Billed as the “hippest handmade and vintage market in the Midwest,” the Good Makers Market celebrates 10 years as it gears up for Memorial Day weekend at the Cedar County Fairgrounds.
Founder Jessica Meyer said it all began in the spring of 2016 when friends asked her to set up a market at their farm to promote the location, The Barn at Bunker Hill — a century barn in Wilton — as a wedding venue. She and the friend who helped her had never done anything like it. But as a resale and retail shop owner — currently part-owner of The Shop, 4 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City — she knew how to curate a quality collection of goods.
The fledgling event went so well that it bloomed into the Good Makers Market that fall. The first two events called for shuttle parking because of a lack of onsite space, so by the fall of 2017, the event relocated to the Cedar County Fairgrounds. It was only the third of these events, which now bookend the summer with Memorial Day and Labor Day weekend events each year.
The upcoming event on Friday and Saturday, May 22 and 23, will feature 150 vendors, live music, food and drink. Goods include wall art, sculptures, jewelry, clothing, self-care and pet-care products and furniture, among others. Some vendors’ displays are in the fairground barns and some are outdoors.
Also featured this year are the return of some throwback photo backgrounds for patron selfies and a newly created Volkswagen “photo bus.”
Cost is $10, and the first 100 guests will receive a “swag bag.” The hours are Friday, 3-8pm and Saturday, 9-4pm. Parking is onsite, and the event is handicapped accessible. The Cedar County Fairground is at 210th St., Tipton.
