Baraboo Night Market 2023
Last month we vended the Baraboo Night Market. It's a pretty big deal in Baraboo - a nice college town with a gorgeous town square. We were assigned a space right outside of the International Clown Hall of Fame and Research Center. Yes, you read that correctly. You see, Baraboo was where the Ringling Bros. Circus was founded, and circus history is a big part of the city's identity. The Circus World Museum is not far from downtown.
So, with fall in the air and volunteers from the Baraboo Young Professionals hurrying to hang massive strings of lights all over downtown, we popped up the Bleak canopy. We had nearly all our fall varieties of soap ready, along with a fresh restock of throw pillows, tote bags, dish towels, jewelry, enamel pins, greeting cards, journals, and more. All the things.
It didn't take long for our specific flavor of weirdo to descend on our booth, and let me tell you, Baraboo really came out for us. I mean, our posts on Facebook probably helped, but we weren't prepared for how many people were going to visit our booth. We didn't get a chance to sit down or take a break the entire time.
After about five or so hours at the market, the unseasonably warm early autumn weather gave way to rain, and people scurried off the street. Some amazing folks from the nearby tattoo studio helped us cover our products and start to pack up, and then bought a ton of stuff from us. Seriously, so many of our customers are such totally rad people. We expected it to be a low-key, farmers' market type event, so this kind of turnout with this level of enthusiasm just feels good.
Anyway, there was a burger place right next to the Clown Research Center, so once we were packed away for the night, we decided to stop at Baraboo Burger Company for some victory burgers. Post market food, especially when you haven't had a chance to eat all day, is the best.
Oh, and I forgot to mention that the person keeping the street clear of litter during the event was a clown. I would periodically forget about this and be extremely surprised whenever I would randomly catch a glimpse of the sanitation clown. When it's 11 PM and you peer down a rainy alleyway to see a dimly lit clown standing next to a dumpster, it's best to keep walking. I've seen those movies. I know how that ends.
- Sean