-February 14, 2027 winter showcase dates, the more-than-4,000 exhibitors at more than 40 locations, the record of 52 shows set in 2020 and matched in 2025, the 2025 economic impact study figures of $286.3 million in direct spend against $131.4 million in 2019, buyer attendance of 113,342 against 65,000, and $11.6 million in city taxes collected against $8.2 million, and for the description of non-wholesale buyers attending shows such as JOGS with a purchased entry ticket). G&LW Shows — "Tucson Gem Show" and "Tucson Holidome Gem Show Fall 2026" — glwshows.com/tucson-gem-show and glwshows.com/gem-shows/tucson-holidome-gem-show-fall-2026 — accessed August 28, 2026 (for the September 3-6, 2026 dates, the Holidome venue at 3168 E. Michigan St., and the statement that the G&LW Holidome and Gem Mall shows are open exclusively to qualified members of the trade with proof of a business license, tax certificate or sales/use permit). All details current as of August 28, 2026; show dates, hours and admission policies change, so confirm with each organizer before visiting. This post is for informational purposes only and is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase real estate. Kyle Berglund and Tierra Antigua Realty fully support and comply with the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act.
Topics
- Things to Do
- Gem Show
- Colors of the Stone
- To Bead True Blue
- Casino del Sol
- Drexel Heights
- Midtown Tucson
- Tucson