Christmas and beyond at the markets
Markets offer the community the ability to support local, engage with stallholders, and pick up one-of-a-kind items. With Christmas on the horizon, we’re lucky in our region to have an abundance of great markets to pick up something special. Two such markets that allow the creatives to thrive are the Arrowtown Market and Queenstown Market. They’re each ramping up for a busy summer season, and have each seen some changes this past year.
Yennis Mak stepped into the manager’s role at Queenstown Market in June of this year and is looking forward to all that’s to come. It's on the Lakefront every Saturday, with some additional markets running across the school holidays and in the lead up to Christmas. Mak’s new duties include coordination of setup, organising some musicians to play, helping people to register to sell, and helping out in any way she can.
“I was involved in the markets as an artist, selling my real flower jewellery, for about six years now,” Mak says. “The previous manager, Bridget, I was her 2IC [second-in-command], so I was kind of in the management role for about two years. I really enjoy it – I think, for me, I really enjoy being in communication and to be coordinating stuff. I also really like to organise stuff. I think because I’ve been in the market for many years, and I’m really proud of this market – the reason I got into this market is because of the integrity of it, because everything is 100% handmade here.”
Mak goes on to explain that the people and stallholders you see each week all make the items for sale, and that some manage to make it into a full-time living. The market has been running for more than 20 years, and it’s that consistency is what Mak, in part, credits to its success.
Arrowtown Market has had a big start to the season, too, shifting its name from Arrowtown Farmers’ Market to Arrowtown Market. It first started back in 2017 with more of a produce focus, so it was important to the committee to rebrand and realign to the vendors on offer. It takes place under the picturesque old trees on the Library Green and makes for a peaceful spot on the weekends. Sarah Auld is chair of the committee and one of the organisers, she explains that the committee is made up of vendors and that it’s all voluntary.
“We are, what we like to call, a boutique market,” Auld says. “We are a smaller number of stalls and that’s just purely to do with the fact that we operate in a heritage area of our town. Being right in the heart of Arrowtown, there’s quite a lot of covenants and restrictions that are placed on how big we can be – but we like to celebrate the fact that we are small, everyone that comes along is handpicked and we don’t double up on things."
One thing that both Auld and Mak mentioned and felt was important was that each of the markets is open to locals and tourists alike. They encourage those in the area to pop by, enjoy some of the live music, grab a bite and chat with some locals. Both are family friendly and offer a relaxing vibe. The markets are also a great way to get to know what’s happening in the arts and culture community, too, with such a diverse group of local creators offering their wares.
Queenstown Market usually runs every Saturday, with their special Christmas Market on Friday, 22 December, and they will continue to hold Friday and Saturday markets over the school holidays. Arrowtown Market will hold a special market on Christmas Eve, before returning back to their regular slot every Sunday until late April.
For more information and to stay up to date with all that’s happening, you can head to queenstownmarket.nz or arrowtownmarket.co.nz
