Johnstock 2011

I spent most of Saturday and Sunday in a parking lot on Johnson Street in Northeast Minneapolis. This particular parking lot is adjacent to shops and restaurants that make up the Johnson Street Merchants Association and sponsor the yearly neighborhood festival, Johnstock. There were about 15 other vendors selling their handmade wares including, Threaded Basil, Foxy Squirrel, Mary Foster Creative, and other people making unique and fun items!

On Saturday, we set up in the pouring rain and sat through a few more showers and downpours (my tent only leaked a little bit). Between the bouts of rain, people with umbrellas would wander through. In the afternoon it cleared up and I finally warmed up and dried off. A lot more people came out for the nice weather and to listen to the local bands playing, but I was impressed that whenever it wasn't raining really hard a fair number of people were out browsing the selection of jewelry, t-shirts, kid's clothes, cat toys, eco friendly garden bling and everything else that was for sale.

Sunday seemed like it would be a nicer day, but after a warm and almost sunny set up, a very heavy downpour passed through. Still a lot of people who had been browsing the day before came back to browse some more and buy something take home. It seemed like it was almost going to clear up but about an hour before the event was over, it started to rain again. Many of us had had enough and the severe storm warnings that might include hail and or a tornado pushed us all to pack up quickly and get home and dry.

It could have been a better weekend to be selling things outside, but it was nice to meet other crafters, see what people were making and selling, and to experience a bit of another neighborhood and community.