July 1 - Portand
Rad Pride really was amazing. It was from 10-10 with a “come when you want” kinda vibe. We got there around 12 and stuck it out until the end. There were so many amazing people. There were volunteers handing our water, there was free and for-sale food and mutual aid items, and there were just so many leftist queers showing up to celebrate. My friend Roux helped big time with selling our stuff. We sold out of a lot of things and it was the first time I really experienced knowing there was a market for our items. Coming home after this event really gave me a sense of accomplishment and community. This was the first event where we broke 1k in sales. I can’t wait for next year!
July 2 - San Francisco
I barely slept before Head West at the Ferry Building. I was so nervous. It was what felt like my first big market since starting Queer The Way. I packed up the car the night before so I had plenty of time to triple check everything. We got there at 815 AM (way earlier than I thought we’d need to be there) and got to setting up. Zoe and I were able to set up in about an hour. We made a sale before the market technically opened at 11; the day felt promising. There was decent foot traffic and interest however, we didn’t make a ton of sales. Since the market fee was $200 and we sold $350 it didn’t feel worth it. However, we know a lot of things can vary so we will be trying this market again.
July 8 - San Francisco
The Queer Art Faire was held in Sunset. When we arrived it was windy AF but we got to setting up anyway. After 1.5 hours of trying to set up and lots of things falling down (our clothes racks turned to sails even with weights) and blowing away. I was honestly about to have a panic attack and it was 100% the right call. I’m sad that we didn’t get to participate in this magical market but again very much needed to go home and reset. I literally just sat on the couch and watched tv for the rest of that day.
July 9 - San Jose, Rainbow Market
The Post Street Drag Brunch seems amazing to attend however, vending there often isn’t as fruitful as one would hope. This market didn’t have a ton of foot traffic but since I was close to the drag show I saw quite a few folks. I met some amazing folks (shoutout to crisartcreations & vmgc_designs) who were kind and endlessly helpful. I did $200 in sales and the entrance fee was $30.
July 14 - San Francisco
Bhangra and The Beats market was busy as heck. It definitely seemed like people were mostly there for the music and food (both were amazing). We did $250 in sales and likely would’ve made more if we’d had more product. We only had a few stickers and were low on upcycled mushroom shorts which was our best seller. While we probably won’t be back for this one we’d definitely recommend this market - the organizers were amazing!
July 23 - San Jose, Rainbow Market
This is where doing as many markets as we could caught up with me - I was so tired from running as fast as I could. I decided to take this day back and rest. Definitely planning on easing up on markets moving forward.
July 27 - Portand, Last Thursday on Alberta
This was such a great FREE market. We set up shop in front of Hairrari (we asked them if that was okay per Last Thursday etiquette) and they were more than happy to have us. Not only was Hairrari super kind, they were also giving free buzzcuts and KC ended up getting an undercut! The vibes at Last Thursday were unmatched, both customers and vendors seemed to be having a great time. We ended up doing $450 in sales which is amazing at a free market! We’ll be attending Last Thursday as often as possible.
July 30 - Portland, Montavilla Street Fair
The Montavilla Street Fair was so good we immediately signed up for the Clinton Street Fair in September. We were steadily busy all day and did just over 1100 in sales. The weather was perfect, food was good (shoutout to Sebastiano's), music was amazing, the other vendors were brilliant. 100/100 vibes Stickers were definitely our biggest seller and we ran out of a few and are low on the rest. Gonna buy some stickers from a manufacturer because we can't keep up with demand with one little printer. Working market number two with May was so nice, we got to walk through our thoughts on set ups and just generally have a good time together. Can't wait for the Belmont and Clinton Street Fairs!
