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NIGHT MARKET ON THE AVE

from The Comet - November 2022

from The Comet - November 2022, page 27

EVERYTHING IS FINE ATTACHMENT ...

This December, Downtown Wenatchee will see the inaugural opening of Night Market On The Ave, featuring vendors selling art, jewelry, clothes and more. The festive market will also have live music, beer on tap from Hellbent Brewing and a variety of wines from Norwood Wine Bar. Norwood owner, Josh Thaut co-founded the event along with recent Portland transplant, Suzanna Walker.

The Comet reached out to Walker to get the details about this brand new shopping experience in town.

First off, tell us a little about yourself, you are one of the featured vendors in the market, after all.

My creative process started in Portland. I would wait for the bus and take in all the magic around me. I would purposely show up early so I had an excuse to go into the thrift store across the street, and I’d collect random vintage treasures. I would imagine the places they had been and I’d dream of all its possibilities.

When COVID happened, I decided to make the leap and move to Wenatchee. I didn’t have anything else to do, so I started focusing more on sewing and creating. Slowly people wanted to buy the stuff I was wearing, so I started selling it.

Talk about the initial idea for the night market - what it is and who is involved.

The initial idea of the Night Market happened the old fashion way, over dinner with friends. Josh, the owner of Norwood Wine Bar, and I share a love for music and art and have a similar dream of bringing more opportunities for artists and bringing more life to our already incredible community.

Josh has a mind for business and he has worked extremely hard to run his own small business on the Ave, so he was a perfect pairing for me. Together we hope to create a unique night in the community that people can look forward to year after year.

Describe the setup of the market. Will it all be out on the streets - sidewalks?

The Night Market on the Ave. will be on Dec 3rd. from 5:30 pm -9 pm. It’s a night filled with art, custom clothing, live music, local food/drinks, mulled wine, seasonal beer, and more. The outside is all ages, and the inside is 21+.

It will be located inside Norwood Wine Bar and will cover the sidewalk from Firehouse Pet Shop to Feathered Salon and extend into the parking spots in that area. Norwood Wine Bar will, of course, be providing all of the wine and beer. We are working on a custom mulled wine to keep you warm and a fantastic seasonal beer from my favorite, Hellbent Brewery! Josh will also have cider and Huney June kombucha available as well.

Music was a must at this event and essential to Josh and I. We were lucky enough to book Welcome Strangers. Seth, Sean “Rib,” & Sergio are three of our favorite musicians in the area and always fill the room with positive energy, happiness, and, most importantly, great music. Dancing is highly encouraged!

As far as the artists and vendors that we curated, I couldn’t feel more grateful. Each person is an incredible talent who brings a unique and fresh prospect to their work. Lady Luck Studio makes bad ass handmade glass art. Stupid Stitch sews handmade and tie-dyed clothing with a focus on sustainability. Lost Highway Silver & Stone creates out of this world handmade natural stone creations for the wild spirit. Samantha Hardy is a talented local artist who has a passion for painting hurt women and turning that pain into something beautiful. Tim Andrews from Ole Soul Tattoo will be sharing his art & doing cool custom temporary tattoos, and also there will be art by Ron Evans! Come see what he brings, I gave him free range! Could be anything from painting to miming. And yes, my brand GardenVintage will also be there slinging upcycled creations.

We are planning to have a few of Josh’s Norwood neighbors on the Ave. joining in on the fun too. One will be Lacey (Grove) from Inner Grove Tea Company. She will be there with lovely ready-to-gift options from her shop and also plans to keep you warm with specialty hot tea!

Another great addition that we are excited about is La Pica Chica. She will be there selling her amazing Mexican candy with a twist. This is the perfect treat to add to your holiday gifts!

We are aiming to add other food options and will make that announcement soon.

Is this a grassroots effort or is there support/funding behind it?

This is a grassroots effort! Josh and I are creating and funding everything ourselves. Josh was generous enough to offer up his bar and our creative dreams grew. Together we decided not only would this be a free event, but we would not charge the artist/ vendors we invited. We genuinely want this to be a night that supports the people in our community that inspire us. Because we are both small business owners and hosting an event can create a lot of costs, we will have a table at the market where you can buy specific items or donate to the event to help pay for some of the cost and to keep it going next year.

We hope everyone can come out and support these fantastic artists, shop local, and of course, have a little fun!