The Quartzsite Report: The Quartzsite show schedule and QZ statistics

By Russ and Tiña De Maris
As December rolls past mid-month, we’re getting closer to the “really big shows!” Here’s a list of some of the most popular Quartzsite shows.

January 1 – February 28

Desert Gardens Rock, Gem & Mineral Show
Claiming to be “the largest international rock, gem & mineral show in Quartzsite,” there’s no doubt that other venues will dispute the claim. You’ll need to decide for yourself.
Hours: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., seven days a week
Desert Gardens Show Grounds, 1055 Kuehn Street
Visit their website.  

January 7–6

Tyson Wells Rock & Gem Show
Bills itself as “An unbelievable variety displayed on 2.2 miles of aisle frontage.”
Hours: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
This rocky Quartzsite show rolls out at: 121 W. Kuehn St.
Visit their website. 

January 19–23

QIA Pow Wow Gem & Mineral Show
This is THE original event that’s credited with launching Quartzsite as a major gathering point. The first “show” was in 1967, attracting maybe 1,000 buyers to visit with 100 vendors. Expect four times that many vendors now, and rub elbows with 10,000 daily show-goers. If you’re into rocks and gems, don’t miss this one!
235 E. Ironwood Ave.
Here’s their website. 

January 21–30

Tyson Wells Sell-A-Rama
Rocks and minerals, arts and crafts, antiques, all this plus “foods to amaze you”. Do they include Tums vendors? You’ll need to come and find out for yourself.
Hours: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
121 W. Kuehn St.
And the website is right here. 

January 22–30

Sports, Vacation & RV Show (The Big Tent)
Arguably the attraction that draws the most attention – and traffic. Acres of tented-over vendors with a specialization in RV stuff. Staff from RVtravel.com will be on hand – stop by and say hello!
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (3 p.m. closing day)
700 S. Central Blvd.
And a website, of course. 

February 4–13

Tyson Wells Arts and Crafts Fair
“10 days, 2.2 miles of aisle frontage”
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. each day
121 W. Kuehn St.
Learn more here. 

February 11–13

Quartzsite Gold Show
There’s gold at that thar show! – along with panning contests, “metal detecting” contests and some great speakers and special presentations during the show each day.
Friday – Saturday 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.; Sunday 9 a.m. -3 p.m.
235 E. Ironwood St.
Go for the gold here. 

To be sure, there are plenty of other Quartzsite shows – if one counts the hundreds of vendors and shops. 

We’ll close out this week’s review with statistics.

How many folks in Quartzsite? It’s impossible to accurately gauge. We’re using the census count from the Hi Jolly Short Term Visitor Area as a gauge.

Fuel Costs (Average)

Internet Speeds

Discussion: The continued decrease in speed, particularly in the later hours of the day, follows a pattern we’ve observed throughout the last few years. As visitors increase, internet speed decreases. One Verizon user reported he was “knocked off” a Zoom conference Thursday evening a dozen times before giving up and using a phone connection.

Health Issues

Our “face mask count” is based on numbers of folks at three locations: a popular grocery store, the post office, and a “dollar store.” The count is the total number of folks present and those who are masked up. The percentage given is the percentage of mask-wearers. We are changing our COVID patient count methodology. We’re including new cases within the last week, and comparing the percentage of change from two weeks back. The data is provided by the Arizona Department of Health.

Face Mask Count [Total people counted/masked (% masked)]

COVID Patient Count

Our statistics are from the Arizona Department of Health. They are:

Quartzsite average daily cases in last week: 1
Quartzsite average cases per 10,000 people: 3
Change in number of cases over two weeks: 67% increase

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