Queenstown’s own little treasures
A much-loved fixture on the lakefront is Queenstown Market. Stalls are full of goodies – hand crafted and made with love – it’s a vibrant celebration of creativity where visual and performing arts come alive for locals and visitors alike.
The market runs every Saturday and is a hub for budding and established arts and crafts enthusiasts. It has been a great launching platform for local artists, and many people make their living from the stalls. Wares available include everything from soaps and skincare to jewellery, wood products, artwork, and clothing, all of which are handmade by the person selling it.
“It’s a high level of handmade items – really intentionally made, well-made – a lot of it is old crafts that are getting lost a little bit,” market manager Charlie Archer says.
She’s been managing the market for just under two years and was previously the 2IC in addition to running her own stall selling jewellery. She’s loved the opportunity and to be able to support her fellow marketeers. The importance of preserving the artisan craftsmanship of the markets is more important now than ever, with a prevalence of resellers and people drop shipping items at very low prices.
“You’ve got people who have been doing these crafts for a very, very long time and they’ve been taught how to do these by other craftsmen. Then you get someone that comes along and wants to sell something they’ve imported from another country, or that’s not had the care and attention when it’s made so it’s not going to last very long, so we like to prioritise and help out local artisans.”
The market runs year round and in winter there are around 45 stalls. When asked if she’s ever surprised by how many artistic people there are within our community, she says she’s not and knows we have a very creative people here.
“Even the surroundings – we’re all very inspired by nature and you just feel like you want to be creative when you’re here. We get a lot of applications each week and it can be quite difficult to bring on new people, as we’ve got people that have been coming for years, but it does mean we have such a good spread of different things.”
They welcome a good mix of locals and tourists, with many appreciating a quirkier offering for town as opposed to some of the stores that have been popping up in recent times. Archer explains that everyone who visits the markets has nothing but good things to say. Most of that positivity comes from the public’s ability to meet the creators, learn about the person and the story behind the treasures they have crafted.
“To take away something that people can cherish, whether that be something functional like pottery made from clay that the creator dug out of the ground themselves, or a trinket that has been crafted to invoke a memory of the beautiful place we call home, and visitors would like to remember forever.”
Queenstown Market runs on Saturdays, 9.30am – 3pm in winter and 9am – 4pm in summer. You can follow them on Facebook and Instagram, @qtmarket or head to queenstownmarket.nz to discover stallholders and find out more information.
