Join us to celebrate our 2nd Birthday this Saturday.
- Enjoy Birthday specials,
- Vibey Marimba band
- Kids entertainment
We would like to share our story with you…
The journey of Earth Fair Market started over two years ago. As with all businesses, it started with an idea that needed to be put to the test and created. It also started with what is arguably the most important element when starting something – passion and a belief in the concept! Looking back, there were four seperate inspirations that pulled it all together …
The first was the concept of a ‘Young Designers Emporium’ for food; a place where specialists and artisans could sell their products and a place they could build collectively. It is often too expensive for a small business to set up on their own and this seemed like a collaboration that could support many people. We do believe collaboration is the most important concept for the future in all areas.
The second inspiration grew out of the belief that people buy experiences and not things. The belief that one of the most important elements in life are those ‘moments of magic’ that make you forget to be such a grown up and drop you into the magic of the moment.
The most important component of the idea was to support and encourage ethical producers. No corporates, no preservatives, no fancy branding and packaging, no punchy bylines with little substance.
The last element was the desire to connect people with their food again and to reincarnate the relationships that people used to have with the butcher and the baker. To get people to shop like our grannies used to shop, before the world of malls and massive supermarkets. To bring people back to the good old days when the butcher knows your name and what you served at your dinner party the week before.
Earth Fair does not desire to be a lifestyle market, even though we love the lifestyle elements! It desires to be a shopping market. It would like to challenge people to start thinking about where they are buying food from and to provide them with an alternative to supermarkets for fresh produce.
Earth Fair has grown into all this and more. The moments of magic happen all the time – from the moment someone bites into a delicious taster to the moment that they meet the person next to them on the bench and realise that they actually live next door to each other!
Earth Fair has grown from its start-up market in Retreat to work with the St Georges Forum, the City of Cape Town and Cape Town Tourism to open up a fantastic open air market in St Georges Mall. We believe this is the closest you get to a European street market in South Africa.
We don’t believe in markets being about a Saturday morning outing, we believe in markets being a part of our everyday shopping experience. This is why we have a Wednesday, Thursday and a Saturday market – accessibility is key. We believe in the way many Europeans have shopped for many years – daily and directly from the producers at markets.
Our goal for the next year is to bring more actual farmers to the market. To make sure that our markets don’t become too trendy to serve the above purposes and to make sure that we continue to connect people with the producers.
We would like to thank all our customers and traders for all their support and for helping us to grow into the shoes that we now fill. The traders are amazing – they work hard and they are passionate. They know a lot about their craft and they deserve to do well. It is incredible how many people are as comfortable sitting around the benches at Earth Fair and chatting to the traders as they are sitting around their own kitchen tables.
We will be showing the rugby on the big screen tomorrow at 8am – WITH SOUND this time. Join us to support the Bokke and enjoy some Moer Koffee and brekkie. The traders will be unpacking and setting up for the usual 9am trading day but we have asked the brekkie traders to set up a little early! See you there!
