Craft markets open extra days

Creative Queenstown Art and Crafts Market manager Jasmine Clark holds a bouquet at her flax and...
Creative Queenstown Art and Crafts Market manager Jasmine Clark holds a bouquet at her flax and and fibre art stall. Photo by Olivia Caldwell.
Earnslaw Park creative craft markets will be set up two extra days a month until the end of April.

The Creative Queenstown Art and Crafts Markets began over 15 years ago and have been run regularly ever since.

Now, as well as opening every Saturday, they will open on the first Friday of every month and every third Wednesday.

Market manager Jasmine Clark has been involved for five years and she said the markets had become more popular in that time.

"I always thought one day I would have to get a proper job, but the way Queenstown ticks over, we are doing really well."

Mrs Clark said at the beginning, stall owners really struggled to break into the Queenstown scene.

"Finally, we got embraced and now people love us."

She loves working her stall at the markets.

"We are like a big family here.

"It's a bit funny saying it, but we are all the people that don't really fit into society. We are all a bit of a fruit salad of people."

The unique thing about the Queenstown markets compared with other craft markets around the country is that the products sold at each stall have to be hand-made by the person behind the counter.

"You never get massproduced goods here. It is all made by us," Mrs Clark said.

"Because we sell here, you don't get that mark-up in prices."

Summer is the busiest time for the markets and generally May and June is the shoulder season, because "the ski season hasn't started and it's really cold".

Stall owners come from as far north as Christchurch and as far south as Invercargill.

Mrs Clark said the aim of the extra market days was to appeal to new customers, catch mid-week tourists and please the stall owners who could not make it every Saturday.

"It is just a way of pleasing everyone."

"We want to get more locals down here.

"Most people just stumble across us."

The flax and fibre crafter said she hoped the markets would just "keep on growing".

The first Wednesday market will be held this week and stalls will be open for late Christmas shopping on Saturday.

 

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