ONE of Port Elizabeth’s biggest ever weekend markets will be launched at Sherwood Garden Centre on Saturday, September 5. Business partners Robyn Clarke and Lisha Bekker have signed up 65 different vendors for their Walker Drive Wholesome Market. They envisage the market as a combination of Cape Town’s Old Biscuit Mill and Sedgefield’s Wild Oats market but with a Port Elizabeth twist.

“It’s very exciting because we’ve put in a lot of hard work, thought and effort into it and it just gets busier!” said Robyn ahead of the opening.

“We want to keep the market of a high standard – a flea market is taboo – so these are people who are passionate about what they do,” said Robyn. About 70 enthusiastic stall holders attended the first meeting.

“Purely organic is the dream but Port Elizabeth isn’t really ready for organic yet.”

She mentioned peri-peri chicken and ribs from Obrigado, deli foods from Morton’s, cheeses from the Cheesehouse and breads from Cobblestone as examples of specialist foods that would be on sale, alongside berries from the Garden Route, and cupcakes from Sweet Somethings.

As well as a range of fresh produce and a farmer’s section, there also would be arts and crafts including home decor and furniture, jewellery and clothing, beauty products and unusual gifts.

“We will have lots of artists, so it will be eclectic, vibey and trendy.

“The venue is of utmost importance,” said Robyn, who thinks that the large undercover area at Sherwood Garden Centre is perfect, particularly as spring in the Eastern Cape can bring unpredictable weather.

“The beauty of this market is that it is indoors so weather plays no part in visiting. It’s already inside a nursery so there is no entrance fee, there are customers and the parking is free.

“Already it has snowballed and we have got huge dreams for this place.

“ We don’t just want an event once a month, we want it to be a place for families to come. There will be a supervised children’s play area where students will do crafts with the children.

“We have gone for environment-friendly toys so we are not going to be selling rubbish. We also will have a green education room that will look at how people can clean up their environment and run, for example, vericompost workshops.”

Robyn believes it was karma that brought her and Lisha together over a Pine Pienaar photography course. They found they did not just share a yen for photography but also a love for good food – and a desire to see their home city have this type of market.

The market will run from 9am to 4pm on Saturday and Sunday the first weekend of each month. If it proves successful, the hours may be extended.