29/12/2020
A big thank you!
The story so far -
When The York Candle Company were very kindly asked by our Pop Up Pirates business partners Nelson Bakery if we wanted to rent out the Micklegate space with them, through Space Invaders, temporarily over the Christmas period, the initial plan proposed to us was that our business partners would use the reception building as a cake shop, and that we would use the forecourt to sell our handmade candles.
However, when we visited the space, we quickly saw the potential to do more than just sell our own crafts and to involve other makers, and to turn the outdoor space into an artisan market, to give other local traders a much needed opportunity to sell their arts and crafts face to face and safely in what had been a very difficult year for all of us. Our focus was to put the artists first and foremost, and with that in mind we made sure to keep their pitch costs very low for them, and risk free, covering the cost of our rent and bills only. We also took great care in selecting only makers of handmade products, to maintain the quality of the experience for customers.
And whilst we took it upon ourselves to get together local makers of all kinds, and to arrange some incredible street art to transform the market space, our partners continued with their very own vision to run a fab artisan bakery after transforming the indoor reception building, and we were blown away with what happened next.
The concept of our artisan street market immediately struck a chord within the local arts community as well as with York locals, and it very quickly became a vibrant, fun, safe space for artists and crafters to once again show their work to the public. As a result, so many of our traders had a wonderful experience in their short time there, and we grew a community of like minded artists from the ground up, who we are very proud to now call our friends too!
With all that has happened this past year we honestly could never have imagined that we would create such a thing, so we want to say an unbelievably huge thank you to everyone involved, as well as to everyone who came down to show some love for our brand new local artist collective.
A huge thank you also to Social Vision and to North Star Investment Management for the opportunity of renting this space, perfect for this purpose, at an affordable cost.
Going forwards -
With all the uncertainty now ahead, and with Christmas now behind us, we have taken the decision that it wouldn't be fair on our makers to continue with our artisan market at this location at this time. And so whilst the Pop Up Pirates market will no longer be held at Micklegate, we wish whomever rents the space after us the very best of luck with their endeavours, and hope they manage to create the kind of wonderful memories that we have had.
But this isn't a goodbye forever! We feel that what we achieved there, we can absolutely achieve again elsewhere in York and we're determined (when the time is right) to make this happen! The city needs this kind of fun, organically grown, handmade, quality artisan market, that places the needs of the artist and the community above profit, and we will be looking in the New Year for other locations around York to make this happen for our collective of makers once again.
So keep following this page, and above all else, if you want keep supporting your local indie makers, watch this space! ❤️🎨☺️👍
