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Pigeon Park Street Market in Vancouver Downtown Eastside (DTES) on Sunday Oct 13 2013
Sunny breezy weather during Sunday Street Market had vendors and peer workers of the DTES Street Market Society enjoying a fun Thanksgiving in Vancouver Downtown Eastside (DTES)
Roland Clarke, Coordinator says:
The first sunny day in weeks came to the DTES on Sunday.
We had very little police presence, and very few incidents. The market was packed with near record number of vendors and customers, and we had a film crew with AHA Media doing a promo piece for us.One of our patron funders from the City of Vancouver – George Walker – came down to the market twice and had some very kind and supportive words for us.
The holiday spirit was in the air, lots of Halloween costumes and fun items were present. Lots of people were talking about upcoming Thanksgiving feasts.
We got a huge donation of hockey equipment that we could not sell, but come look for it next week.
It is on days like this that I have renewed faith in the DTES and its residents. Rain or shine, the market will continue. If we get a brief respite from the rain, a huge crowd returns to the square and fills this area with life.
We have 52 markets per year. This dwarfs any other festival in the city. In fact, I like to think of the DTES Street Market as the Iron Man of Vancouver Festivals. Always there, every Sunday, with virtually no funding and no support, the Market will soldier on. It embodies the spirit of the DTES – that against any hardship, any weather, any attacks, we will persevere.
Come down and buy a coffee or a pop any given Sunday, and support your neighbourhood at its finest.
Pigeon Park Street Market in Vancouver Downtown Eastside (DTES) on Sunday Oct 6 2013
Gorgeous Warm weather during Sunday Street Market had vendors and peer workers of the DTES Street Market Society enjoying a festival atmosphere in Vancouver Downtown Eastside (DTES)
Roland Clarke, Coordinator says:
Solidarity in Vending
The weather was awesome. Perhaps the last great day of the year, it was almost summer again. A great break from the two Sundays of rain we just survived.
There is a subject that I’ve been thinking about for quite some time, and it is a subtle, but important one. The subject is why we, as coordinators of the market actually spend a portion of the day selling things ourselves.
During the day, I, Roland spend a lot of the day selling coffee and pop to raise money for the market. Also, Jacek sells 50/50 raffle tickets. Between these two activities (and the renting of tents and tables) we manage to raise more than $200 per week on average that can help pay for street market incidentals. This allows us to fund experiments, like bannock and muffin sales, and also buy new tents and tables when they get broken. Having petty cash on hand is extremely valuable, and we couldn’t run the market without it. We also provide on average about $500 in change to shoppers that come in with $20 bills and need smaller denominations. This way the vendors also do not need to keep so much cash on hand.
There is an additional, very important reason that the organizers of a grass roots street market should themselves engage in survival vending. This is because it is an essential statement of solidarity with the vendors we are trying to organize and build community. We recognize that life is hard, and all the rest of the vendors must scrounge for ways to hustle and survive at the market, so we do it too. We have to find a way to sell coffee for $1, and still make a profit. We then provide this benefit to the community in the form of cheap beverages, which the vendors are happy to purchase from us. It is in this way that we have inserted ourselves into the ecosystem instead of just trying to manage it from above. This builds trust, it cements solidarity, and it allows us to understand and relate to the struggles of the population that we are trying to protect.
This is why we vend.
This is why we must continue to vend to keep the spirit of the market pure.
DTES Street Market Society Board Elections Meeting in Vancouver Downtown (DTES )
Roland Clarke says
Successful board elections! We can now honour Lorna Bird with the executive position of President of the DTES Street Market Society, Glenn Fisher as Vice President, Louise Boilevin as Secretary, Rod Robinson as Treasurer, and Steve B as Sergeant-at-Arms.
Long Live the DTES Street Market Society!
Pigeon Park Street Market Board Meeting on Saturday Sept 21, 2013
Pigeon Park Street Market recently became their own non profit society in Vancouver Downtown Eastside
Pigeon Park Street Market Vendors Jobs meeting in Vancouver DTES on Sat Sept 21 2013
Every Saturday morning at 9 A.M., a Pigeon Park Street Market Vendors Jobs meeting occurs to help discuss and select roles for the next day’s Street Market, held every Sunday at Pigeon Park in Vancouver Downtown Eastside (DTES)
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