Pop in to enjoy newly developed Valley Market

The first successful outdoor Valley Market took place at the newly refurbished Donkin Village in Port Elizabeth at the end of January. The event will now take place at various pop-up locations around the city. Photo: Marc Hervé

The popular artisanal SPAR Valley Market is undergoing exciting developments and will now pop up at different local venues around Port Elizabeth.

Nelson Mandela Bay charity Love Story, who act as the organisers, have received numerous invitations from various other events.

“They want us to set up our market in partnership with their events,” said Elaine Watson, founder of the organisation.

“We also found that the public were asking for an outdoor venue, especially for the summer weekends; somewhere where there is space for kids to run around and be outdoors.”

The first pop-up market took place at the second edition of the popular Valley Concert at Hopewell Conservation Estate in March.

Visitors enjoyed the delicious variety of food and drinks stalls as well as the kids’ fun village with jumping castles, which set the tone for a perfect day out with the family.

The event enjoyed its first outdoor summer venue at the chic, newly refurbished Donkin Village at the end of January and proved a huge success.

“We have a few other tentative locations planned but watch this space for the exciting developments,” said Watson, who added that the market would probably take place every quarter.

“New additions will be dependent on the event we partner with, but it’s the spirit of the Valley Market to keep reinventing and bringing fresh new ideas to each one.”

The benefits of this new pop-up format for the market include the ability to diversify products as well as target markets.

“By moving from one place to the next we are able to draw our usual target market but also draw from new demographics,” said Watson.

“With more space we are able to have more as well as new exhibitors on board.”

All proceeds from ticket sales will continue to go to the charity organisation to enable them to meet the community’s needs through feeding schemes.

Keep an eye on The Valley Market - Port Elizabeth Facebook page to find out when the next pop-up event will take place.