Lowriders are set to line up alongside food trucks and craft vendors on Saturday, September 12, when the 6th Annual Mija Market takes over the Cowtown Boots Event Center in El Paso from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The free, family-friendly event pairs one of the city's signature cultural traditions with a fundraiser that has already pumped more than $50,000 into scholarships for local women.
The market is hosted by Mija, Yes You Can, according to 93.1 KISS FM. This year's lineup adds a lowrider car show celebrating the culture, creativity, and craftsmanship behind the vehicles, a first for the event, alongside more than 30 vendors, food trucks, games, and kids' activities. The station reports the market will also include a Mija coloring station stocked with specially designed sheets for children, plus performances by oldies group Los Chile Rellenos and local kid rock band The Painted Velvets. The day wraps up with Mike Guerrero from 93.2 The Fox.
A Living-Room Idea That Grew Into a Fund
Mija, Yes You Can traces back to March 8, 2020 — International Women's Day — when broadcast personality Iris Lopez launched the effort from her living room, inspired by encouraging words from her mother just before pandemic lockdowns began, according to the organization's own account on Mija, Yes You Can's website. By late 2020, the group had formalized as an official 501(c)(3) fund housed within the Paso del Norte Community Foundation's Community of Philanthropy, giving it the fiscal structure to grow its fundraising efforts.
That growth has been steady. Per the same organization, the scholarship program — which the group says provides financial assistance to women pursuing educational and career goals — had awarded more than $70,000 in total scholarships by September 2025, including $12,000 split among six local recipients at the fifth annual market. Last year's event was the organization's largest to date, drawing more than 70 vendors, per 93.1 KISS FM's report, en route to this year's expected lineup of 30-plus.
Caregiver Grants and Community Partnerships
The nonprofit's philanthropic footprint extends beyond scholarships. It also created the Maria Elena Cisneros Caregiver Fund to provide direct financial grants and recognition to family caregivers across El Paso, according to the Paso del Norte Community Foundation. Mija, Yes You Can has also partnered with El Paso Electric, TxDOT, and UTEP's College of Engineering to mentor young students at Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day luncheons, the foundation notes, extending its mission of empowerment into STEM education.
Sales of Mija merchandise, including a limited-edition lowrider Mija T-shirt, will help fund the scholarship program this year, per 93.1 KISS FM. Proceeds from market vendor fees and merchandise sales flow into the same scholarship pipeline that has supported dozens of El Paso women since the nonprofit's founding.
Why Lowriders Fit the Mija Mission
Bringing a lowrider car show into the market taps directly into El Paso's deep-rooted car culture. The city's lowrider scene traces back to the 1930s and 1940s Pachuco zoot-suit movement, a Chicano youth culture that gave rise to El Paso's enduring nickname, El Chuco, according to Texas Highways. Hoodline covered that same regional heritage last month in its report on a Guatemalan drag racer's Horizon City debut.
Borderland lowrider car clubs have a long tradition of using shows and cruises as charitable fundraisers, supporting causes that range from health initiatives to holiday supply drives for orphanages in Juárez, Texas Highways reports. That history of community-minded car culture makes the pairing with Mija's scholarship and caregiver funds a natural fit for this year's market.
Founder Iris Lopez has drawn her own recognition for the movement's civic impact. In September 2020, Estrella Jalisco commissioned a public mural in downtown El Paso honoring Lopez's female-empowerment work, according to 93.1 KISS FM's earlier coverage.
Where to Find the Market
The market takes place at the Cowtown Boots Event Center, located at 11401 Gateway Boulevard West along El Paso's Interstate 10 corridor, according to event listings on SeatGeek. Admission is free, and organizers describe the day as designed for the whole family, with shopping, food, music, and community programming filling out the schedule alongside the new lowrider showcase.
