Alas! Alack! The Novalis Spring Market made its debut this weekend… but wasn’t quite what I was hoping for…
Perhaps I’m too picky, but what I want when I go to market is fresh, healthy food and a good selection of hand-made products.
I like to buy organic vegetables, sample a few pickles or jams or something along those lines and chat to people who’re passionate about the things they make.
What I don’t enjoy very much is markets with the kind of random household bric-a-brac more at home at a garage- or car-boot-sale (people trying to get rid of their used junk, like old computer monitors, of all things!), or brightly coloured plastic baubles you can find on any street corner…
There were a few stalls with vaguely interesting-looking wares (handmade pottery, a bit of jewellery), but not enough to keep me there for long, and I was soon on my way out again.
To be fair, there was a fresh produce stall there with some organic options, and the prices were the best I’ve encountered so far (R5 for an uber fresh bunch of swiss chard, for example) – but certainly not enough to supply me for the whole week (one of the main reasons I go to markets in the first place)!
Sadly, there was nothing I could see that would bring me back when there are more interesting markets like the well-stocked and reasonably priced Timour Hall Rd market in Plumstead, the rustic and varied Porter Estate Produce Market in Tokai and, of course, the bustling and trendy Neighbour Goods Market in Salt River.
But, it has to be taken into consideration, naturally, that it isn’t easy to start a new market, and there’s plenty of competition with those others already in full swing… Nonetheless, I do think they could have been a little more selective with their stallholders!
Anyway, I’ll pop in again, one of these days, to see how the market is doing, but for the time being I’ll be heading back to my usual haunts to stock up on my weekly fresh food and treats.
The Novalis Spring Market is held every Saturday morning from 10am to 4pm at the Novalis Institute (39a Rosmead Avenue, Wynberg). Interested vendors can contact Jeremy at smi_events@yahoo.com.
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Britt on 
You can’t beat the Porter Estate in my opinion, I go most Saturdays and always stop for the brekkie roll
I’m with you on that one! If the organic vegetables there were as cheap at the Porter Estate market as they are at the Timour Hall Rd market, I wouldn’t need to go anywhere else – but unfortunately they’re about a 1/3 more expensive, in my experience. So, I just combine them on my usual Saturday out… seeing as they’re not too far from one another.
Mmmmm, love those brekkie rolls – and moerkoffie, hooopalah!
Timour Hall Rd market before, I may stop in this Saturday and have a look around.
Thank you for the review of our debut, your opinions are welcome, as they will definitely assist us in making our market better in the weeks to follow. Just some points of consideration on the comments made about the opening:
The “people” mentioned selling bric-a-brac products are members of the Rape Crisis Centre (whom are trading free of charge), many of which were printers hardly used at all which our team felt was a welcome addition based on the fact that 1 more recycled printer sold means 1 less new printer bought which inevitably means 1 less printer manufactured and so on…
We did mention to our vendors that for the first day, instead of over stocking (also considering the annual air show was happening on the same day) they should instead be conservative in terms of stock allocation as we did not want them to “waste” or have too much stock left over.
Our intention is to support and encourage locally manufactured products,
whether they are brightly coloured baubles or hand made pots. The idea is for them get the necessary exposure in order to assist in regaining public interest in our local crafters; merchandise and produce.
The concept of our market is to cater for a wider audience rather than those coming for one specific stream of product, a one-stop shop of sorts. The Novalis Spring Market does not claim to be an organic market nor does it claim to be a food market nor does it claim to be a craft market it is however simply a market.
As mentioned starting up a new market certainly does come with a fair share of adversity, not to mention the criticism included in the initial drudgery, so all the support afforded to us is greatly cherished and appreciated.
For those who dare to attempt something a bit wayward from the norm, please try it before you knock it! All your comments are welcome, as they will only assist us in making the Novalis Market bigger and better for all in the weeks to follow.
Warm regards
Jeremy
SMIEvents
Hi Jeremy
Fair enough! I do have a bit of a knee-jerk reaction when I see second-hand goods like old electronics – mostly because it makes it seem more like a car boot sale than what I would call a market, but I understand your point of it being for a good cause, both for the rape crisis centre, and ultimately for the environment (assuming people do buy them and use them).
I hope that you do become the one-stop-shop you’re hoping to be… all alternatives to big shopping malls are a good thing, in my opinion. I know that it is early days yet, and of course my own opinion is based on a very particular and subjective view of what a market should be, which may not be shared by all.
The Novalis Market, as it was on Saturday, wasn’t what I was looking for, but I will certainly come back again at some later stage, and see how things have progressed!
Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust
Thank you Jeremy for the encouraging letter. And thank you for affording Rape Crisis the opportunity to raise funds as well as awareness of the work that we do. At Rape Crisis we provide a free service to all rape survivors and their families in the form of counselling as well as support when they have to appear in court. We also provide transport when the clients need them. We also provide refreshments for clients and families at our offices and at four courts.
Funding is definitely becoming harder and harder to come by. We are trying to become more proactive in our ways of securing funding / money in order to provide our services. And we depend greatly on the kindness of strangers like the Novalis Institute and others who donate their bric-a-brac to us. As they say every bit helps. And thanks to the money we raised at the market two weekends ago we have been able to provide refreshments, transport and our free services to many more survivors.
RapeCrisiss last blog post..The second team comments on the trip…
I attended the 1st Novalis Market and enjoyed it a lot. We had lunch at the restaurant, which was lovely. My friend ate pasta and I had spinach and feta quiche with a large salad. Very, very nice!! We bought lemon meringues and small chocolate cakes, as well as lamb and rosemary pies for supper. (It was the best pies that I have ever tasted!!) We also bought cute cupcakes for the children. Speaking of children, there was a room dedicated to activities, which my kids will definitely enjoy, so next time I am taking the kids with. I really think this market has a lot to offer, since you can even take a yoga class, have a massage, and thereafter a sitdown breakfast or lunch, whilst the chidren are having fun. Afterwards you can browse around and take home nice goodies for supper and fresh produce for Sunday lunch!!