Fairs, Markets and Unique Shopping Events in Sheffield - July, August, September

There are lots of events that happen around Sheffield which are great places for local artists, crafters and producers to share their work...and for customers to find unique treats, do some one of a kind shopping and meet the makers. 

Here are some that are coming up in the next few weeks...

July

4th-7th
The Steel Stage for the Tour de France 
Music, stalls, entertainment, beer festival and lots more. And on the Sunday you get to see the Tour de France go passed too!

5th
Sheffield Country Market
A regular Saturday morning market at Broomhill with locally made food, crafts, plants and produce. Spooner Road 9am-midday.

Sheffield Alternative and Burlesque Fair
A shopping event full of burlesque, rockabilly, vintage, gothic and much more at the Corporation nightclub.

10th, 11th, 12th 
Craft supply sale at Bird's Yard
The designers based in Bird's Yard on Chapel Walk are having a clear out and selling lots of supply based bargains in the shop.

12th & 13th
Kelham Island 1940s Weekend and Vintage Fayre
Lots of wartime themed entertainment including a tea dance, vintage hair and beauty, swing dancing and live music as well as vintage and craft stalls.

20th   
Sharrow Vale Market
The popular street market returns with a mix of food, entertainment and crafts along Sharrow Vale Road. 12-4   

26th
Bird's Yard Craft Fair
A mix of food, craft, art, handmade and other entertainments in the city centre shop on Chapel Walk. 11am-4pm.

Devonshire Market
A mix of food, drink, vintage and handmade at the outdoor market. 11am-6pm

 

August

30th
Devonshire Market
A mix of food, drink, vintage and handmade at the outdoor market and this time it's a Street Theatre Special 11am-6pm
 

September 

6th and 7th 
Art in the Gardens
A two day celebration of handmade, crafts and arts in Sheffield's Botanical Gardens.

14th
Whirlow Farm Fayre 
Stalls, food, entertainment and animals all set on a farm!

Sheffield Antiques Quarter Late Summer Market
Both indoors and outdoors at the Abbeydale Picture house, this market offers vintage, antiques, crafts and food. 

20th
Mary's Marvellous Market 
A mix of vintage and craft at the popular market held in St Mary's church, Bramall Lane.

21st
Nether Edge Market
An outdoor street market packed with food, craft and art. Lots of entertainment too! 12-4, Nether Edge and Glen Roads

27th
Devonshire Market
A mix of food, drink, vintage and handmade at the outdoor market and this time it's a Sheffield Jazz special 11am-6pm 

Lou Lou's Vintage Fair
Lots of lovely vintage clothes, accessories and home wares at the city hall. 

My Weekend...

I had a fun weekend with two different events where I was able to meet people, do some organising and a little shopping too!

Saturday

I helped to organise and run a 'competitive craft fair' at Bird's Yard in Sheffield where customers could vote for their favourite stall from independent designers. We also had live music and tarot card readings!

The winners were My Vintage Sister who make scented candles in vintage teacups and glasses as well as pretty paper creations. They'll be joining the shop in July for free!

Sunday

On Sunday I went to Nether Edge Farmer's Market as part of Sheffield Country Market where I had items for sale along with other local handmade craft and food treats. I also treated myself to lots of local food from the other stalls too including delicious marshmallow from Sociably Sweet, oat and apple bread from Forge Bakehouse, beetroot sour dough from Seven Hills Bakery and some lovely curd made with goat's milk (as well as chutney, ice cream, burgers, stuffed vine leaves, raspberry shortbread, mushroom flan, coconut and rice milk drinks...there's a lot of tempting stuff there!)

A 'Craft Fair' with a Difference - Bird's Yard 21st June

Craft fairs are great places to find unique items, local interest products and good deals. I love shopping at them and selling my own creations at them too. But now I also have a  new way of approaching them...helping to organise one.

I love organising. Any excuse to make a list and use colour coded folders makes me happy! So when Bird's Yard in Sheffield was looking to hold some events, I jumped at the chance to help out and get out my notepads and highlighters.

The event I came up with is a 'competitive craft fair' where potential new sellers for the shop get to hold a stall and tell customers about their work, as well as letting them buy it. The customers can then give their feedback and the stall with the most votes gets to be Bird's Yard's latest designer rent free in July! (And of course if our customers fall for other stalls too I'm sure they'll be space for them along with our other sellers).

As well as the craft stalls there'll also be live music to entertain us and the customers throughout the day, tarot and playing card reading and face painting too. Lots to keep you entertained on a Saturday afternoon!

To find out who's selling there visit the event page

or visit on the day!

Bird's Yard, Chapel Walk, Sheffield, S1 2PD

Pink Flamingo and Apple Harvest

Yesterday I tried something new for a craft fair - a shared stall. I'd been chatting with Sue from Apple Harvest about a new craft fair that was taking place in Sheffield and we thought we'd try it out together. So together we went along to Lou Lou's Artisan Market at Sheffield Town Hall...

Pink Flamingo and Apple Harvest's shared stall

Sharing a stall meant thinking of different ways to display my goods too. Not only was there less space so I had to get creative, but I also got to play with Sue's display items too! This basket proved useful for carrying items to the market and looked great on the floor in front of the table with my pictures and notebooks in it along with Sue's lavender hearts.

One of Sue's ebay buying sessions lead to her acquiring this handy little stand - perfect for my Sheffield keyrings! And she was generous enough to lend it to me for the day.

There were also a wider range of goods for customers to look at and we inspired each others' making sparking ideas for each other. I loved Sue's 'chopstick flowers' which have her hand felted flowers attached to chopsticks which are covered in green ribbon but still have Chinese writing visible on the bottom. I thought they also looked rather cute in their beer bottle vases!

A selection of goodies from Apple Harvest

And there was a box of vintage sewing supplies! Sue was sharing her cotton and sewing accessories for sale (even though she'd be happy keeping them for herself!) I loved the tags hanging from the box showing prices and saying what they were - an idea for me to use too.

We're planning other projects together in the future which I'm sure will be a lot of fun! Look out for us in September at Art in the Gardens, Botanical Gardens, Sheffield.

 You can find out more about Apple Harvest here:

Apple Harvest's Etsy shop

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Places I've Been, Things I've Seen...

Here are some places Pink Flamingo has been to lately...

Fairs, Markets and Unique Shopping Events in Sheffield

There are lots of events that happen around Sheffield which are great places for local artists, crafters and producers to share their work...and for customers to find unique treats, do some one of a kind shopping and meet the makers. 

Here are some that are coming up in the next few weeks...

 

April

26th 
Burton Street Spring Fair, Hillsborough
A mix of stalls, activities and farm animals with proceeds going towards the Burton Street Foundation's work. 1pm-4pm

Sheffield Country Market
A regular Saturday morning market at Broomhill with locally made food, crafts and produce. Today they're promoting their 'One Stop Shop'. 9am-midday.

Up Market 
Visit the vintage and craft market in its new location at Sellers Wheel Courtyard on Arundel Street in the city centre. 10am-5pm Saturday 11am-4pm Sunday


27th
Sheffield Antiques Quarter Vintage Spring Market
A mix of Sheffield's vintage and craft sellers to be found at Abbeydale Picture House in the Sheffield Antique Quarter. 11am-5pm

May 

3rd
Sheffield Vintage Fair
The ever popular Lou Lou's vintage fair returns to Sheffield Town Hall. Lots of vintage clothes, accessories and homewares. 11am-5pm

10th 
Sheffield Alternative and Burlesque Fair
Burlesque, vintage and alternative finds of all kinds. Corporation, Milton Street. Midday-6pm.

11th
High Storrs Craft Fair and Carboot Sale
Various ways to shop at High Storrs school! 10am-1pm.

17th
Mary's Marvellous Vintage and Craft Market
They market themselves as 'Quite possibly the best vintage and craft market in the world...ever!' They do have a lot of great stalls there! St Mary's church, Bramall Lane. 10am-4pm

17th - 31st
The Hat Stand
The latest pop up shop in the Winter Gardens in the city centre. This fortnight it focuses on all kinds of headwear. 

31st 
Lou Lou's Artisan Market
Following on from the success of their vintage market, Lou Lou is hosting their first Artisan market in Sheffield with lots of crafts, arts, clothing, food, jewellery and more. Midday-5pm.

Devonshire Market
A popular outdoor market at Devonshire Green. Find foods, crafts, clothes and more. 11am-6pm.

 

June 

3rd
Tapton Spring Food and Craft Fayre
Lots of tempting local foods and crafts on a Tuesday morning 9am-2pm.

22nd
Nether Edge Farmer's Market
A mix of lots of delicious local food with some crafts and entertainment thrown in too! Midday-4pm.

28th
Devonshire Market
A popular outdoor market at Devonshire Green. Find foods, crafts, clothes and more. 11am-6pm.

29th  
Crosspool Festival's Street Market

A mix of stalls outdoors in Crosspool.

Mary's Marvellous Vintage and Craft Market - a scrapbook of my day...

Millennium Gallery Craft Fair

On Saturday I had another lovely day at one of the Millennium Gallery's craft markets right in the heart of Sheffield. The fairs here always attract lots of customers who come to browse the work of talented local artists, makers and designers. This is the second time I've had a stall there and I have to say it's now a firm favourite!

The market takes place on the upper floor of the gallery and I was lucky enough to have a stall along the windowed wall so I had lots of lovely spring sunshine and a great view across this part of the city.

 

I had a chance to take a look around the other stalls just before the market opened (once it's underway it's busy so this was the only chance I'd get!). There were a whole range of treats and gifts to be found including jewellery, art, cushions, decorations, cosmetics and stationery. I'm always amazed at all the talent in Sheffield and how there's always someone new to discover along with some well loved favourites. I bought myself this vintage style pin brooch with hot air balloons on it from Mia Peony.

Then it was back to my stall to meet the all the lovely customers and chat about what I make. I love to hear people's comments and suggestions and it's particularly nice to hear stories and associations people have with particular books or maps that I use in my work. 

The only disappointment is that this event only takes place twice a year and I have to wait all year until November for the next one. If you happen to be in Sheffield on that day it will definitely be a place to visit and do a little shopping!

Sheffield Up Market

A new vintage and craft fair has been taking place at the University of Sheffield over the last few months and is quickly becoming established as a fun place to shop. The Sheffield Up Market is a range of traders selling various vintage and new items including clothes, bags, shoes, jewellery, books, tea, art... and Pink Flamingo's items!

Pink Flamingo's stall at the March Sheffield Up Market

The most recent market took place last Thursday right in the heart of the Students Union building and was its usual eclectic mix. Here are just some of the things you might have found there...

If you followed the signs you would have found...

Lots of clothes to choose from!

Vintage Clothes and accessories

Leather bags

Shoes!

 

Pink Flamingo's Sheffield pictures

The next Sheffield Up Market takes place on 13th May in the Foundry/Fusion/Studio at the University of Sheffield.

Christmas Markets and Fairs in Sheffield

I love this time of year when all the little hints (or giant ones depending on where you're looking!) that Christmas isn't too far away are appearing. There's frosty mornings, bright red berries on bushes, the robin sat on the garden fence every morning ... and lots of Christmas markets! I love the great choice they offer of unique gifts and decorations that you'd can't get elsewhere and I'm always amazed by how much creative talent there is locally.

I've already been to three that were all different in their own way and bought a few gift, decorations and foody treats. And there are a lot more to come. If you're lucky enough to be in the Sheffield area between now and Christmas take the opportunity to look at these:

November
16th
Burton Street Christmas Fair, Hillsborough
Christmas Market, Channing Hall, city centre
17th
Ridgeway Christmas Farmer's and craft market
23rd & 24th
Whirlow Hall Farm Christmas Fayre


December
1st
Hillsborough Sports Arena Christmas fair
Nichols Christmas Fair, Nichols Building
3rd 
Tapton Hall food and craft fair
7th
Vintage and craft Christmas market, St Mary's Church
8th
Nether Edge Christmas Market
Wentworth Woodhouse Christmas Fayre
12th
Sheffield Up Market, University of Sheffield
15th
Elsecar Heritage Centre, Unique Xmas gift fair

And every Saturday Morning there are festive treats on sale at Sheffield Country Markets in Broomhill.

There are lots of opportunities to get ready for Christmas or just get into the spirit of the season at these and lots of other venues too.

Tapton Hall Farmer's Market and Craft Fair

In August I went to an unusually timed craft fair - it was on a Tuesday morning. It took place at Tapton Hall in Sheffield and was only a small event with a handful of stalls and customers. I sold a reasonable amount though so thought it was worth going back to again (the markets are held on the first Tuesday of every month) and I was surprised as since August it has grown to more than double the size and was a lot busier!

I had a lovely time looking around all the new stalls and the lovely variety of products on offer. I even bought one or two little Christmas gifts and some treats for myself - delicious Eccles cakes and some soothing Aloe Vera moisturiser. Many of the stall holders said they'd be back for the December market too, so maybe I'll be getting a few more treats next month too (actually, there's no 'maybe' about it, I won't be able to resist!). And where else could you find a reindeer like this on a Tuesday morning?

There were lots of items to discover that I don't usually see at craft fairs and it was interesting to investigate what was available and chat with the stall holders. As you walked in you were greeted with wonderfully scented candles in tempting aromas including a delicious black fig one, and you could even book a candle party for your home! An imaginative use for old cutlery could also be found. Beautifully delicate Sheffield silverware was framed with a little history and picture of where it came from to create a unique piece of home decor and bring new life to cutlery that's past its use. A gorgeous array of tactile leather bags in all shapes and sizes kept me occupied for a while and it was interesting to look through some art supplies perfect for children and grown ups.

There was also a great choice of craft fair favourites. You could buy some pretty home furnishings including cushions, bunting and notice boards in a variety of patterns and colours. Different styles of jewellery could be found from sparkling silver to delicate beadwork. And of course, as it is a farmer's market, lots of tasty treats including chutneys, local honey, pies, cakes, olives and Turkish delight - something for all tastes!

And of course, there was my stall - all ready for Christmas!

If you're around Tapton Hall for the next farmer's market and craft fair, it's well worth calling in to see what you can discover too.

The next market is on December 3rd from 9am - 2pm.

A Unique Local Shopping Experience

Tapton Hall Farmers and Craft Market

Tuesday was a different day for me - a fair on a weekday.  Usually I'm a weekend stall holder in and around Sheffield which makes a lot of sense as people are off work more and in the shopping mood.  However, I thought I'd give it a go and I discovered some lovely local producers, crafters and customers.

After setting up my stall I had a wander around to see what was on offer and have a chat with the other stall holders. And as usual spend money before I made any!

First I discovered Make or Bake selling an array of baking goods. A whole rainbow (and more) of glitters and bun cases drew me in and then I noticed the champagne and the peanut butter flavourings - two of my favourites! I could have bought quite a lot here - put a showed restraint with just a couple of treats (and an early Christmas present purchase).

Next I had a chat with Janet of Home Grown Designs who makes beautiful cushions, bags, door stops and other textile products. She reworks discarded fabrics from clothes and sample books to create her work - an idea that I love and have in my own work too with paper.  I bought a pin cushion filled with fine sand which helps to sharpen the pins and needles (I always seem to blunt mine somehow!) as you use it and is also very helpful to use as a weight when crafting.

Hollow Meadows Flowers was a stall I'd seen before at a similar market in Hillsborough where I'd admired the wild flowers and country garden look. I had a chat with Rachel whose stall it was and she told me about the more natural and unstructured look of her flowers which she grows herself. I even treated my mum to a bunch!

My attention was then caught by Sweet Thing - it was a stall full of cupcakes after all! There was a whole selection of delicious looking cakes; the chocolate ones looked particularly appetising (and tasted just as good as they looked).

Their neighbour offered Nibble Nose cheeses, bread and cakes. I very much enjoyed sampling the handmade cheeses and couldn't resist a tasty caramelised onion cheddar which somehow made its way home with me...

And finally I had a chat with Roy at The Olive Tree Soap Co.  He makes a tempting range of soaps using olive oil and all natural ingredients using the cold pressed method which takes 8 weeks to make it rich and lathering. This means that no additives are needed in it so it's much kinder to skin. There was a lovely range of gorgeous scents and I had trouble choosing but finally bought some olive oil soap for myself.  One other intriguing scent was choco and beer which I got as a little gift for a friend.

Well, I thought it was finally until I learned about the stuffed vines leaves offered by The King Olive, a tempting stall with a variety of olives, stuffed peppers, homemade baklava and Turkish delight as well as the delicious stuffed vine leaves which ended up as my lunch (and were eaten before I got chance to take a photo!).

There was also my stall there with my usual range of upcycled and handcrafted cards, gift wrap and jewellery.

So, an unusual prospect turned into a very enjoyable day finding lots of Sheffield's unique gems on a weekday.

Another market takes place on September 3rd and on the first Tuesday of every month at Tapton Hall, Shore Lane, Sheffield. Although it's only a small, local market, there are lots of wonderful things to discover.

All the stall holders do regular fairs in and around Sheffield too so there are plenty of places to discover them for yourself if you can't make it on a Tuesday.

Craft Stall Displays

Another craft fair today! Back at Elsecar Heritage Centre with my upcycled and new paper crafts where I was last Sunday but this time for a vintage and craft fair. There were lots of very tempting stalls with such lovely items as vintage clothing, upcycled fabric bags, handmade jewellery and hand stamped fabrics. I did my best to resist but just couldn't help buying this fox ring from Hidden Quirks (before the fair even started!).

The fair was in Building 21 on the site which used to be an ironworks and its industrial past can still be seen which makes for an interesting and unique setting.

 

Seeing a different kind of fair to the ones I usually sell at gave me lots of ideas for new and different stall displays.  I particularly liked some stalls which used old crates like shelves to give a rustic feel and build height for large items. Suitcases were also used to good effect either flat on a table and open to rummage through or stood on their side open like a cupboard with items hanging in them. There was also a stall that had garden trellis around it to hang different items on giving a lot more display space.  Not all of these could be applicable to a paper craft stall, but they were great to look at and enjoy.

These are some ways that I displayed my crafts today.

I used safety pins to secure string to the table cloth to give extra hanging room and pegged my hand sewn hearts to them.  I also hung up packs of paper bunting in this way.

Chalk boards are really useful to add descriptions or special offers highlighting a certain product.  You can also easily change the price or the product to suit what's selling!

To match the theme of the earrings being upcycled, I reused an old picture frame to display them on.  It was from a picture that wasn't used anymore and I did stand on the glass breaking it when I was having a clear out (luckily whilst wearing shoes!).  I removed the glass and put a layer of wadding on the board which I covered with pink fabric from a pillow case.  I then strung ribbon across which I held in place with tape at the back and put the whole thing back in the frame.

Seeing all the other lovely stalls has given me plenty to think about in terms of display and if I can find some smaller crates I'd love to use them on my stall.  I only have one more summer fair and then I'm taking a craft fair break until the Christmas fairs start in November - by which time I might have found some crates!