Two vintage markets are bringing creators to the local Gainesville community for their first events of the year this weekend.
Bazar À La Carte and The Florida Vintage Market will both feature makers and artists from all over Florida and have weekend activities in Gainesville.
Bazar À La Carte
Bazar À La Carte will have a day and night market and take place on both Saturday and Sunday.
The market stems from The How Bazar, a worker- and artist-owned vintage shop that creates a space for artists to express themselves and experiment with their work.
Laila Fakhoury, 23, is a co-owner of The How Bazar and said the purpose of a two-day market is to offer two different “vibes” to meet people’s different needs and interests.
Saturday’s night market, at 408 W. University Ave., will run from 3-9 p.m. The night market includes live DJs, dancing, drinks, food trucks and 15 different vendors.
Sunday’s day market will run from noon-5 p.m. at the same location but with a different atmosphere. There will also be music and 15 new vendors from the previous night. The day market will offer cafe-style food, such as doughnuts and bagels, to encapsulate what Fakhoury describes as a “fun Sunday afternoon.”
Fakhoury said she initially found vendors for the markets through her own research. She said she would find people in Gainesville who were making art for themselves or their friends but not necessarily selling it.
“I just wanted to invite them so that they had a space to do that and make money from the things that they really love doing, which is art and creating,” she said.
To give artists this opportunity, the Bazar À La Carte has no vendor fees. Fakhoury said this allows creators to experiment within a space that is very low risk and high reward.
Kayla Wheatley is one of the artists who has found a platform with the help of the How Bazar.
The 21-year-old UF botany junior is the owner of small business Nature's Dye and will be vending this weekend at the market.
Wheatley collects plant and mushroom material to create different natural dyes, which she then applies to thrifted fabric or garments.
Wheatley said she was nervous her first time vending at Bazar À La Carte, but she said the market is special to her because it built her confidence as a business.
“If someone's a little bit insecure about how successful they'll be at a market, this is such a beautiful way to just kind of shed that insecurity because you have nothing to lose if you're doing it for free,” she said.
The Florida Vintage Market
This weekend marks two years since The Florida Vintage Market, originally from Orlando, expanded to Gainesville.
The market will be Sunday and run from noon-5 p.m. at Cypress and Grove Brewing Co, located at 1001 NW 4th St.
Nathalie Kanda, 35, co-founder of the Florida Vintage Market, said the market’s organizers always look forward to having new vendors at the markets alongside the resident vendors.
Vendors at the market often sell handmade items such as soaps, jewelry, candles, paintings and other crafts. However, Kanda said a majority of the items sold at the market are vintage, since it is a vintage market.
Martine Delbrin, 28, will bring her small business, Rooted By Martine, to the market this weekend.
Delbrin started her business over quarantine and she began selling plants and handmade macramés for plants and hanging on the wall.
Her first event with the Florida Vintage Market was in Orlando, but this weekend she will be vending in Gainesville for the first time.
“I'm really looking forward to meeting everybody and just seeing all the cool stuff that they have,” she said. “There's literally so many cool vintage finds that you can get at the market.”
Contact Kristin Bausch at kbausch@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @BauschKristin.
Kristin Bausch is a third-year journalism major at the University of Florida and a staff writer with the Avenue. Giving people an opportunity to share their story is one of her favorite things about writing. When not writing, she’s probably dancing.
