Variety of vendors highlight vintage market and food truck festival

Attendees of the Alaska Spring Vintage Market and Food Truck Festival enjoyed great food, a variety of Alaskan vendors and wonderful weather over the weekend at the fairgrounds in Palmer.

An awakening of summer, this event marks the beginning of the outdoor festival season and creates an opportunity for friends and families to come out of their winter hibernation and enjoy connecting with the community.

“It’s this community feel at the market,” Alaska Vintage Markets Community Outreach manager Ella Embree said. “The vendors help each other out and the customers are glad to meet the vendors, or run into their old friends and connect with them. It’s just a fun feeling.”

“The market is a social event,” event organizer James Embree added. “You come with your friends, and you see other friends once you get there and you might even know the vendors. It’s a much more community-oriented experience.

Long lines extended from food trucks during lunch on Saturday, with great options from Alaska Husky Burger, Russian Eats, the Mini Chimi Truck from Garcia's Cantina and Cafe, the Alaska Mac Shack, the Pizza Box AK and more. The band sixteen.five performed live music while a crowd enjoyed lounging in the sunshine. Kites flown by the Alaskiters dominated the sky and Pioneer Peak rose up into the clear blue skies offering an impressive backdrop for the event.

Amber Manley is a co-owner of Berries and Cream Food Truck. This was their first time at the spring market. Manley said she was most looking forward to seeing the crowds of people out enjoying the event in the warm, sunny weather. With such a long winter, she said she believes most people are just ready to get out of the house and enjoy all that Alaska has to offer.

“I think we’re ready to be out,” Manley said. “Winter was long and we’re just ready to be out.”

Russian Eats experienced long lines most of the day on Saturday, with many return customers waiting for their opportunity to enjoy a variety of different piroshkis and their hearty borsch. Owners Hionia and Tony Gatts have been attending the spring market since its second year. Hionia said she enjoys seeing all the people show up and was happy there was something for the whole family to enjoy.

“This show itself brings out a lot of people. I feel like the guys come in for all the food vendors and the girls go in there,” Hionia joked as she motioned towards the barn with the vendors.

The Gatts have regular customers that follow them to different events. Tony said they had one customer place an order for 20 piroshkis to take home to freeze and eat throughout the year. They look forward to the market each year and making festival-friendly foods for all to enjoy.

“We feel blessed and very grateful for where we’re at,” Tony said.

Vendors filled the barn with beautiful displays of metal art, Native Alaskan jewelry, paintings, flowers, hand-made pens, fresh sourdough bread and honey. Businesses from all across Alaska hosted unique stands for their products. A steady line of attendees moved throughout the spacious walkways, poking their heads into different vendor booths and striking up conversations with old friends.

Mermaid Cove stayed busy throughout the weekend with people trying on rings and jewelry. Owner Janette Oliver said she has been invited back each year for the last seven years and enjoys all that goes into creating a unique shopping experience for her customers.

“People come looking for this experience,” Oliver said. “They’re really lovely compared to other shows. This is my favorite.”

Oliver and other vendors showed up as early as Wednesday to set up their booths. Oliver said she spent over 24 hours this year designing her booth and incorporated more products than she had in the past. As an artist, she said that creating her booth and displays are all part of the fun.

“I love this show. It’s my favorite because the artisans that are here are so phenomenal,” Oliver said.

David Nelson, co-owner of Matanuska Pens and Witty Twisted Finishes Laser Designs, has been hosting a booth at the market with his wife for four years. They sell hand-crafted and custom pens, laser-etched bookmarks, utensils, cutting boards and more. He said he experienced an uptick in business this year and enjoys having so much space for vendors and customers to move around in the barn.

For many of the vendors, this is the first show of the summer season and sets the tone for how the rest of the year will go.

“This is always the big start,” Nelson said. “This is the kick off for the season, we go here and we just start rolling to other shows… This just starts it off for us.”