Roll Up, Roll Up, for FRIDAY FLEA at Limerick Milk Market!
On Friday March 7th of this year, Siobhan Downey approached new Limerick Milk Market manager David O’Brien and pitched her idea for a new Friday Flea. She was hoping he’d maybe agree to give the thing a go on a once-a-month basis. He was having none of it however. This sounded so good it needed to happen every single Friday. There was just one more question Siobhan had to answer before the deal could be sealed: “When can you start?”
A mere three weeks later Limerick Milk Market hosted its very first Friday Flea. In the few short months since then it has quickly established itself as a vital fixture in Limerick’s cultural and commercial life.
“It has just got legs,” Siobhan tells us. “I had an idea of the type of market I’d love to go to, the type of vintage/retro markets I have been to in other countries, where it’s a really alive, eclectic, fun and always interesting place to go. The place that all the people in the know go to get the coolest fashion finds, or vinyl records or arts and crafts or artisan foods.” She takes painstaking care to extend the arty feel of Friday Flea to the physical layout of the market itself. “I like to have it visually interesting and have little pockets of similar or complementary stalls, such as fashion beside jewellery.”
A key part of Siobhan’s ethos can be summed up in the slogan: Don’t Stand Still. She always has something new in the pipeline. A charity stall that local charities can use for fundraising. A visit from Ms. Ireland doing a Limerick’s Got Talent preview show. Lime Crew Rockers practicing every Friday afternoon upstairs in the mezzanine level. Summer Sessions of free live music every Friday from 12.30-2pm (a huge hit with locals and tourists alike).
But the best by far has to be the big gigs. The legendary Dolan’s Warehouse from Limerick now are running amazing gigs at the Limerick Milk Market. The first band to play in April was The Coronas, and the gig was electric. Then Imelda May played in May. “What can I say?” beams Siobhan. “Not only did I get to see how a big event like that works, I got to meet The Coronas and talk fashion with Miss May after her sound check. Boy, does she know her stuff! I also got to meet her mom Madge and her sister Marie and her dad who were all so lovely.” It’s at times like this that Siobhan feels almost guilty calling her job a job at all. And with more big gigs on the way in September, the music side of things can only go from strength to strength.
But one day a week was never going to be enough to contain all of Siobhan’s ideas. Next month sees the launch of a new Sunday Market, which will be open to both the public and more established traders of all sorts. The last Sunday of each month will be a big-themed Recycling Sunday along the lines off Baby and Toddler Goods, Sports Equipment and Gaming Sunday. Siobhan is “really looking forward to the challenge of putting a concept of a market into a weekly reality where business is done and the public have an opportunity to buy and sell.” Because it’s open to traders of all types as an opportunity to make a few bob, it helps “spread the love of markets.”
Through sheer energy, imagination and hard work, then, Siobhan and her friends at Friday Flea seem to be bucking the recession. At a time when the retail sector is down across the board, it’s a real achievement to be able to report ever-rising footfall to your market. “People now have it in their consciousness to come by every Friday,” she notes. “It has become part of weekly things to do in Limerick. As the Milk Market is a real gourmet food heaven it has it all to offer to the public, so whether you want to just trail through stalls of every type or just eat and have a coffee while listening to the music, it’s there. I do believe that markets and market trading are answering a big gap in the market. People are price-sensitive of course, but they also want to feel that if they do spend money their custom is appreciated. The very personal experience of buying at a local market is very satisfying to them. There is the social aspect too as people talk to you, have time and really get to know their customers. I have seen a huge increase in Art/ Craft artisans joining the market now that it is gaining a reputation of its own.”
We cannot leave without asking Siobhan a simple question: What gives you the drive to put all this together week in week out? She’s back in a flash, quoting Oprah and the Dalai Lama: “Find your passion – and just do it.”
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New applications for stall holders are being accepted at the minute. Interested traders can apply http://www.milkmarketlimerick.ie/default/index.cfm/become-a-trader-at-the-milk-market-limerick/
