Hello Abe,

Over the years I worked with Beadventures for their tour through the Tucson bead shows, we always arrived well after the first week (the last week in January), and were there near the beginning of February, for five nights. We always found lots of great stuff.

I don't think you miss too much by not being there at the beginning. But certainly some really good and rare pieces will be snapped up the first or second days of the Shows—and you will probably not hear or know about these exchanges. But after the first two days, things calm down considerably, until the end of the Shows, when there may be a resurgence of interest to look over whatever is remaining before it all folds up.

Have a great time. Jamey

I have generally made a vacation out of it, and spent two weeks in Tucson.
There are some events specifically in the first week of February. Most of the shows you will be interested in, do run longer, such as the Grant, African Village, Pueblo Gem Show and Gem Mall.

For me, I like the more laid back atmosphere towards the end of the shows. It seems like some of the stress is gone. However, if you have your eye on specific rare goods, going early might still be best. For everything else, there is plenty still around later.

More info will be announced soon, but I can say that there will be a small evening Bead Symposium again at the Sonoran Glass show. It will be on Feb 6.

If you click on the link, you can get an idea of the dates of the different shows.

Abe, better get to Tucson a few days before your work schedule, it appears most shows will be packed up by the 14th.....

I'm thinking of going this year for the first time ever, likely for just a few days.
The schedule is a bit confounding to me.
What would be prime time for a person interested in beads and textiles?

Linda,
I'm not sure about the textiles part of your request - do you look for old or new? I've never looked for old textiles in Tucson so maybe someone else can comment.

I like the "buzz" of opening weekend, and would normally do at least three days as follows (using the 2019 dates):

Thursday Jan. 31 - Silk Road (not to be missed!), and 22nd St
Friday Feb. 1 - Pueblo, Rapa River , and Howard Johnson
Saturday, Feb. 2 - African Village, Gem Mall, and Holidome

Note that Gem Mall & Holidome (on the same site) require a re-sale license, and you can apply for a badge ahead of time. Be sure to take a copy of the re-sale permit with you - I got hassled last time about it despite having a valid badge.

I have seen new textiles - scarfs, general clothing, etc. at some shows, especially Gem Mall and HoJo, but since I'm not looking for textiles this is just an incidental observation on my part.

For 2019 I'm arriving on Sunday so I can attend the mini-bead symposium so I'll miss the opening day frenzy for all the main shows I attend.