To celebrate that Friday the 13th fell in October this year, Misfit Night Market created a special market that catered to lovers of all things spooky. With 23 vendors and other businesses around Tranquille Street joining the market, people crowded the streets of North Shore.
The Effie Arts Collective & Oddfellows and Rebekah’s third annual Halloween special market had something for everyone, from tattoos to T-shirts and everything in between. The market ran from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. with a constant flow of people, music and even some dancing. The Effie Arts Collective was packed with booths and while it wasn’t a big space the decoration of the booths and the punk rock music gave the misfit vibe this market was looking for.
Maria Elisabeth, an artist from Kelowna, had the opportunity to have a booth on this market for the second time this year. “I was a part of the August 12 misfit market and had a blast, so when I had the chance to be back, I took it.”
Elisabeth brought her taxidermy art, prints and stickers to the venue, where the products sold quickly. In addition to selling many of her wares, Elisabeth, who is also a tattoo artist, said she was able to book a couple of new clients for her studio in Kelowna. “I call this night a win for me, but honestly, I just really like being here with this group of people. We’re all kind of weird, but that’s why it works.”
Pins were a big hit for the night, especially for Jordan Blair, who by 6 p.m. had already sold out of five different designs. They varied from potion bottles to Forrest’s friends. The colourful designs created a line where customers waited patiently to get their hands on one of them.
“We started getting people right away, but I wasn’t expecting to sell out so quickly. I probably should’ve brought a few more pins,” Blair said. The demand was so big they took orders for people to get another day.
Horror author Rebecca Jones-Howe took this event as an opportunity to promote her book and, as she put it, to meet fellow “weirdos.” Jones-Howe said she had a rough time after COVID-19 hit, but this event made her venture out of her comfort zone and put her name out there.
In conjunction with the market, Big Foot Tattoos — located across the street from The Effie Arts Collective — hosted a ‘flash night’ where Misfit patrons could get Halloween-themed tattoos on a first come first serve basis. BFT doors opened at 4 p.m., enjoying a steady stream of customers until close to midnight as people ran to get their tattoos for this rare occasion.
While this will be the only Halloween-themed bazaar, the Misfit Night Market will be back once more this year on Dec. 9. Vendors for the market will be posted in early November on the Night Market’s Instagram.
For anyone who might have missed this event but still want in on some of the arts and collectives, the Misfit Night Market Instagram page has tagged all the vendors that were part of the night and will continue to sell their products.