Artisan Market Bangor 1/5/22
The season kicked off on the 1st of May with a local Artisan Market.
I found it through social media, where most things are discovered these days. I only had to travel 20 minutes. It was a blessing to find an Artisan market nearby and after talking to Stella who runs the show, I was pleased to find out it isn't a one off. They run another in Colwyn Bay regularly.
During this time I was in the beginning stages of rebranding. My head was full of so many ideas that I was testing out in the background aswell as a lot of admin to tie up, a lot of my time was spent on my laptop. Between the rebrand and having covid in the weeks building up to this market, I was beginning to worry I wasn't going to be prepared enough.
Being the first Market of the year I wanted to be over prepared, because at the end of the day the stuff that comes home with me from this market is stock for the next one and this takes a little pressure off preparing for the next one. Of course the ideal situation would be to sell out, but I like to over prepare so it would have to be a super busy day for me to sell out.
Market day came and the sun wasn't shining but we turned up in good spirits with a boot full of tie dye and a heart full of hope.
I was placed at the end of the half pitch section, I had gotten lucky because somebody had cancelled so my half pitch was now a full pitch. I had more than enough stock to make use of the space. I had just finished setting up and made my first sale within five minutes! What a great start, it filled me with enthusiasm. In the end it was a steady day considering the weather. I had a chat with Ben, one of the market managers and he made a good point. When it comes to Artisan Markets the weather isn't always a big factor in the sales you make, because you beautiful people that love the Artisan Markets will come anyway rain or shine. When it is a nice day I'm sure there would be more people browsing, but not necessarily buy anything because if you leave the house without the intention to buy anything, you are less likely to.
My stall was easily the most colourful there, but there was such a range of different products it was a nicely diverse market. There were lots of hand crafted wooden signs I liked the look of, and baked goods of course. I took a walk around and bought a handmade wooden welsh dragon that had been wrapped in a lovely soft and colourful material. I'm a sucker for a Welsh Dragon, so I just had to get it.
Here it is on my wall.
The day was broken up by the entertainment. Batala Bangor bought the beat with their captivating drumming routine. Chris C made my day with his Bob Marley covers. Felicity wrapped up the day nicely with some pop songs.
I had a moment of pure contentment during Chris's rendition of Three Little Birds. I was stood looking over my stall, watching Chris in the distance and I was overcome with the feeling of pride and gratitude. I was as proud of myself for being there surrounded by my hard work, as I was grateful to The Artisan Market Company for their own achievement in making it happen.
It is easy to forget I am still in the beginning stages of building my empire, I am still a little fish in a big pond. I have big ideas and big dreams, but I must remember to soak up every moment of achievement on the way because you never know when the next big step up is coming. For now I am happy attending these small Artisan Markets and supplying my hand dyed items to the locals, getting the Breezy Rainbow name out there. Glastonbury can wait, that's the dream.
One of my motivations for this blog was to journal my journey through the world of Markets and Festivals. I hope that one day I can look back at this post and appreciate how far I have come. Peace out.